You Need a Business Blog

And now you’re thinking to yourself; what is a business blog?

Well, a business blog is a short-form of content about a particular subject related to your business, which is then posted to your business website. Typically, websites have a blogging section set aside for this content, so that your website reaps the benefits of frequent blog updates.

Four Benefits of a Business Blog

We’ll focus in on four main ways a blog can boost your online business, with results you can measure.

1. It helps drive traffic to your website

People mill around the internet like sheep, but how do you drive them to your website? SEO is

something that is always working for you in the background of your site (if you've optimised it), moving you up the search results, but what actions can you take? Blogging, social media and search engines are your main tools.

These three have a symbiotic relationship when it comes to your website.

First comes the blog.

Then you must promote it through social media, which will attract readers from social channels. You can then direct these visitors to the rest of your website with links to other pages, etc. Blogging should also help with your social media presence too, as you will regularly be creating shareable content. And once people start sharing it, more and more people will become aware of your business…

Search engines will pick up on your blogging all by themselves and will index each new blog post as a new page of your website.  And as your page count goes up, so too should your Google ranking for your website (in theory). The number of pages your website has, contributes to your ranking on Google, as websites with more pages generally have more valuable content, up-to-date content, original content, etc. And if you’re going to optimise your blog too, Google should rank you higher for your keywords…

The measureable bit of all this? The number of times your blog is read by a new user.

2. It helps convert that traffic into leads.

So now that your readership is growing, you can use your blog to convert those readers into leads. This is quite a simple step, because all you have to do is include a call-to-action in each blog post.

Example of a call-to-action: If you run an online shop, you could stick an image of your new dishwasher range on your blog, with a button that says, “Get 20% off our new dishwashers!”

The idea behind this is that you’re reminding the reader that you have an online shop; you’re not simply a blogger. So hopefully, after becoming convinced of your authority in the dishwasher market from your blog, people will click the button and use their discount.

Example Scenario: Sue may have been searching online for dishwasher buying advice, and found your blog. After reading through the relevant article, she’s starting to think about her next step. Then she sees your button; 

"20% off new dishwashers? Well the blog was very helpful, 

they clearly know their dishwashers,

 their products must be great!”

And you just sold one dishwasher.

Conversions like this can be measured with event-tracking; Google Analytics will tell you how the customer found your website, and if they triggered any events, e.g. purchased an item.

3. It helps establish authority

Business blogs are different from more general blogs because they focus on answering the questions of their target market, on topics relevant to the business. The long-term aim is that with consistent creation of helpful content on your area of expertise, your customers should start to think of you as an authority on the topic.

"We love your blog, it's so useful!"

When you have established your authority within your market, you are building a positive reputation for your business, and associating it with helpful, useful blog articles. This will reap long-term rewards.

Unfortunately, this cannot explicitly be measured because it is essentially public opinion (unless you want to send your blog readers regular questionnaires?)

4. It drives long-term results

Your blog will create long-term results because you are creating helpful content that may well be on the internet forever.

And every time someone finds one of your blog articles, they will be directed back to your website through your links, and you will have generated another lead based on an hours work you did years ago.

And don’t forget, the more blog articles you create, the more your authority & reputation should grow, and the bigger your website will grow, thereby contributing to a better Google rank. 

It's all gravy in the long-term.

Each blog article you create is out on the internet promoting your website. How fast will your website take off?

Google Analytics will measure this for you by tracking how people are landing on your website. If new customers land on your blog first, then make a purchase, then it's time to thank the blogger. 

Have you ever thought about creating a business blog?

Our advice - go for it. If you’re interested in your business and maybe even keep up to date with the latest developments, then share it on a blog to keep your customers informed!

Let us know if you have any advice for budding bloggers in the comments below!

Better Blogs, Better Business

With Vital Hike

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