While you may not think your business needs a blog, there are a number of reasons why it should. With the availability of both free and inexpensive blogging platforms, your business can set up a blog in a matter of minutes and begin promoting your brand and connecting with customers. If you still aren’t convinced, here are five reasons why your business should have a blog.
1. It Builds Traffic
There will always be a correlation between traffic and sales. The more traffic you have coming to your website, the more likely it is you’ll make a sale. With that said, having a blog you update frequently will allow you to direct targeted traffic to your business website, thereby increasing the chances you’ll make a sale.
By linking your blog to other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, you’ll also be building traffic and connecting with your customer base. Whenever you publish a new blog post, make sure to post a link to it on your social media accounts to attract more prospective buyers and build your brand.
2. It Increases your Credibility
People are more likely to purchase products or services from businesses they feel like they already “know,” and having a blog that you regularly update can help foster a community and allow your readers to feel like they know you, even if you’ve never met face to face.
Every time you interact with your readers, by encouraging comments and responding to comments left, you are building your relationship with potential customers. By building those relationships, you are effectively creating a face for your brand, thereby increasing the likelihood of more sales. A blog is a simple way to do this, and allows customers to consistently reach out to you and stay updated on new developments, products or services offered by your business.
3. It Allows for Better Customer Service
By creating a blog for your business, it allows your customers to contact you. They don’t have to be put on hold, or wait for office hours to call you. All of the info about your company should be found on your blog, so customers who have any questions or want to find out more about your business can easily do so.
Additionally, a blog is one of the best ways to update customers on new products or services being offered. You can also respond to customer inquiries quickly and more efficiently, and you can gain valuable feedback from your readership while using that feedback to make improvements and build a better business, as well as business relationships, with your client base.
4. It Establishes you as An Expert
A blog helps establish you as an expert in your field, and if you regularly update it with relevant content, you reinforce the idea that you know what you are talking about. Making sure you update your blog frequently with content that is valuable to readers also helps establish you as their go-to person when it comes to your particular niche, be it consulting, editing or any other type of business.
By blogging regularly, you are building a visible presence on the web and also fostering relationships with potential customers while establishing your expertise for your particular niche.
5. It Gives you a Voice
Every business needs a voice, and a blog is a simple way to do that. These days, anyone can post anything online about a company, be it good or bad. By starting a blog for your business, you can help manage your reputation and give your business the voice and authority it needs to thrive.
The marketplace for any business is normally competitive, so by starting a blog that you update regularly, you are giving your company a voice on the internet. Customers can read your posts and establish in their minds that you are a credible authority, and you can interact with them frequently while establishing your reputation on the web.
While there are many reasons your business should have a blog, these are the most compelling reasons. If you haven’t started a blog for your business yet, you definitely should – it’s a cost effective, easy way to interact with your existing customer base, gaining new customers and establishing your expertise.
I’ve been amazed how quickly blogging has increased our traffic and visibility for certain search terms that matter to my employer. When I started a few months ago, we had 2 sites: a main business site and a site that highlights a product we develop for the healthcare industry. Neither was WordPress.
I converted our business site to WordPress (powered by Genesis, of course!) and convinced my boss we needed to start blogging.
There was a keyword phrase for our healthcare product we wanted to pursue, but our product website did not rank in the first few pages of Google results for the term. I did a single blog post on the company website using the keyword: we ranked on Google’s first page within a week.
Great success story Aaron, thanks for sharing it. Most folks think that blogging is for, well, um bloggers. In other words those who make their money only from it – Chris Brogan, John Saddington, etc. But there’s a huge opportunity for businesses to gain a lot of visitors on the web by complimenting their website with a blog.
The real estate industry is a huge example where blogging can bring them leads. There’s a pretty good chance that “Phoenix Real Estate” might be a hard search term to land, but if you write up a detailed post about a specific Phoenix suburb, you might get longtail search for something like “Tempe Homes near good schools” or something like that!
Totally agree that most people don’t naturally connect blogging with a successful business. I’m building a new site with Genesis for a client who owns a small chain of early learning academy (preschool) locations.
We were meeting to discuss her web needs and I suggested she start blogging for her business. It was awesome to see the light come on as she considered it. She started having ideas for topics instantly. She has a degree in early childhood development and worked in the industry for years.
It had just never occurred to her that a blog would allow her to share her knowledge while growing her business.
Most people translate blogging to “not worth my time”. Or they think it’s a “social thing” where people talk back and forth.
