Let’s be honest, do you blog for your business? If you don’t, what’s the reason? What’s really stopping you? I’ll share with you what I’ve been told by some business owners. They’re unsure about blogging for business, what they’ll get out of it, what to blog about and how to find the time to write blog posts while running a business.
So I tell them that current research show that a whopping 64% of small and medium sized businesses in Australia are already outsourcing their websites. That’s not much of a surprise, because running a website can demand a lot of work, especially if it contains product pages that require frequent updates.
But even when only 4% are blogging for business, some also outsource their blogs to freelance copywriters. That’s how they manage to write their website content and maintain their blogs.
And if they’re the first 4% to blog in their niches, these businesses have been given a vital head start in search engines and in social media.
Potential customers can find them and perhaps buy from them, while their competition is forced to play catch up months or years later.
Blogs help people discover your website
Blogging usually works out as the best, the cheapest and most effective tool to help a website and business get noticed in search engines.
When written and managed well, your blog could:
- Increase ranking in search engines and drive traffic to your site
- Convert visitors into leads, fans, followers and customers
- Establish your credibility and position you as an expert people in your field
- Build a community around your website, giving readers a forum for discussions
- Establish two-way communication so customers continue doing business with you
- Give your brand a ‘human’ voice as people do business with you, not the brand
- Qualify leads before they call, by supplying enough information for them
A static website that isn’t able to publish fresh content isn’t going to provide these benefits. Some businesses update their product or resources pages frequently, but that’s not ‘interesting’ content people would want to click on in search results. So blogging for business makes the user’s experience more interesting.
Missed opportunities are missed opportunities
If you keep missing opportunities to appear in search engines, people won’t be able to find you next time they’re looking for a business offering the same products and services as yours. Guess who they’ll find? Your competition who’s producing new content.
And when they eventually find you, there’s nothing on your site that lets them interact with you.
If you have a blog, you can engage them with a call to action such as asking them to sign up to your newsletter or ‘Like’ your Facebook page to keep in touch. They don’t have to buy from you or hire you right away, but if you get them to engage, that’s a better start than nothing.
So next time you’re wondering “Do I need a blog for my business?” remember my answer – Yes, you do if you want all the above. And the time to get started is NOW.
But wait – don’t jump into blogging without a plan. Know what you want out of it and take some time to plan. Work on a content strategy for your blog by planning enough content ideas for the first three months before you even start typing your first post.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to do this alone. You work on it with your copywriter.
Want to chat with me about your business blog or website?
If you’re looking for someone with experience blogging and writing for small business, then please call me in Perth for a chat and a free no–obligation quote. I’m available on 0416 513 843.
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