Unlocking business growth: Why your website needs a blog

Did you know that just 33% of businesses have a blog on their website?

And the stats show that these businesses consistently attract more inbound web traffic, more leads, more sales opportunities and enhanced reputation compared to businesses that don’t blog.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether or not to add a business blog to your marketing arsenal, perhaps the reasons below will inspire you to take action:

1. Blogs are INCREDIBLE for getting ranked for keywords that you might not otherwise be able to

There are a number of reasons that blogs can help your web pages to get ranked for keywords that might otherwise be too competitive for your business.

• Blogs enable you to target long-tail keywords, which are typically longer search terms that people might use to find information on a specific topic. Long-tail keywords tend to make the reason for the search much clearer than a single but highly competitive keyword.
  
  For example, if “yoga” is a keyword (1.7 billion search results), a related long-tail keyword could be “Which yoga is best for menopause insomnia?” (1.5 million search results). Not only does the long-tail keyword tell us a lot about what the searcher might currently be experiencing but, by answering that question with valuable information, you’re more likely to rank well for that term.
  
  
• In addition, Google values fresh and updated content because it signals that your website is active and that you’re continuously seeking to provide current information to your audience. You may be rewarded for your efforts with higher ranking for competitive search terms.

• As you post more content to your blog over time, you’ll have more opportunities to link internally to other related articles on your site. This might include your core service or product pages. This can help pass the “link juice” (i.e., the authority and relevance that Google attributes to a page) from one blog post to all the other linked pages.

• And don’t forget that each new blog post represents a new indexable page for your website. The more indexed pages you have, the more opportunities there are to rank for a broader range of keywords and phrases.

2. Useful blog content creates more doorways into your site for searchers

As each new blog article represents a new opportunity for your website to be found in searches, it also represents a new entry point into your site. The stats back this up – businesses that blog regularly attract 55% more traffic than businesses that don’t blog.

I’ve seen this first-hand at SEO+. All our clients who use our Blog Writing Service see fantastic results with many going from less than 500 website visitors per month to over 5,000 within a couple of months of working with us.

3. Blogs build your reputation and showcase your expertise

As we saw in my article about the new E in Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, the search engine wants to return search results that are full of high-quality, trustworthy content.

Blogs are a fantastic way to share your knowledge with your audience. Increasing trust and credibility in you and your brand naturally leads to more sales, more opportunities to collaborate, and to be seen as an expert by your peers as well as your customers.

4. Blogs enrich the user experience

Google wants to direct searchers to websites where they will have a great user experience accessing genuinely helpful information as quickly and efficiently as possible. By providing blogs, you can give your audience a greater variety and depth of information, meaning that your customers find everything they need in one place.

Anything that saves people time or energy in our hectic world is always going to be appreciated!

5. You can let your personality shine

One of the biggest barriers to securing new customers can be their fear of the unknown. Will they regret buying from you? Are your products or services good value? Is yours a company that is making a positive difference in the world?

Your blogs offer multiple spaces on your website for you to give your customers a feel for what it’s like to work with you. You can let your individual personality or brand identity (depending on the size and nature of your business) shine out from the pages.

This helps to create a sense of familiarity – that people know who you are, what you represent and how that aligns with their own values even before they become a customer.

According to HubSpot, 56% of consumers read a blog post by a company before purchasing from it for the first time. Other stats put the figure at 60% for new customers, and the figure is even higher for business-to-business buyers, 71% of whom read a company blog before buying.

6. Blogs can support your core service or product pages, helping them to also rank significantly better

As I mentioned in point 1 above, each new blog article represents an opportunity for internal links to other pages on your website, including your core service and product pages.

When a blog article becomes more visible in searches, some of the link juice is passed on to all the pages it links to – and this can include your site’s core pages.

And simply from a user experience, a blog can help to provide context, deeper information, answer questions, allay fears, and encourage the reader to engage with your core offering.

7. Blogs give you social media content

If you ever feel overwhelmed about having to come up with fresh social media content, then blogging offers a solution. Every time you publish a new blog, you can pull out key snippets as social media posts (check out some suggestions here).

This further amplifies your reach and builds brand awareness while saving you time.

It’s far better for your business blog to be on your website and then pull out bits for social media rather than publishing articles straight to your social platforms.

You can even syndicate each new article to LinkedIn or Medium, as long as you publish to your website FIRST. This way, your website gets all the benefits of new traffic, higher rankings, and increased reputation.

It’s also super important because you own your website, and blogs and their benefits have the potential to keep boosting your visibility and authority long-term. On the other hand, content posted on social media is at the whim of the platform’s terms and conditions and could theoretically be removed in the future.

8. Blogs are great for creating connections with your audience

Blogs allow you to address specific topics, interests, and pain points of your target audience. This helps people to feel seen and understood, prompting them to become loyal followers and brand ambassadors.

Indeed, blogs provide a platform for building meaningful relationships with your audience. By responding to comments and encouraging discussions, you can establish a dialogue and create that all-important know-like-trust factor that turns people into repeat customers.

9. Blogs have genuine long-term value

Social media posts often have a short lifespan but can be quite time-intensive to create, especially consistently.

Blog articles, however, can have a lasting impact because they remain on your website, continuing to generate traffic, leads, and potential sales over time. This is particularly the case for ‘evergreen’ timeless content that doesn’t need regular updating.

Yes, the average blog post currently takes around four hours and 10 minutes to create BUT the long-term value makes every one of those minutes count.

If lack of time is holding you back from having a thriving business blog, take a look at our Blog Writing Service which provides incredible results for our clients.

10. Blogs can inform your marketing strategy

A free tool like Google Analytics can show you which blogs people read on your website and where else they go on your site after reading them. This is a fantastic way to gather valuable data about your audience’s preferences, interests, and engagement.

This information can help you refine your marketing strategies and tailor your products or services to better meet customer needs.

Blogging for Success

Right now, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine – every new blog article offers a new opportunity for your website to be found. Better yet, businesses with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than businesses without blogs.

If you’re looking for a way to supercharge your marketing strategy, reach more customers, make more sales, and stand out in your industry, blogging is it.

To help you get started, I’ve created a Blogging for Success Workbook which is packed full of advice and information. Discover how to find new topics, how to structure your articles, the blogging SEO essentials, and how to launch your brilliant blog.