If you are like most small business owners, you probably already read a couple of blogs. Everyone from leading business authors to large scale corporations are using blogs to share stories, opinions, and daily updates with online readers.
Improved Search Engine Rankings
many small business owners mistakenly think that once they have a website up, they can just forget about it. Unfortunately, online marketing is not quite that simple. The reality is that search engines like Google and Yahoo love new content. Over time, your site is ranking in the search engines will drop unless you update your content. To attract potential customers, fresh online content is necessary! This seems simple enough, except for the fact that mastery of HTML is often required to make these updates on a typical business website! Alternatively, blogging tools such as WordPress are easy to use. Any business owner who is familiar with Microsoft Word can add fresh content to a blog. In addition, this fresh content can help a business be found and indexed by search engines. This translates into more customers finding the site!
Brand Awareness
for most businesses, it typically takes multiple brand “touches” before a sale is made. Blogging is an effective touch that can go into the marketing mix along with advertising, marketing collateral, social media, signage, and personal contact. Customers need to see your brand in a variety of locations before making a purchasing decision, and having a blog provides that extra touch that can make the difference between a sale and no sale.
Authority
A blog gives you the ability to highlight your knowledge and expertise. Through informational articles and videos, you can impress potential buyers and communicate that you know what you are talking about. This translates into increased brand value. In addition, when people are looking beyond the lowest price to find actual more return on their investment, a blog can be a particularly handy marketing tool.
Integration with Social Media
A blog can serve as the centerpiece of a well-rounded social media strategy that includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms where you can communicate with both existing and potential customers. Through social media buttons on your website and blog, these various communication tools can be easily integrated and linked together to create a powerful way to enable information to flow and your marketing message to be heard. Ultimately, the integration that stems from the blog will grow your customer base and increase the visibility of your brand.
Community
Blogging opens your business up to a community of fellow bloggers and readers who are following what you are saying and supporting your efforts. They post comments, questions, and tips, and through these good-will gestures, new business is often found. As you add posts, this community will grow, and you will be introduced to a variety of new individuals and opportunities that you would not have otherwise have been exposed to by just having a static website.
If you have been pondering the thought of starting a blog for your business, there are many reasons why you might want to jump in and get started. Yes, it may seem time consuming at first to publish posts, but it is also fun and a great way to grow your business’s online presence.