Have you ever heard a business owner talking about their blog and thought "didn't we leave blogging back in 2012?". The short answer: no!
The longer answer? Blogging is more relevant than ever in 2021, and has massive potential for growing your business. Whatever your industry, writing blog posts can give your brand a boost. In this post, I'm covering 5 powerful reasons you should start blogging for your business sooner rather than later.
Position Yourself as an Expert
One of the biggest benefits of adding a blog to your marketing strategy is that it gives you a real opportunity to position yourself as an expert in the industry. We're living in a time when most industries are fairly saturated, and standing out online can be tricky.
Give your business a boost above the competition by taking all of the knowledge you have accumulated, and finding engaging ways to share it.
You know your business inside out, right? And you're passionate about the industry you're in? Well then - show that by creating content around it!
Consistently blogging for your business tells your audience that you are continuing to invest in your industry, and that you know your stuff. What an incredible opportunity!
How to do it...
Before jumping in, ask yourself - what are your real areas of expertise? To make it easier to get started, take some time to write down a list of potential topics you could cover.
Here's an example! I have a social media client who sells plastic free, cruelty free, vegan beauty products. She, then, has several key topics: Beauty Tips. Product Spotlights. Veganism. Sustainability.
Once you have your key categories noted down, you'll find the individual post topics begin to flow. You want to ensure that your topics are a) interesting and b) relevant for your ideal client or customer. Remember that your customers don't know the ins and outs of the industry the way you do! So something you might think of as obvious or mundane could be a massive lightbulb moment for a potential customer.
Improve Your Website SEO
Okay - here's the big one. The main reason, in my view, blogging for your business is a must. You thought I'd keep this one till last, didn't you!
Having an active blog on your website can help boost your website SEO, and help improve your Google Search Rankings. It can put your brand on the map, and get you in front of potential customers as soon as they jump on to Google.
No brainer, right? Simply by creating regular content for your blog, you are giving your website the best possible chance of being seen by your ideal client.
How does it work?
Google regularly does something called indexing, which basically means it crawls through all of the content online looking for new information and keywords.
The more regularly you add well optimised content to your website, the more Google has to find. This means you are more likely to appear in searches!
If you are unlikely to be regularly adding lots of new products or services to your website, it makes it tricky to be living up to Google's expectations! A blog is a perfect way around this.
Generate Social Media Content
Struggling to stay consistent on social media? You're not alone!
Coming up with new posts for your social media can be exhausting. Generating blog content, however, gives you the opportunity to repurpose one post into several pieces of social media content! A time saving exercise, if ever there was one.
Even better if the post is "evergreen" (a.k.a always relevant/not time specific) - you can repurpose this content over and over again!
How to repurpose your blog content
Scheduling content in advance is extremely useful and can help you save lots of time every week. Take some time to sit down and plan out your monthly content.
Take a blog post and break it up into the key paragraphs. Tweak the wording to ensure it flows as an individual caption, and create a nice accompanying graphic. You can do this four or five times with one post, depending on the length. Just make sure you're scheduling these posts far enough apart that it doesn't become repetitive for your followers!
But you put time and effort (and money, if you outsource the writing) into that content, so don't be afraid to make the most of it!
Collaborate with other Businesses
Ever look at other businesses which complement yours and wish there was a way for you to work together? A blog collaboration is the perfect start! Just another of the many perks of blogging for your business.
While competitions, giveaways and even collaborations on products are fantastic down the track, a free way to start building that relationship could be through your blog. It allows your business and theirs to access a new, relevant following, benefitting both brands and their customers!
Get them on the blog!
Interviewing the business owner or their team on your blog is a lovely way to kick off a mutually beneficial working relationship.
You could invite them to write a guest post (and, potentially, write a guest post of your own for them, if they have a blog!), or send them some interesting questions to answer. When they share the post, it's a great, organic introduction to their audience. Any further collaborations will then feel like a natural progression.
Earn the Trust of Potential Customers
This is a crucial one. By blogging for your business, you give yourself a great opportunity to start earning the trust of your potential customers. When they find value in your content, they begin to trust you. And as we all know, trust is key in any relationship!
Giving your audience access to tips, tricks and genuine guidance can work wonders. Think back yourself - how often have you followed a business because they shared something that genuinely helped you?
It's all about the long term
Picture this - you're an accountant, and you start a blog offering finance tips.
A potential customer googles "tips for submitting my tax return" and finds your blog post. It really helps her and she bookmarks it for later. Over the months, she comes to your blog several more times for your great guidance and follows you on social.
The next year, she wants a trusted accountant to take over her business finances. Who do you think she'll approach?!
Have I convinced you?
So there you have it! My top 5 reasons why blogging for your business can be hugely beneficial! I hope this list has given you some food for thought.
Creating blog content for your business might not necessarily give you the instant gratification that an instagram post gives you. We can all be guilty of thinking that the successful parts of our strategy are the more tangible ones - a social media post with hundreds of likes that gives us an ago boost. But the truth is, often the more unassuming pieces of work (like blog content) are what is really building our business up on a consistent basis.
You just need to take the leap!
Thanks so much for reading. If you got all the way here, I have a special reward for you! Sign up to my mailing list here to receive a free downloadable with 7 Blogging Prompts to help you get started!
Thanks for reading!