Not only can blogging bring in traffic (and in some cases more traffic than the static website), that “social thing” is now called social media, which has exploded as a large source of exposure for branding, etc. In other words, it’s not a bad idea to talk to your visitors or potential customers.
We frequently have to help business owners overcome the, “But I’m not a blogger… and I don’t want to be.” mentality. Somehow it conjures up images of pajamas and screen tans. We explain, “Your expertise is needed for your existing customers, colleagues and (perhaps most importantly) your future customers.”
Marketing today is certainly about a 2-way conversation… but each business person is responsible to kick things off!
Great insight David – and thanks for stopping by. One thing I wanted to add is that people don’t have to blog (themselves) here – if they believe that there’s value in it, then can hire a write to do it for them. I’ll bet that many businesses would see a huge ROI in hiring a writer and would be smacking themselves for not doing it sooner.
Brilliant. Still, the real title of this piece should be “5 Reasons Why Your STARTUP Business Should Have a Blog” Big companies will have lots of other reasons to maintain blogs.
Very true on the title suggestion – but even old-fashioned (ie brick and mortar) type companies should establish a blog, for the reasons that were listed. Obviously this post wasn’t written with companies like Yahoo or Google in mind.
Really like the point made here about the old-fashioned type businesses. Not only because they are often run by old-fashioned type people but, in general, I’ve found them to be the least receptive to the idea of even listening to why they need to have a business blog.
I know most consider it to be a “time-suck” to their already busy priorities, so the key is being able to show quick, concise examples of how a blog can increase profit without adding undue load.
Yeah – I’m guessing the most common excuse is the time-suck, but what folks don’t realize is that blogging adds value to the brand, can establish more leads and ultimately bring in more revenue.
I just started blogging on my site. I cannot believe the rankings I gained in a short period of time. Thanks for giving me more reasons to keep on blogging.
My pleasure – and congrats on blogging. It’s really tough at first, and folks often hit the “blogger’s wall” and choose to throw in the towel. When (or if) you get to that point, hang tough and know there’s a reason you’re doing it.
Great points Brian. Blogging is a great way to demystify your company and brand. Everyone wants to see behind the curtain and gain special access to things they like, support or that intrique them. Blog posts and articles are an easy way to humanize your brand/company and let everyone see who you really are.
Completely agree with you Greg. I like the analogy of “behind the curtain” – makes me think of the Wizard of Oz, ya know?
Hi Brian
I’m going to send this post to a few clients who don’t want blogs on their business sites.
Guess “blog” still sounds a bit trendy and out there.
This post will save me having to convince them.
BTW – new site looks good.
Love the big font.
Thanks Keith, and always happy for people to share my posts. I’d love to hear what their responses are towards it.
This is a really great post! We started our company blog last summer and have been very pleased with the results, recognition, and feedback we’ve seen. Creating useful content really does pay off – it shows your audience that you know what you’re doing and will give your company a powerful and unique voice.
Hey Jessica – outstanding, I always enjoy hearing success stories when it comes to companies and blogs. Heading out to check out your blog now, but I’m quite please with the design on first glance!
As a Real Estate Broker, blogging has truly helped us with our clients and customers. (Been with Brian’s themes since Revolution I) Love StudioPress…
When complete strangers come up to us and hug my wife because they feel like we have been their best friends for months because they have been reading our blog posts is truly amazing. They feel like they know you and once they know and like you they can become clients for life. A truly rewarding experience.
Great to hear it Jay. (and also great to have fans like you who have been around since the Revolution days.)
You’re in the group of real estate folks online who seem to understand the value in blogging and connecting online. Like you said, when people hug you when they meet you – that speaks volumes to the amount of effort you’ve made to supply them quality content and a personal touch.
Fantastic post as always Brian.
I am currently working with a client who has been a personal blogger for some time but has never seen the connection between his blogging and his business. I have discussed this with him and pointed out the benefits of blogging for his business, to build traffic etc, and he has taken it with both hands and ran with it. It is a funny coincidence this post would appear at the same time.
Great reading and tips for anyone who is unsure of the benefits of blogging.
Oh I want to send a link with this post to all my clients that don’t make use of their blogs! And to friends with businesses that don’t blog. I feel like I’m on my soapbox all the time trying to convince friends with small businesses to blog. I set up nice sites for them and incorporate blogs and they just sit there. Looking beautiful but not helping them increase traffic and business. Thank you for the great post! And I guess I should blog more too. haha!
