One of the best things that a business can do for their online marketing strategy is to start a blog. Many businesses know they should be doing this but some aren’t sure what a blog really is.
A great definition of a blog (thanks Hubspot) is “a website with frequently updated content on a specific keyword or topic”. The two main messages here are: frequently updated and specific topic.
Frequently Updated
Blogs are an excellent way to regularly and consistently keep your website updated. While your About Us and Contact pages may rarely change, your site will still appear to be ‘alive’ in the eyes of the search engines because you keep adding to it regularly. This is important to both your customers and for your SEO.
Specific Topic
Here at Communication Artistry we talk about a variety of topics while trying to stay within the realm of marketing and communications for small business. No one can be an expert on everything so if we started talking about fly fishing or how to choose the latest fashions, we wouldn’t be taken too seriously – not to mention that we have no knowledge of those topics. Which leads me to….
Be the Expert
Blogging is an effective way for your business to consistently demonstrate expertise in your field. Sharing knowledge or advice via your blog creates an ideal opportunity for connecting with your community and developing relationships.
Why write a blog?
The primary reason for setting up a blog is to bring more traffic to your website. Each blog post is a unique page with its own keywords, meta description, topic and URL. Every post is a chance for someone to find you when they search for that subject. With so many pages on your site, your authority increases and your chance of improved rankings in the search engines gets higher.
The more you talk about your industry and the topics that are important to people following that field, the more likely you are to create buzz with the content you produce. This elevates the chance of your posts getting shared and we all know what happens when posts get shared…things can go viral at the drop of a hat!
Now think about this a little further. If you have something you wish to sell to people who are interested in reading your blog, that increased traffic will translate into more sales, won’t it? People are far more likely to purchase from someone they trust than from someone they’ve never heard of. Writing a blog becomes a part of your business model and can be tracked and measured against results.
Once you’ve created your blog content it stays online forever. Those blog posts can continue to work for you and bring traffic to your site for as long as they are there. That’s what I call long term potential!
How do I maintain a business blog?
Before getting started with your blog, think about your goals and expectations. If you have specific traffic targets, come up with a strategy on how you will meet those objectives. Planning your blog will be the most important thing you do because it will enable you to focus on producing great content on a consistent basis that is relevant to your target audience. Create an editorial calendar or list of blog posts to guide you and make sure you set aside time to write the blogs. Ideally, you’d write a few in advance so that you stick to your schedule and don’t panic if you go on vacation or can’t write for some other reason.
Take a look at what others are doing and emulate the qualities of blogs you admire. Then make sure you tell the world to come and read your new blog!
MarnieHughes is an SEO copywriter, author and online marketer. She works with small and medium-sized businesses to develop their marketing and communications and expand their customer base.
How is your business growing?
For free 30 min consult contact marnie@communicationartistry.ca or call 905-702-4266
