6 Critical Benefits of Blogging for Business
What, exactly, is a blog?
Why is blogging important for my business?
I hear these two questions pretty frequently. And I get it—as a small business owner, you’re wondering if blogging is worth your own time or worth the budget of hiring someone to do it. After all, do people care? Do they even read anymore? (I was once told by a former manager that they don’t when discussing our company’s blog strategy. *cue face palm*)
Regardless of what you may have heard, blogging for your business is very much alive. Ok, maybe not the same kind of blogging people were doing in 2004, but honestly that’s for the best. I mean, do you even remember those early-2000s websites?
That’s why in this post I’m tackling:
A clear definition of a business blog
Six main benefits of blogging for business
A few tips for making the most of your blog content
So whether you’re the owner of your company deciding if blogging is worth it or a marketer searching for support to present to your boss when pitching her the idea of blogging, I gotchu.
What is a business blog?
HubSpot’s definition of business blogging is simple:
“Business blogging is a marketing tactic that uses blogging to get your business more online visibility. A business blog is a marketing channel (just like social media, direct mail, email marketing, etc.) that helps support business growth.”
Typically, your blog is a section of your website and lives in your navigation, or main menu, so that visitors can easily find it. For example, my blog is chabotcreative.com/blog and you’ll see a link to it as the last item on my menu.
What are the Benefits of Blogging for Business?
From driving traffic to your website to sales support, blogging plays an important role in your marketing strategy and the overall growth of your business.
Build a Connection with Your Audience
Your blog is a great tool to help you and your audience get to know one another. It gives your organization the chance to:
Demonstrate your authority and expertise in your field
Share your company’s values and behind-the-scenes moments
Show what sets you apart from competitors
Blogging also opens up another line of communication with your customers. Encourage conversations in the comments to gain insight into them through their questions, concerns, feedback, and ideas.
Your sales and customer service teams can also use your business blog as a repository of content to share with both potential and existing customers who reach out with questions or concerns. Just imagine how legit’ you’ll look using quality resources created by your own brand!
At the end of the day, your blog is an effective method for establishing trust with your customers.
Learn More About Your Customers
In addition to engaging with your customers in the comments, you can monitor your blog on Google Analytics to get to know them on a more detailed level.
When tracking your blog’s performance, consider:
Traffic to each post
Comments on the blog
Comments on social media posts linking to blog articles
This can give you an idea of areas people are especially curious about or need extra help with, which could spin off into an additional blog post or two!
Grow Your Business
Studies show that audiences trust your business more after reading your blog and other custom content. (Someone please tell this to that manager who tried to tell me no one reads anymore.)
Check out these stats from HubSpot:
Businesses that use blogs as part of their content marketing mix get 67% more leads than those that don’t.
Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.
This is because customers feel more comfortable and engaged with your company after reading your custom content, which often turns them into leads. You can also generate leads by including CTAs for valuable freebies, like an e-book or free consultation.
Improve Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines reward websites for providing consistent, high-quality content (with relevant keywords, of course) that helps searchers and answers their questions. Here are a couple more cool statistics:
Companies that blog have a 434% higher chance of ranking highly on search engines than companies that don’t. (TechClient)
1 in 10 blog posts is compounding, meaning organic search increases their traffic over time. (HubSpot)
So no, your blog post is not a set-it-and-forget-it deal! Even older posts will keep bringing value as long as the content is relevant and helpful. To ensure this is the case with your blog posts, create evergreen content that you can update regularly to keep up with the trends of your industry.
And remember what I said earlier about blogging today vs. blogging 10+ years ago? Another great way to strengthen the SEO of each blog post is to incorporate other types of content, like graphics, photos, and quality videos. Search engines looove this stuff!
Create a Library of Social Media Content
Every time you write a new blog post, you should be linking to them on social media to drive more traffic to your site and generating more engagement on all platforms. Sharing your brand’s original content looks even better than constantly sharing content from everyone else.
Another option? Repurpose your business blog content for social media posts by breaking it up into bite-sized bits of info over multiple posts. This might be more effective for platforms like Instagram, where linking is more limited. You could even discuss one point from the blog in an Instagram caption, then include a line like “For the full blog post on [topic], tap the link in our bio!”
Grow Your Email List
Any business owner or marketer today knows that giving an email address doesn’t come freely or easily. After all, we’re bombarded with thousands of messages in every form, every day—who needs more?! So businesses need to ensure they’re adding real value to their subscribers’ lives.
BUT, once someone reads your blog and sees the quality of your content, they’ll be more apt to subscribe to your newsletter. Offering something of value for free, as mentioned above, will also help nudge them along. Make sure it’s something that will make their lives easier, like a free template or guide (HubSpot and Digital Marketer do a great job with this).
Then, you can use your newsletter to offer promotions specifically for subscribers, advertise new products and/or services, and share company updates. Plus, you can link to your most recent blog posts to continue providing your audience with free, helpful content.
Blogging for Business: Alive and Worth It
These six powerful benefits of blogging for business make it clear that this tactic is a vital part of your content marketing strategy. While you won’t see results overnight and an effective blog requires time, research, and planning, the long-term perks for your business are 100% worth it.
Does your business blog? What is the most significant benefit you’ve seen as a result of your blogging efforts? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Need a copywriter to skyrocket your blog strategy? Contact Chabot Creative today for a free consultation!