6 Benefits of Blogging for Business

Blogging, vlogging, social media, video, podcasting and on and on and on. The options for creating content for your clients and visitors can feel huge and overwhelming.

It can also feel like a “distraction” from your real work. But I’m here to tell you, the benefits of blogging regularly on your business website will reap HUGE rewards in terms of your business growth.

Even though it can feel overwhelming, I strongly encourage you to blog.

Tell that inner critic to ZIP IT.

You know, the one’s who’s in your ear right now getting louder and louder as you read this, saying BS like, “What will you write about? How will you find the time to write ALL THE TIME? You? An expert? HAHAHAHAHA!!” Or, _____________ (yeah, fill in the blank with your own bitchy inner critic’s favorite lines to derail you.)

Before you read further, tell her that you’ve got this. Really. She’s not nearly as smart as you are.

If you’ve got a website that you’re using to build a business, you can blog and you should blog.

6 Reasons Your Business Website Should Have a Blog

Reason #1 – Blogging keeps you active and up-to-date in your industry

If you’ve got a business online, you are an expert. You know WAY more than other people about your field.

Embrace this.

It took me a while to actually realize that while I don’t have a degree in software development or graphic design. I DO know a whole hell of a lot more about tech and websites than 90% of the people out there. I also do have degrees in English and I write which is all about communication. And that’s the purpose of a website – clear communication with your ideal clients.

I also absolutely consider myself an expert in digital strategy, which is basically how to design a website that works to communicate clearly and supports your business’ growth.

Every time I blog or create content, I research the topic. This means I’m learning and adding to my expertise which I can then use to support my clients in their business endeavors.

Reason #2 – Well-written posts establish credibility

A blog is a space for you to highlight your clients in case studies and establish your expertise. If somebody is considering hiring you, you can show off what you do and what you know on your blog. This is a huge benefit of blogging for business.

This doesn’t mean you’re going to be writing “why I’m so great” posts.

It means that the posts you write that are helpful and thorough will establish you as someone who knows what they heck they’re talking about. This is similar to Reason #1, but it’s that important.

Reason #3) Blogging can attract new clients

Before you hire someone or purchase a product, I’m willing to bet you do your due diligence and visit their website, read (or skim) through some of their content, and check out their reviews or testimonials.

But what if you have no content? You’re missing out.

According to Demand Gen’s 2018 content report, “49% of B2B [business to business] buyers said they now rely more on content to research and make purchase decisions; and 66% of B2B buyers strongly agree that companies should make it easier to access their content” (Source: Demand Gen Report, 2018).

These stats tells us two things:

potential customers use the content that you’re creating, as in a blog post, to decide if they’re going to hire you; and
potential buyers WANT to be able to easily find your content which means you should not only have solid content, but you should have it organized in such a way that they can easily access it.

Finally, “47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. (Demand Gen Report, 2016) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics).

Again, you MUST have content on your website for potential clients to view to encourage them to engage with you.

Reason #4 – Regular Blogging Increases Site Traffic

Blogging lets Google know what your site is all about which, again, increases the likelihood that they’ll send people your way. Your site becomes a dynamic, growing place on the web, rather than a static page that never changes.

From my own experience, since I started blogging on Entwine Web Design in the spring of 2017, my traffic has gone up steadily every single month.

I also used to blog regularly on my writer site, amyisamanbooks.com. While I am no longer super active on that site’s blog, I still get thousands of visitors every month. Why? Because I wrote regular blog posts, 1-2x a week for years, and I optimized all of them.

If you’re still not sure…here’s an interesting statistic.

“B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost 3X more traffic than those blogging 0-1 times per month. (HubSpot, 2015) And, B2C companies that blogged 11+ times per month got more than 4X as many leads than those that blog only 4-5 times per month” (HubSpot, 2015).

Don’t panic. You don’t need to post 11x per month, but you should post fairly regularly. One time a month would be the MINIMUM, but 3-5 times is great. My traffic grows steadily with that posting schedule.

If you want traffic to your website, blogging should be a KEY piece of your marketing strategy.

Once you’ve written a post, the next step is to optimize it for SEO (search engine optimization) so that Google and other search engines know it exists.

If SEO completely befuddles you, I’ve got a quick and affordable basic SEO course available that explains what SEO is as well as how to optimize every page and post on your website. I also share my quick “SEO in 10 Minutes strategy” that I use for every blog post.

SEO works, and it doesn’t take a ton of time.

Connecting and engaging with your audience is a key component of building a business. If social media and email newsletters give you anxiety because you don’t know what to post, try blogging.

Don’t know what to post on social media? Share a link to a blog post.

Don’t know what to email your subscribers? Share a link to a blog post.

Current and even older blog posts are GREAT content to share with your subscribers and build those relationships.

It also helps to drive traffic back to your website by adding links to your blog posts to Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or whatever other social media platform you prefer.

One of the final benefits of blogging for business is all about sharing your brand story.

Have you ever just wanted to muse about your business journey? Share the reasons you’ve made decisions in your business? Or, explain how your journey has helped you serve your clients? You CAN share this on your blog.

This is your brand story, and it’s a BIG piece of your overall marketing. Your blog is an ideal place to share this story. These types of posts are also a little easier to write and can help you develop your voice as you begin blogging.

You can also begin to increase engagement and build relationships with your readers through these story type posts.

Remember, relationships are really what business is all about.

Conclusion

I wrote this blog post because I have quite a few website clients who balk at the idea of blogging.

Why don’t they want to blog?

Here goes….”It takes too much time. I don’t know what to write about. It’s just ‘one more thing’ to do. I don’t think it will help my business…”

Yes, blogging takes time, but hopefully, I’ve convinced you that it’s time that’s well worth the effort. Blogging consistently will absolutely bring eyeballs to your website and to your business. And isn’t that the point of your website?

On a final note, I blog because I LOVE to blog. The first post I ever wrote was scary as hell. I was honestly terrified to hit publish. But it’s been through blogging that I’ve found both my voice and the courage to share my writing and myself with the world.

I’ll probably blog forever, whether it’s on my personal writer blog or here at Entwine Web Design. I encourage you to give it a go…even it if scares you to do it. If it does scare you, that’s all the more reason to sit down and write a post.

If you’ve got any other benefits of adding a blog to your business website, I’d love for you to share your blogging wins in the comments!

And if this post encourages you to get started on your blog, share your link! I’d love to check out your post.

xo,

Amy