We are often asked, “Should I be blogging?” and in most cases our answer is yes, however, we completely understand that writing is not everyone’s cup of tea, and not everyone has the time to do it either. There are alternative options to writing standard blog posts, such as using video, or creating instruction style posts (if it works for your business). You can also choose not to blog at all, and truthfully, if that suits you, don’t be pressured into blogging. You have to do what is right for you.
In saying that, we are also often asked, “What is a Blog?” and “Why do I need to Blog?”. In this post we aim to answer both questions.
What is a Blog?
A blog is basically an online journal and unlike a journal or diary, it displays everything in reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first.
Did you know that WordPress started out as just a blogging platform back in 2003? It has now transformed itself at the most popular content management system in the world, with over 30% of websites running on the WordPress platform.
Many business owners think that once they’ve created their website, they can sit back and wait for people to find their site. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Your website can definitely help you showcase who you are, what you do or sell, and how to contact you, and blogging is an additional, quite fantastic platform to increase your online visibility, connect with your customers, and help conversion rates.
Here are 4 simple points to why we consider blogging to be a great idea:
1. It Increases Your Online Visibility
Search engines, in particular Google, loves fresh content, and with Google capturing 70% of the search engine market, it is a good idea to follow their lead if you want your website to be found online. By blogging consistently, you give Google (and other search engines) new content to index, which in turn can increase your visibility when people search topics related to yours.
Why is this important? Think about how you use google or any other search engine today. You type in your search, perhaps skip over the paid advertising (or not), and scroll through a maximum of the first 3-5 pages, perhaps a few more. By ranking higher, you have a much higher chance of being found by potential customers.
2. You Can Develop Great Relationships
Blogging is a wonderful way to express yourself and share what you are passionate about. This can help you develop relationships with your customers and clients. If you think of your website as an extension of who you are, your brand and what services you offer, blogging can be a fabulous way to connect with your site visitors by sharing even more about who you are and what you are offering as a business.
Blogging allows you to build a personal side to your business, showing who you are as a person. This helps to build an authentic brand that people can trust. Building trust is key in an online world, especially when we can’t see someone face-to-face to build that natural rapport that we do as human beings.
3. A Place to Share Your Expertise
A blog is the perfect place to share your knowledge and establish yourself as the go-to-gal for your area of expertise. Sharing content that helps your readers, in whatever way that may be, allows you to build that ‘know, like and trust’ factor.
The other great thing about blog posts is that your audience also has the opportunity to share their thoughts with you at the bottom of your posts. This is a fantastic way to connect with your potential customers and start to build a rapport and find out what people might be looking for.
4. You Can Share on Social Media
Blogs are great to have on your website but don’t forget to share them on across your social media platforms. It is important not to assume that someone has read your most recent post. Share it wherever it is appropriate, and over time, share it again, and again, and again (rotate them because you’ll always have new people finding you).
In summary… you don’t have to be an amazing author. Be you, be authentic, be committed to blogging regularly on something you are passionate about sharing with others, and it will eventually pay off.
Happy Blogging!
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Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash.