If you haven’t already got a blog you’ve no doubt heard a lot about them. It seems every man and his dog has one these days. If you don’t already have a blog for your business it may be time to join in with the fun.
Maybe you’re wondering whether you really need one and how you can get away with avoiding it all together. Well, it is true that blogs are a big thing in businesses online and for good reason.
Blogging is practically a business necessity nowadays and is featured in most solid marketing plans. If like most businesses these days you require a solid online presence to drive sales, then a blog can be key to building your reach.
Some reasons why you should include blogging in your marketing plan
Brand personality
People don’t like faceless companies. People like people, so show them yours. Put a face to your business in order to make it more friendly and relatable. Your brand’s personality will help you stand out in your industry and make you more memorable.
Lure traffic
The word lure might sound a bit shady. It’s not, honest. You want traffic and people want freebies. Lure people in by giving them free information in the form of blog content and people will start to come to your website in search of it. Some of them might convert but if not then you’ve still built up traffic and reputation.
SEO
Regular blogging helps you out in search engine rankings, meaning you’re going to be seen by more people and potentially get more conversions. If more people come to your blog and share your content the search engines will start to look favourably on you as a trusted source worthy of a higher rank.
Authority
Blogging about your industry places you as an industry expert. It makes you seem more trustworthy and reliable. Who would you rather buy from, a company who has a neglected online presence or one who regularly shares news and advice on relevant products and services? If people start to associate you with reliable information and expertise, they are more likely to trust you with their outsourcing or sales.
So you want to know what it takes to build a company blog
Before you go blog mad and write about anything and everything you need a plan and some sense of purpose. You need to know why you’re blogging and what you hope to achieve with your blog. Gone are the days where you could fill posts with spammy keywords in order to trick the search engines. You shouldn’t want to trick them. Tricks won’t build a loyal reader or customer base.
Neither will a bored blogger. How can you expect people to be engaged with your blog if your blogger isn’t? A genuine interest in the industry and an interest in engagement are both important for building a successful business blog.
Get online
Don’t just rely on blogging. Get on social media and talk to people about your industry. Other social media platforms are crucial for sharing your blog and content. They’re easier and quicker ways of reaching your audience.
Don’t just share your own content. The whole point of this is to build engagement and just promoting yourself isn’t going to be very popular. Imagine it like a conversation where you only ever talk about yourself. Share content from other people, things that you think will benefit anyone interested in your industry.
How to maintain your blog
The key to successful blogging is consistency. There’s no point in just blogging when inspiration strikes because you’ll soon run out of steam and eventually the blog will start to die out. Try to have a plan for which days you post or how often you want to publish new content. On the days you are feeling more inspired, try to come up with a few ideas that you can use at a later date when you’re feeling less than inspired.
Ways to come up with new ideas
- Take a look at your competitors and what they’re doing with their blogs. Don’t copy but it can be a good way to kick start your own ideas.
- Ask your readers for ideas on what they would like to see you cover in your next blog post.
- Keep up to date with industry news and write informative or opinion based articles
When blogging it’s important to always think about your audience. It can be tempting to just think about how you can benefit your business, but your business relies on people and they need to see the value in what you do or they will go elsewhere.
In order to provide value it’s important to imagine what you would want as a customer or reader. If you were a reader what sort of information would you find interesting or useful for building your own business?