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There are a myriad of benefits to blog writing for your business as well as some great SEO advantages. Below are the three reasons I find most compelling.
#1. Custom platform to interact with your customers and site visitors-
Let’s face it word of mouth from friends and family is about the best sales pitch any business can get. Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touch points when it comes to influencing purchases. This should not be news to anyone savvy in marketing. In fact, a study done some years back at Publicis media network ZenithOptimedia confirmed just this in a comprehensive project comprising over 300,000 interviews across 34 countries covering more than 4,000 brands.
So what can you do to get a leg up on the “friends and family” competition? Well, you can write a blog of course! A company blog doesn’t have to be a “shout out loud” sales pitch either, in fact, the less overtly you try to sell the more people will continue reading your blog. Talk to people about things that matter to them, in a way that highlights what your company is about without overtly “selling.” For instance, if you sell car insurance, why not add a car enthusiast’s blog to your website? Load it with great pictures of your favorite new cars, trends in the auto industry or articles about ways car owners can save money. At some point a conversation is sure to spring up around one of your articles and you’ll be seen as an authority on the topic of cars- any car insurance agents dream! Image Source: New Pen – Flickr
#2. SEO benefits galore-
The Search Engine Optimization benefits from blogging are huge. Dare I say, it’s the best DIY SEO strategy known to the interwebs. Why? Here are a couple of SEO benefits you will get from blogging:
1. Generates Backlinks To Your Site
2. Boosts Traffic
Every good SEO knows rankings are all about quality backlinks. For the rest of us, a blog can be a great option to stay on top of the competition without a lot of SEO knowledge. BY making connections with other site owners whose interests compliment yours, you’ll have the opportunity to help each other with a link exchange or other promotional activities surrounding your niche.
If you want to boost traffic, build links and update content regularly. The more people that link to you, the more customers will find you and the more great content you produce the more people will want to link to you. One reinforces the other. Also, search engines will crawl your site more regularly if you have fresh content (and are smart about keyword rich content ). Having search engines crawl your site and take note of your products, services and blog will give a huge boost to your rankings.
#3. It’s a great partner for social media marketing-
2012 is all about the social networks. If you aren’t utilizing them to market your business, you are falling behind your competition. @ThreeShipsMedia did a hilarious infographic on instagram that spells it out cleverly. Your content can be shared, tweeted, +1 ‘ed and liked all across the internet making it reachable for millions upon millions of readers and potential customers. If your content or image goes viral, that’s millions of potential backlinks to your site.
Hopefully I have been able to help you make your decision to start working on getting your blog up and running, now! WordPress or Blogger offer fast, and easy solutions if you don’t know how to code. If you really want to stand out from the pack though, think about getting your blog professionally designed and integrated into your website so your visitors experience is seamless.
 Kim Clark joined VIA Studio in 2008, and quickly became the go-to-gal for Project Management and Content Strategy. Kim helps clients navigate the trials and tribulations of web development Louisville, and beyond with the experience of a seasoned pro. She has a deep understanding of the tools of the trade -social media, website analytic trend data and search engine marketing strategies. |
About James
Business will always be about the personal touch. Having a blog where customers and potential customers can interact with you, and say what’s on their minds (both positive and negative) has got to be a plus.
Right off the bat, point number 1 where you shared ‘A company blog doesn’t have to be a “shout out loud” sales pitch either, in fact, the less overtly you try to sell the more people will continue reading your blog. ‘
This has proven true in my case. The subjects I write about are interesting to people who may not be looking to purchase anything at the time. But they are returning back on a weekly bases to see what will be the latest or newest post. Has this translated into people acquiring my product? “Yes” Again, nice post. Regards James
I believe that if you interact with your customers and site visitors through your blog AS WELL, you are going to be takes MORE serious actually. Great points!
With the Blog in place, we have the opportunity to add new content targeting at our primary and secondary keywords. Better still write with relevancy in mind, supplemented by LSI keywords. Write for your users in mind though we want to balance it with SEO optimization in mind.