Contributed by Liz Woodiwiss of Uncharted Blogging
Business blogging has become a necessary staple of any great marketing strategy.
Remember the days of the Yellow Pages? Search engines have replaced the function of the Yellow Pages in locating businesses and providing relevant info, and fully optimized blogs are the number one way those search engines find the information they need about your business!
Every type of business can benefit from having a great blog. If you are a Virtual Assistant, for example, you can blog about all the different things you do as a VA. You can blog about why people need VA’s, and what the benefits are of being a VA.
If you don’t blog for your business now, you may be putting yourself at a serious disadvantage.
Let’s take a look at a couple of reasons why:
- The internet is constantly evolving. What worked yesterday won’t work tomorrow. However, consistent content will always be valuable, no matter what happens as the online business scape changes.
- Content is king. You’ll hear this over and over, and there’s a good reason why. The content on your website, your blog, in your email, and on your social media is one of the primary ways people get to know you and your business. If you don’t have much content, prospective clients may feel insecure about your knowledge and your products or services. However, if you have a lot of great content, both prospects and current customers feel valued and connected to you and your business.
- Search Engines love blogs. The very nature of Google should make blogging for your business a no-brainer. When you search for a topic on Google, the first few listings are almost always interesting, helpful blogs that are rich with awesome keywords, well-written, and correctly formatted to make SEO happy!
While there are many other great reasons for blogging for your business, these are possibly the most important.
But, are a few great reasons to blog enough to convince you that you should blog for your business? Maybe not.
Is Business Blogging for You?
Here are two of the most common objections to blogging for business. Neither of these is really more than ways to shrug off the need for a blog!
Our customers don’t read blogs. Well, actually, they probably do! No matter how allergic to reading someone is, when they want to know something, they Google it. And SEO dictates that the top listings are going to be those posts that contain the information you’re Googling. Chances are, if your blog has the best, most helpful info about that particular topic, it will get read!
Blogging takes too much time. Yes, it does take quite a bit of time. However, it doesn’t have to take that long if you plan strategically and follow some simple guidelines. Time invested in your business blog is time well spent. And, if you don’t have the time to dedicate to your blog, you should seriously consider outsourcing it! There are many professional copywriters who can take the ideas and information you provide and fashion them into amazing blog posts!
Don’t let these objections stop you from using this amazing tool. Now, let’s talk a little bit about how to blog successfully in 2018!
Use SEO Wisely
Search Engine Optimization. This phrase scares a lot of people off when they begin to learn about blogging. With talk of titles and keywords, ranking, section headers, longtail and short tail, ALT text and Meta descriptions, it’s no wonder that many business owners turn around and run away from the computer without writing a single word.
SEO can be complicated and scary, and it might seem like it’s more trouble than it is worth. However, there are many tools available to you to not only help you understand a little bit about what it all means, but also to put together a blog post with good SEO even when you don’t quite understand it.
Strengthening Your SEO with Frequent Blogs
Frequent blogging is one way to significantly strengthen SEO. When paired with on-page SEO, great keyword selection, and relevant topics, regular blogging can help your website rise right to the top of Google!
Any online marketer can tell you that every customer starts as a visitor to a website. In fact, an article on AdWeek estimates that 81% of people do product research online before they commit to buying something.
This is incredible! It means that if you’re selling ANYTHING, you need to be sharing information about it online. And the best way to do that is to have a blog on your website where you include helpful information about the best ways to use your products or services.
By frequently publishing fresh, relevant content focused on solving your client’s problems, you will be producing more indexed pages that can be picked up by search engines. This will give you a powerful boost above your competitors.
Fresh, Relevant Content is the New SEO
You can no longer get away with just stuffing as many keywords as possible into a small space and pumping out dozens of republished articles from other sites. This used to trick the search engines into thinking you had a quality site, but those little SEO robots have gotten smarter. And the people who read the articles they find have gotten wiser and don’t want the same old repurposed stuff. They want fresh, new, relevant content!
And so, content marketing has become the new SEO. Fresh, relevant content is both original and addresses the challenges your clients face on a regular basis. Google even tells us in the Webmaster Guidelines to make sure that our sites add value. Give visitors good reasons to visit your site!
How Many Blog Posts Should You Publish Monthly?
Back in 2015, HubSpot did some research on this question and published a great article that analyzes some important numbers. While those numbers are great, they are out of reach for a lot of smaller businesses. The research showed that companies that publish 16 or more blogs each month got more than 3 times the traffic of competitors that published 4 or fewer blogs per month.
I get it though, writing 16 high-quality blogs each month just isn’t possible for many business owners. Don’t despair, though! Consistency and quality matter just as much as quantity. Start writing and don’t feel bad if you’re not cranking out 4 blogs every week.
However, if you do have the resources and want to sky-rocket your ranking on Google by publishing lots of stellar blogs weekly, higher a freelance writer who has a style you love. Just know that a good freelancer doesn’t come cheap and expect to pay for the premium blog posts you need.
How to Blog Frequently with Fresh, Relevant Content
- Plan Ahead – create a content calendar with specific themes for each quarter, month, and even week. This will take away the stress of wondering what to write about at any given time.
- Batch Content – write several blogs at the same time. It’s easier to produce several pieces of content in a single setting when you are in the right frame of mind and mood.
- Dedicate Time – set aside a specific block of time, either daily or weekly as you are available to work on your blog.
- Ask for Guest Experts to Write Blogs for You – seek out experts in your industry and invite them to write for you.
- Utilize Video – if you find that recording a video is simpler and you are more comfortable with this medium, then make videos with the content you’d like to have on your blog. Then, you can take the info in the video and create a blog post from it, while also embedding the video for a great multi-media post!
- Outsource if Necessary – don’t be afraid to hire out your business blogging! I work as a freelance blogger for several different companies and enjoy the work. If you have the resources and don’t have the time or desire to do this vital part of marketing for yourself, then don’t hesitate to find someone who can do it for you.
Successful Blogging for Your Business Means You are Creating Value for Your Potential Buyers
Blogging for business can be challenging but comes with vast benefits. Yes, it takes time to build a successful business blog, but keep it up. It may take up to 100 blogs before you truly see a significant boost in traffic, so don’t give up too soon.
You don’t need to be a great writer. In fact, you don’t even necessarily have to write! You can record yourself and get a transcription that just needs to be cleaned up a bit, or you can outsource to a freelancer. With a bit of planning and organization, you can have a business blog that will benefit your business for years to come!
Liz Woodiwiss is a professional ghostwriter, copywriter, blogger, and content strategist. She loves to write and is fascinated by the world of content marketing. As an introvert who loves words. With a background that varies from music to marketing, she’s developed a passion for sharing her love of the written word with others.