Totally agree! I actually had a client request that I stop adding blog posts to his website because he was getting too many calls…..
I didn’t actually see that as a problem… but I guess he did.
What the client should have done was formulate a plan to accomodate more calls – perhaps by hiring someone to help them bring on more work!
This is so true. I started my website as just a blog, intending to turn it into a store in the future. The store is almost a reality and it will start with an established customer base developed through my blogging.
That’s great to hear Joanne – keep the positive blog stories coming!
This really is the most useful, quick way to show a client what they can gain by having an active blog; your 5 tips say it all.
I think #4 – establishing you as an expert – can have the most weight with small business owners. Not only does it go to ego and encouragement, but they can visualize how it actually works for them rather than some abstract “internet thing.”
I have a client who operates a pet sitting service in 2 major U.S. cities. They maintain their blog regularly and load it with helpful information. No sales push. And who doesn’t love free tips for their pet’s health?
The increased traffic and the go-to resource they have become for pet sitting seekers and pet enthusiasts is great.
Spot on with this. The fact that customers can contact you by providing comments via your blog gives you really valuable information to improve areas that are lacking. I really enjoyed this post.
Thanks Brian, as I’m reading your blog sipping on my latte I couldn’t agree more. We preach and preach the importance of blogging. The argument always seems to be ‘time’ but what you get for that time you invest is so important as you noted above. Now back to my latte…
Hey Mike, sounds like we’re on the same page. With the blogging, and with the lattes!
Nice man. You keep changing this site around. I especially approve of the ::selection syntax. Not enough people use it.
I’m impressed with the tweet button appearing in the post info. I need to figure out how to do that with the native Genesis post info.
You notice everything, don’t you Martyn. The post info code is easy, something I’d be happy to email you if you want.
I’d love to see how you’re doing it. Right now I’ve been removing and adding my own. Something about the Genesis bracket syntax confuses me …
Sent you the email with the code in there.
Wow man thanks for sharing! I think I’ve finally learned enough about PHP to start including the native Genesis post info. (Check out what I did at themilitarywallet.com – up to this point I’ve moved post infos outside Genesis).
Interesting you don’t like using your MacBook’s trackpad.
Looks good Martyn, nicely done. As for the trackpad, I can’t stand using it – I need a mouse!
I’m just getting back into blogging. I’m a real estate broker and last year we ran out of budget for newspaper advertisements. So I literally had no choice but to blog and promote our properties online.
Needless to say, our blog started generating leads from sources we never thought we’d get, we made sales and that has encouraged me to revive my other blog.
And I never need to put up a newspaper ad again.
Ronald, that is an outstanding story – thanks so much for sharing. It is amazing how many people STILL do not put forth the effort, regardless of hearing testimonials such as your own. Good stuff.
I’ve been blogging casually for years, and now I’m transitioning out of a business partnership and going on my own over the next few years, so I totally believe in the power of blogging, and these are all excellent points. Thanks.
Good stuff Charles, hopefully your new (blogging) journey will be a successful one. Best of luck on that!
Blogging is the new way of promoting business. I believe that it will also create an interaction between the client (company) and the commenter (customers). I think blogging is perfect for big companies like outsourcing or BPO’s. Anyway, I like this post and I will share it to my friends as well.
A great summary for any business who is in doubt about the benefits of blogging.
Blogging is the SEO secret weapon. I tell all my clients from Fortune 200 companies to start ups. Blogging is essential for each reason Brian Gardner laid out here. Blogging gives you the ability to share your content over social networks which adds to your incoming links. There the secret. If your blogging and posting incoming links to various your social networking links, its game over for your competition. In a few years, you could have 100 to 1,000′s of incoming links because your blogging. In 5 years time when the new guy tries to get into your market niche or when that big corporation finally decides to blog, it will be too late. They wont be able to compete with your blog and social links.
It’s amazing how powerful blogging can be for retail companies, and other ones that are product/service related. Not only will blogging pull in search traffic, it will establish a degree of credibility and expertise in the field.
In other words… “how to become an expert by blogging about your niche”.
It’s funny, I came across this blog by searching something along the lines of “should my business have a blog?” Well, I’m completely convinced now. While I knew it would help me in search rankings, I hadn’t thought of many of these other points – namely being able to demonstrate reliability. For some reason I had never really thought of it as true “marketing” either. As I am looking for new ways to market my business and to find customers I’m thoroughly convinced that a blog will be a good marketing tool and I’m going to give it a try. Thanks for the extra push I needed and all of the great conversation here.