Today we’re getting meta with a blog about blogging.
There are many articles out in cyberspace saying that blogging reached its peak between 2006 and 2008 and has been on the decline ever since. So why are we bothering to write the article today? Why should we keep blogging?
The way blogs function has changed. The hobby blogs of 2007 have grown into full websites. WordPress, which started as a humble blogging platform is now a full-on website host, with a well thought out content management system (CMS), and can support nearly every single function you might need. So today we’re not talking about a hobby blog or a website that contains only blogs, we’re talking about how blogging can support your website and your business goals.
1. SEO. Blogging is essential to good SEO. Search engines love fresh content, but it’s not realistic to change the pages on your website with much regularity. After all, you’ve probably spent ages getting your pages to say exactly what you want them to say, you don’t want to change them every month! Blogging is a great way of getting the newest, most relevant content onto your website ready for search engines to find and present to your potential customers. The even better news? The more people click onto your blog, the more highly it will rank! The popularity of a page is taken into account by search engines, so make sure your blogs are engaging, relevant and have a snappy, clickable title.
2. What better way to demonstrate that you really are an expert in your field than to blog about it? It doesn’t matter what your company does, this is true across all industries. If you can write brilliant content that clearly communicates and shares your knowledge and experience, it’s going to let your customers know that you’re someone to trust. Someone who has the edge over a competitor who hasn’t taken the time to share the benefit of their experience. That relationship of trust has already started before your customer has even made the decision to speak to you!
3. Your blog is a great tool to drive people onto your website. Use your blog to inspire content for newsletters and social media posts to entice people over to your website. Did you know that social media is a search engine too? If you connect your blog to your Facebook page, you’ve given your potential clients one more place to find your business. Intriguing posts promising to tell more on the blog are a sure-fire way to lure people from social media onto your website, which is where you really want them! Previewing the first paragraph of your blog in a newsletter is another brilliant way to drive clients (and potential clients) already interacting with your brand across the internet onto your website.
4. Your blog is a great place to sell! If you can talk about an item and why it is great, or bring it into a conversation explaining why it might solve a problem, then you’re giving yourself a better chance to sell it. Blogs are a great way to explore the applications of your product. Say you design jewelry and you really want to tap into the wedding market. Write a blog packed full of wedding-related keywords and give brides the opportunity to stumble across your product whilst wedding planning and realise you’ve got something; they didn’t know they needed. Until now!
5. Build relationships with other suppliers. Collaborate on blogs, have guest bloggers, guest write on other people’s pages. Why should you do this? If you’re collaborating with someone else who has a similar-sized audience to you or supports the same type of clients as you, and you’re featuring each other on your blogs, you’ve potentially doubled your reach! I say potentially because the thing to remember here is you need to find someone to collaborate whose voice will appeal to your audience, so there’s likely to be some overlap in your respective audiences. Even if you take away the benefits of an increased reach. Collaborating means a helping hand creating fresh content for your site.
And lastly, blogging gives you a little bit of extra motivation to stay at the top of your game in terms of knowing current affairs and developments in your field. Setting aside the time to maintain a blog allows you to set aside the time and learn more about what you do. And have a good ROI at the same time!
We know that maintaining a blog can be time-consuming, after all, you need to be updating your blog every few weeks to get the benefits. Luckily, the Bauhinia team are highly experienced in writing dynamic, informative blogs and would love to write yours!
There are many ways we can assist you with your business administration or marketing needs. Feel free to schedule a call with Nicole and explore how we can support you.
