“We should start a blog.”
If your business earned a nickel every time someone on the marketing or management team said this phrase, you’d probably be the head of a Fortune 500 company and sipping mimosas on your private yacht in the Caribbean.
Okay, well maybe you don’t think about blogging quite that much, but the point is that starting a business blog commonly falls into the category of good ideas without follow-through – just like those pesky New Years resolutions.
An estimated 40% of US companies use blogs for marketing purposes, meaning a majority of businesses still aren’t blogging.
If you are one of these companies, then this article is for you.
Sometimes all you need though is a little motivation to help kick your rear into gear…and SEO Advantage is happy to help!
Listed below are 21 reasons we’ve brainstormed and curated from the web on why your business should stop making excuses and start a company blog, beginning with a biggie…
Why should my business blog?
1. Blogging Boosts SEO
Search engines love it when websites frequently post fresh, valuable and informative content. If you make the search engines happy, they’ll make you happy with page 1 listings and top search positions. So exactly why do companies who blog regularly rank better in Google? For starters, blogs give websites on average 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links.
2. Proof That You Know What You’re Talking About
You may know your stuff when it comes to your service, product or industry, but a new customer may not. Writing technical blogs jam packed with expert advice helps position your business as an industry authority and a thought leader.
3. Attract New Customers
HubSpot reports that 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers than companies that don’t. They also found that 54% more leads are generated by inbound marketing tactics than traditional paid marketing.
4. Encourage Social Media Engagement
Frequently published blogs can serve as the heart and soul of your social media marketing efforts, which in turns boosts customer engagement, brand loyalty, and ultimately revenue. Sharing new blog content on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – as well as in email marketing campaigns, newsletters, e-books – can be a huge aid to your ongoing inbound content marketing efforts.
5. Blogging Humanizes You
Creating a blog gives you a place to show people the true spirit and personality at the core of your organization. By sharing your experiences, talking about new products, and weighing in on industry news, customers can get a glimpse into what your business is all about. In essence, blogging gives your company a voice.
6. It’s Free PR
Businesses with blogs are frequently interviewed by members of the media because they are considered industry experts and thought leaders. That’s free buzz!
7. Stay On Target
Starting and maintaining a blog not only helps keep you focused on your content marketing strategy, but also your business’s focus as a whole. In order to blog, you have to know who your target audience is and what they want to know. This knowledge can help inform your entire team to make sure you are taking full advantage of all your lead opportunities.
8. A Blog Keeps You Sharp
Having a blog forces you to use your noggin and think about the latest trends, industry news, your customers and the world as a whole. Blogging also helps you stay ahead of the competition and positions your business as a leader rather than a follower.
9. Build Confidence
By providing regular and reliable content about your industry, you are helping to build greater confidence in your brand and trust with consumers.
10. Blogs are Cost-Effective
In terms of an investment, blogging is one of the best ones you can make. The average company saves $20K per year by investing more in inbound marketing vs. outbound says HubSpot. Each published post requires minimal time and provides long-term benefits to your business by promoting your brand, expertise and products or services. Many leads come from blog posts that were published months and sometimes years ago.
11. Get to Know Your Customers
Through blog analytics, you can gain key insights into your audience and customer base by tracking what topics receive the most shares and comments.
12. Attract Inbound Links
Your search engine rankings and position are directly impacted by your site’s inbound link profile. With well-written and densely informative blog posts, attracting high quality links is easier. These links increase your referral traffic and overall SEO profile.
13. Keywords Come Easy with Blogging
Filling your site with high-yield keywords is essential to ranking for the search terms you are trying to capture. A blog is the perfect platform for targeting short-tail and long-tail keywords in a way that is natural and organic.
14. Use Your Blog for Cheap Trial Runs
A secondary benefit of having a business blog is that it can serve as cheap way to test out new campaigns before investing much money or time into creating them.
15. Open the Communication Lines
Maintaining a blog is one of the best ways to communicate with your audience in a more personal and conversation way. A good blog is like a two-way conversation between a company and consumers, allowing you to receive feedback and offer advice. Just be sure to respond timely to comments and answer any questions your customers may have.
16. Expand Your Network
In addition to growing your subscribers and readership by posting highly informative and relevant content, blogging can help you expand your professional network and get to know your industry peers.
17. Boost Company Morale
When each person on the team has to contribute to a business’s content marketing efforts, they often feel a greater sense of unification and momentum. Blogging makes everyone feel like they are an important part of the team.
18. Improve Lead Quality
In addition to increasing the quantity of leads, blogging can also enhance the quality of leads your sales team receives. According to HubSpot, marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI. Producing informative content helps customers learn more about your company and the product/service you offer before inquiring or making a purchase decision.
19. Maintain Your Online Reputation
A blog is a business’s first weapon in their online reputation management arsenal. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, companies have direct control over their blogging platform and can give more detailed responses to damaging criticism and feedback than they could on social media.
20. Blogging Gives You an Edge
In a competitive industry like yours, you need all the tricks you can to gain an advantage over the competition. Blogging makes you stand apart from your business rivals.
21. Blogging is Fun!
Last but not least, blogging is fun and inspiring! No seriously. Everyone likes to be listened to, and your blog can be the place to offer your expert opinion on controversial, exciting and trendy topics. Have fun with it – just make sure you’re still maintaining a sense of professionalism.
Over to You
Now that you have this knowledge, what are you going to do with it? If your business isn’t blogging yet, we encourage you to start one as soon as possible. With easy-to-use tools like WordPress and HubSpot, jumping into the blogging game is simple. Getting started is the hard part. Set yourself an achievable goal (like 2 blog posts a week), make a schedule and stick to it!
If you or your team simply don’t have enough time in the day to blog yourself, consider our professional SEO copywriting services.
For those of you who are already blogging, hopefully this list served as an affirmation of your hard work. Now keep it up! And if you can think of any other benefits of business blogging not listed above, feel free to drop us a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
Michael Roderick says
Great article! I was impressed with some of the statistics I had not heard of before, especially regarding lead quality and inbound marketing savings.