It seems blogging is everywhere. But for good reason. Not only does blogging allow you to reach a bigger audience, it’s proven to offer benefits for your business. In fact, it can serve as the centerpiece of your marketing plan. Here are 10 ways blogging can help your business.
1. Position yourself as a thought leader
Publishing your ideas and analysis on a blog positions you to be the expert within your industry. You can demonstrate your expertise through quality content, establish your brand, and reach your target audience. The media, customers and the public will turn to you and your brand as a leading voice and expert on a variety of topics. We recently wrote about how to become a thought leader through blogging and outlined what your plan could look like.
2. Improve your search engine optimization
One of the best ways to improve your website’s Google search ranking is to continuously publish. Creating fresh material like a blog allows Google to see it as relevant and active. Blogging also gives you the opportunity to rank for specific keywords and get noticed by a new or targeted audience.
3. Drive traffic to your website
As HubSpot points out, “Your blog is an evolving collection of articles, keywords, and expertise.” It allows people to discover your brand and positions you to grow your audience through SEO.
4. Provide content for social media
Blog posts offer great material and tidbits to share with your followers and to start a conversation. One blog post can supply multiple days’ worth of content for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
5. Connect with your targeted audience
Blogs can speak directly to your target audience. What do you want to tell them? Do you have a business update to share? Did you hire a new employee? Do you want to explain an aspect of your business that often gets overlooked? How about clarifying a misunderstanding about your business? Blogs are a great place to do all this.
6. Sell a product
Shine a spotlight on a product or service by writing about it on your blog. Provide background or additional information to educate your target audience to help them make informed decisions.
7. Build trust with your targeted audience
Your audience expects you to have the information they’re looking for and there’s no better place to house that information than a blog. By having the answers your audience is looking for, they will trust your brand and return to your website — and likely give you more business in the future.
8. Establish a network
By continuously blogging, you are not only connecting with your audience, but also establishing a network of followers. This network can include people or organizations you may do business with in the future or turn to for more information.
9. Get immediate feedback
Through a blog comment section and comments on social media, you can get instant feedback on your content from your audience and followers. As Nick Scheidies writes on Incomediary, “This makes blogging a great way to get feedback on an idea that you want to develop further.” Comments often generate new ideas or ways to go deeper on a topic.
10. Create material for other aspects of your business
Your blog can help spark other areas of PR and marketing. For example, a blog about your company culture can be turned into an internal HR document. A blog about how to use a product or service can become a marketing flyer. A blog about industry trend analysis could be a press release.
If you’re just starting out, it will take time to develop your blog. It may seem simple at times, but there are a lot of moving parts, especially when you consider SEO. Reach out to the TSN Team to get started or improve your current efforts.
