Blogging is now a mainstream online marketing activity, and the benefits that can be gained from blogging are great. But, I still regularly meet business owners who are reluctant to start a blog. The main reasons being ‘what do I write about’ and ‘I haven’t got the time’! So, if you’re in this camp, then here are 5 compelling reasons to get started:
1. Low Cost
It may take up some of your time, but setting up a blog can cost nothing at all. Zero. In fact, you can set up a whole website based on WordPress with static web pages as well as the blog page. If money is a reason, then you can discount it immediately. Blogging is a very effective, low cost marketing tool.
2. Raises Your Profile
You can significantly raise your profile online with a blog, particularly if you work as a consultant. Writing quality content on your industry niche ensures you show off your depth of knowledge, particularly if you really have something to say and interact with people who are interested. You will need to dedicate time to this, posting something every day, as your audience will be waiting in anticipation for your views and insight!
3. Builds a Community
Regularly writing quality posts about your industry niche, whether you’re a consultant or an e-commerce site will build a community. You’ll soon find loyal customers as well as new visitors taking interest in what you’ve got to say and what’s going on within your business. Take the time to respond and interact to your audience and you’ll soon find your blog will elevate your business in terms of brand recognition and increased sales. Many companies are becoming very clever about how they’re interacting with their audiences and finding the time to do this is really paying off.
4. Increases Visibility in Search Engines
I expect many of you have noticed that blog posts often rank well in search engines, because you’ve clicked through to so many blogs from the search results. Blogs that are posted on regularly often rank well and search engines really like blogs because of the freshness of content. Your blog can ensure you’re found for even more keyword searches than your static website so is an additional source of traffic. Make the most of this and research keywords in your niche that could give you ideas for new blog posts.
5. Customer Relations / PR
Your blog is the voice of your business. It adds a personal touch, that there are real people behind the business with views and voices. This means that those people can talk to website visitors in a human way, however large or small the company. Make sure you spent time interacting with visitors to your blog, use it to put your views on something, particularly if your business has been in the press for whatever reason. If you get negative comments that’s part of the conversation too, so don’t discount or remove them (unless it’s obviously spam or plain insulting). The nature of having a blog is that you’re open to a response, whether good or bad, and you need to make sure you take on the true spirit of blogging if you’re going to use it for PR purposes.
I hope that some of these reasons have convinced you to try it out if you haven’t yet, and don’t forget, blogging is fun, so make sure you have fun with it!
