What has happened to blogging recently?
At one time, starting a blog was one of the only online tools that everyday people tended to use for self-discovery and written socialization. It helped them hone their reading and writing skills while meeting new people, giving or receiving inspiration, and potentially facing their fears of putting their thoughts into the world.
As our lives have become more digitized, social media has taken over much of online communication. Users of social media sites can post detailed personal updates and comments within virtual communities they forge through friends, followers, likes, and shares. Plenty of times, they also share blog posts they find interesting.
Nowadays, these blogs are often written by business teams rather than private individuals. Businesses can see significant benefits by regularly posting industry or company news and how-to articles to their blogs; 77% of bloggers report that blogging brings them results, which is likely why more of them have continued to blog in recent years.
So, want to learn more about why why blogging is important? Here are four reasons blogging for business can increasingly help you and your team succeed.
1. Blogging helps you provide valuable information to potential customers.
Your customers are always looking for valuable information and typically appreciate it when experts within businesses offer this type of content to them. By writing engaging, informative blog posts, you can show customers that you care about them and their needs.
Google’s Helpful Content Update Shows Why Blogging Is Important
In late August of this year, Google recently released an update to its search algorithm called Helpful Content in an effort to make informative content visible to users. The update will penalize sites with “low-quality” content while promoting posts and pages that are useful and informative. Although it is too early to determine the long-term results of this update, it is hopefully a welcome change, as it promises to improve the quality of search results and help businesses that help their customers.
Helpful Content is just one of many updates to Google’s search algorithm, and it will profoundly impact how users find information online. If your site has informative blog posts, now is the time to make sure that they are optimized in other ways for Google search to reach new heights.
2. It can improve SEO rankings.
In order for customers to find your website, it needs to rank on the first few pages when they type relevant search terms into search engines.
Features of Searchable Blog Posts
Blogging for business helps improve your search engine optimization (SEO) by providing fresh content that contains relevant keywords, linking to authoritative sources that can lend credibility to your brand, and receiving backlinks from people and companies that find your business influential!
Extensive posts offer additional advantages. Long-form content — typically over a thousand words — gets nearly 80% more backlinks from other websites than short articles.
Of course, long posts aren’t necessary, and blogging is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to SEO. Other factors can influence your website’s rankings, such as the structure of the rest of your website, its page speed, mobile optimization, and more.
If you’re looking for a place to start, however, blogging is a great way to improve your SEO and attract more visitors.
3. It’s known to drive other types of lead-generating traffic to your website.
As I’ve previously suggested, you and your supporters can share your well-written blog post on social media and other websites — or even digital ads — driving traffic back to your site. This increased traffic can result in more customers and sales.
Characteristics of Shareable Blog Posts
To be effective, though, yours must be well-written and relevant to your target audience. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing readers’ attention.
Here are a few tips to help you write a highly shareable blog post that will drive traffic and generate leads:
- Start with a catchy headline.
- Write in a clear, concise, and easy-to-read style.
- Use lists, images, infographics, and videos to break up your text and add visual interest.
Given that you support your credentials and/or experience with these methods, plus many more, your customers will likely respect what you do and regard you as an authority in your field. It might provide the confirmation they need to start working with you or refer others to you.
4. Reputable blogs build loyal relationships.
At its core, blogging stays true to its initial intentions since it allows you to connect with your customers and build relationships with them. By insightful and relatable posts, you can create bonds with your readers that will build trust and keep them coming back.
How else are you connecting with your customers? I’m open to hearing all about your plans for promoting your business on the web and in the real world. Reach out for a conversation about why blogging is important for your business that’s illuminating for both of us!