As a business person in today’s economic climate, you have to maximize every tool available to bring traffic to your website. Your time is limited, as are your resources for additional technology. One of the ways you can extend your reach without a huge investment in either time or money is to add blog articles to your website’s digital marketing efforts. It does require the addition of consistent, high-quality content and intentional monitoring and follow-up, but the returns over time will be well worth the effort.
Blogs have gone through several lifespans already in the world of digital marketing. After being the darling of every expert on the planet, they fell out of grace for a period of time. Now the concept is in a resurgence, primarily as a solid information tool rather than a fluff piece as previously.
Before we get to the six reasons, let’s get this out of the way: Your blog should be a page on your current business website, not on a new site. You already have the website created, it is hopefully optimized for search engines (SEO), and the site has probably already been indexed by those search engines. Why start over with a separate site, where you will have to create it, have it optimized, and then build an audience around it all over again? Simply adding a blog page (or a “News” tab or “Press” or “Resources”, you can call it whatever you want) to the platform you already have makes more sense for several reasons.
In this article, we’ve broken down six of those top reasons it’s a good idea for you and your business to join the resurgence in blogs. Let’s take a look:
The Top 6 Reasons a Blog Page Pays Off:
#1 – It will give new life to your search engine results.
All things get stale after a while. Your goal is to bring new customers to your site and then convince them to buy what you sell. One way to place higher on search engine results and boost your SEO efforts is to provide fresh content in a dedicated place on your website. When blog content is done properly, not only does it increase your business’ relevancy and authority in your website visitors’ eyes but also Google’s eyes. This is especially true when strategic keywords are used within the content to coincide with what people are actively searching.
When your business website begins to place higher in the search engine results because of these content/keyword strategies, it is more likely to be clicked and you’ve just increased your pool of potential customers. All because you’ve added something new to your website.
#2 – People listen to (and buy from) an expert.
You know a lot about your product or service. You probably love it more than most because you decided to spend all your time on it. A blog gives you an avenue to share that knowledge. Be consistent with your posts, include tips and tricks and unique ways to look at or use your product, and people will begin to seek you out. Hopefully both on the blog and then wherever it is you sell what you love, either on your website or at your physical place of business.
#3 – Your blog can help build relationships with your website visitors.
Business is built on relationships. Customers who feel valued return to you for solid information and to buy what you sell. Your blog is the way to reach people, both return customers as well as potential buyers.
Your website is necessary in today’s world of commerce, but it is a static platform. People find you, spend time on your site, maybe leave their contact information, decide to buy or not, and then leave. A blog on your website offers a way for visitors to reach out and connect with who your company is and what you offer them. This gives them a reason to come back: to continue a conversation with you.
#4 – Linking your blog articles to your social media creates synergy.
Although it’s easy to view each piece of your marketing strategy in isolation, they are designed to work as cogs in the wheel of sales. Your website either allows customers to buy through the site or sends them to a physical location to buy.
Bringing internet visitors to your website, then, is critical. Two of the tools to accomplish that are social media—with billions of viewers each day—and a blog on your website. They find you, they come, they begin a dialogue with you through your blog, and then they buy. Even better is that they share your blog on social media with others if it offers solid content. Content that is shared adds another layer of readers who are being pointed back to your website. Those new visitors will hopefully become regular readers, sharers, and buyers, too. And the cycle continues.
#5 – A blog page gathers valuable information for your business.
Your email or newsletter marketing campaign relies on a constant flow of contact information. Where does it all come from? One strong source can be your blog on your website. As you raise your visibility on search engines, new visitors will visit your site daily. Once they are there, offer solid, dense content (1,500 to 3,000-word blog articles provide that) and then offer a newsletter, a free white paper, or even entry into a contest in exchange for contact information. You are building trust and relationships with people every day, the lifeblood of your business.
#6 – Data supports the value of a blog page.
Companies that invest the time to add a blog page to their website increase visitors to the site: 55% more in fact. Those numbers are significant and can’t be ignored. Your blog will be an additional page of valuable content on your website, which increases your chance of search engines finding it.
Here are a few more stats (from OptinMonster) to support the addition of a blog to your website:
- Almost 410 million people view more than 20 billion pages monthly.
- There are lots of people commenting on blog posts: 70 million posts to be exact.
- 43% of readers skim blog posts. One of those blogs should be yours.
- One popular blog site generates 70 million posts each month.
Optimize Your Business Website’s Reach Through Blog Content
As you can see, it makes business sense to have a blog page on your website. It doesn’t have to cost much in time or money to create it and then add solid content. You can involve your employees in choosing topics and ask them to share their related specialties in the blog. You are reinforcing teamwork and involvement among your staff.
If you do not have the time or manpower to build out a quality blog page on your site and keep it updated with fresh, relevant content, a professional digital marketing agency can handle that for you. And the rewards are supported by the numbers: Marketing campaigns that include a solid blog have a 13% increase in a positive return on investment.
My KPI has the knowledge and experience to help create and manage all parts of your marketing plan, including a high-quality blog. Let us help; contact My KPI today!
