Blogs have been around for a long time and with so many new facets being added to marketing like social media, it might lead you to wonder – does your brand even need a blog anymore? I’m an ardent believer that it does and I’ve put together a few reasons on why blogging is still a vital part of any effective content marketing strategy.
1. Blogs Boost Your SEO
In a competitive market, keeping your page rank high is critical and a steady stream of fresh content is one of the best ways to maintain a prime spot. A blog is a great way to keep yourself accountable for a steady stream of new content and give people a reason to visit your site.
Websites with blogs have about 434% more indexed pages than those that don’t. And when you have a lot of quality content to crawl and index, search engines notice and tend to give you higher priority. Throw a few targeted keywords and phrases into your blog to juice up your SEO even more.
2. Blogs Connect You With Your Customers
By writing about the topics that matter most to your customers, blogs work to deepen your relationships with them and build trust. Be sure to figure out what they’re actually interested in, match the tone they would want and actively respond to comments. Is there a hot topic that’s being discussed on one of your social channels? Bring it over to your blog and create a detailed article on it. You can then tease a preview on your social channels.
B2B marketers that maintain blogs get 67% more leads than those who don’t so there’s a strong case that quality blogging can influence leads and conversions.
3. Blogs Position You as a Thought Leader
Well-written, informative articles build your brand’s credibility and position it as a leader in your field. The most effective blogs will likely be ones that don’t talk directly about your product or service at all. Rather, it should be an informative piece that matches your expertise with your customer’s interests. If your audience feels as though you know your stuff, they’ll be more likely to buy from you.
4. Blogs Help You Understand Your Customers Better
Not only can a blog help people find and be more aware of your brand, it can also help you understand your audience. Dive into your blog’s analytics to learn more about what your audience cares about: the number of visits for a page, the time spent on each page and social shares are just a few data points to pay attention to. Comparing which posts do best will help you pinpoint your customer’s pain points and help you better target the right people.
Getting Value From Your Blog
There are a lot of priorities competing for your attention in content marketing. Though it’s an older online tactic, blogging is a proven way to help your business with lead generation, SEO, brand awareness and thought leadership – so keep creating that original content.
Interested in learning more about business blogging? Check out How to Launch and Grow a Successful Business Blog