Blogging is good for Business
Blog Defined:
For those of you who don’t blog regularly for your business, you may be wondering exactly what a blog should contain. According to Wikipedia:
- A blog (a truncation of the expression weblog) is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first). – [Source: Wikipedia]
Blogs have emerged from an individual publishing method (or online diary of sorts) to an acceptable corporate content marketing and communication tool. Some people blog on a particular topic of interest or expertise, while others focus their blog on their company brand, product features, service or activities.
Why should your company blog?
There are many good reasons that your company should start blogging. Among them are these 10 Benefits:
- Blogs Improve your SEO (search engine optimization): Adding fresh content to your website through a blog will give you fresh content that Google likes to index, helping people to find your website through a keyword search.
- Blogs Give you Instant Credibility:Use your blog to position you or your company as an expert in a category, and your customers will flock to you when they need what you have to offer because you have built that trust with them.
- Blogs are Simple to Do: Blogging is so easy today, with tools such as WordPress to set up your blog and create your posts. All you need is a computer and a hosting account if you want to host your blog on your own website (recommended for SEO benefit)
- Blogs are Free: WordPress offers a free version of its blogging platform (WordPress.com), and also a hosted version (WordPress.org) if you want to host your blog on your own website. There is no cost other than your time to set it up. You can even create your entire website using a WordPress template.
- Blogs Enhance Your Marketing Campaigns: Drive traffic from your ad campaigns or landing pages to your blog for added support and increased response rate.
- Gives you Shareable Social Media Content: Now, instead of always linking to other people’s content on social media, you have instant shareable content from your blog to increase your viral marketing efforts.
- Blogs Inform/Educate your Customers: Need to explain your product or service in more detail to your customer base? Write a blog about it. Blogs are a great way to educate your readers while putting your company and your products in the limelight (subtly, of course!).
- Blogs are Good Publicity Tools: Use your blog to capture the attention of the media in your community or industry. Again, your blog can help you position you or your company as a subject-matter expert, resulting in more requests for interviews or increased exposure in the media. You can also use your blog to post press releases, event details or case studies for the media (and all) to see.
- Blogs Give your Brand a Personality: Through your company blog, you can express your company or your brand’s personality. Using a unique style, writing on particular topics important to your mission, or other tactics can help your customers see who your company really is. That’s something that an annual report, brochure or press release can’t do.
- Blogs Work as a Customer Service Tool: If your company receives a lot of inbound customer service calls, blogging is one way to reduce or even eliminate these inquiries. Find a list of the top 10 frequently asked customer questions or issues, and create a separate blog topic on the subject. Then give your customers a way to find this valuable information on your website.
Join the Blogging Bandwagon
Everyone else is blogging. Why shouldn’t you? One big reason why your company should start blogging is because all of your competitors are already blogging. Just like social media marketing, the time has now come to catch up to the market and industry leaders and create or consistently publish your blog. If writing is not your thing, outsource to a blog writer you can trust to speak your company’s voice.The early adopters of blogging have paved the way for you to blog effectively, and all of the tools are in place to get started. So…what are you waiting for?