Blogging. Everybody’s doing it, but a relative few seem to have a solid grasp on what exactly that means. So what is a blog? Blogging is as much a noun as it is a verb. It’s flexible, dynamic, active, and has two basic dimensions that need to be considered…

1.     [Noun] A blog is a collection of informally written articles

2.     [Verb] Blogging means publishing new material frequently to add to this collection

A blog can be written about anything, as long as it more or less meets the requirements above. While many people blog recreationally, it is also a great practice for businesses. Maintaining a relevant blog can do wonders for a brand or business’s digital marketing efforts. Today we’ll walk through 5 ways that blogging can help your business.

Blogging Bolsters Your SEO + Drives New Traffic To Your Website

Blogging is as much about the quality of content as it is about the volume of content. Every additional article you post on your company’s blog is yet another page that you have indexed with search engines like Google.

More Pages Indexed = More Traffic

The more pages your website indexes with search engines, the more opportunities there are for you to be found in people’s searches. Search engines also appreciate websites that are updated regularly. Obviously you can’t update the static pages of your brand’s website everyday, but you can publish new articles on your blog. Search engines will reward you for publishing new blog content regularly.

Keeping Your Social Media Game Strong

Blogging is social in nature, and sharing your articles across different social media platforms is encouraged. If updated regularly, a blog can help your marketing department work more efficiently and serve as a vast reservoir of material that can be used by your social media team. Posting on social media more frequently will garner a higher level of engagement and growth with your audience. And as an added bonus, every form of social media allows participants to share content that they like with their friends. If the people who engage with your content feel compelled to click “share,” the reach of your brand will increase exponentially. This is why it is so important to publish high-quality content.  

Blogging Will Help You Harness That Traffic To

Generate New Leads

What is a “lead”? In marketing lingo, a lead is created when a consumer becomes interested enough in your product or service to give you their contact information in some way. Every time you publish a new blog post, you will experience a short surge in web traffic. But what then? What’s your plan to convert that traffic into new business? Blogging without a system in place to convert web traffic into actual leads is a squandered opportunity.

More Blog Posts = More Calls-To- Action

Every blog post should include a compelling call-to- action. What form that takes is up to you, and depends entirely on the identity of your brand. However, it is imperative that you have something in place so that you can capitalize on your blog’s traffic.

Blogging Helps You Establish Your Reputation As An Expert

When you use your blog to provide clear answers to questions that lots of people are asking, you will begin to be perceived as an authority in your field. However, just because somebody is asking a question does not mean that they are ready to make the purchase. For this reason, turning 100% of your web traffic into leads is not realistic. However, with engaging content, you might be able to convince 100% of your visitors that you are an expert in your field.

Perception Is Everything

If your content makes a compelling case for your brand’s authority and expertise, you should start seeing repeat visitors to your website. If you are able to give your visitors what they want, then you will begin to establish a reputation. Not every visitor will be ready to become a customer themselves, but when the times comes that they are ready, your brand will be at the front of their mind. Again, this serve reinforces the importance of high-quality content.

Blogging Lets You And Your Audience Get To Know Each Other

You Get More Opportunities To Shape Your Brand’s Identity

What makes your brand unique? What makes your team special? Why would a consumer be compelled to choose your brand over your competitors? Blogging gives you the opportunity to go in-depth with your answers to these questions. Blogging adds to your brand’s personality. It affords people the chance to engage with and get to know your brand. Take advantage of the opportunity and impress your readers.  

You Get The Chance To Learn About The Identities Of Your Visitors

Understanding the people who are interested in your product will give you a much clearer idea of what you need to do in order to convert these people into customers. How does blogging help you get to know your visitors? First, on the back end of your blog you will have a multitude of metrics and analytics at your disposal, which should give you a better idea of who is searching for you. This is nothing if not useful information.

Second, and more importantly, blogging is inherently social. It invites your readers to comment on your content to share their thoughts/questions/concerns. In turn, you get the chance to respond to them. Conversations are always better than presentations, and blogging is a great way to facilitate conversations.  

Blogging Today Helps You Forever

After you publish a new article on your company’s blog, you will experience an immediate bump in traffic that will likely trail off in 36 to 48 hours. But that is not the end of the story. After this initial surge subsides, your new article will remain indexed with search engines and will quietly continue to receive traffic. The amount of residual traffic that this one article receives may not amount to much in the grand scheme of things, but one article does not a blog make. Blogg-ing is in the present progressive, which means that you need to keep up the good work over time. As time goes on and you publish more articles, you will have a growing reserve of articles quietly collecting traffic in the background, each one of them with a compelling call-to-action. It won’t take long before the total amount of traffic (and leads) collected by these articles eclipses the immediate surges in traffic that you receive after you publish a new blog post. This library of content will never stop collecting traffic. Even when you’re at home watching TV, this content will continue to generate new leads.

And that’s the dream.