7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Blog

Blogging is one of the best ways to promote your business on the internet. And yet there are thousands, or even millions of businesses out there which don’t own a blog.

Reports show that at least 4 million blog posts are published every day. Some entrepreneurs still don’t have a blog simply because of their ignorance.

They say things like, “why do I need a blog anyway? It’s not that important and my business is doing just okay.”

Such people have no idea how vital a blog is to their businesses. Most don’t know how blogs work and shudder at the thought of investing their time and resources on a ‘new marketing tool’.

They want to remain in their comfort zones.

You can create a blog section on your current website or set up an independent one for blogging. This post discusses reasons why your business needs a blog.

Let’s get started.

1. Blogging enables you to establish authority

Let’s say you have a toothache. You need to see a dentist urgently because you’re going through so much pain. But you just can’t go to any dentist so you search for the right one online, scrutinizing reviews left by former patients. You finally find a decent dentist.

It’s the same thing with a blog. You’re not the only one in your industry. There are thousands of competitors. Some are bigger than you, others are smaller. A blog allows you to showcase your expertise.

When an internet user lands on your web page, they’re usually looking for information. Maybe they want to learn more about a particular subject before they make a purchase. Maybe they just want to increase their knowledge.

Make your blog a place where people can find answers to their questions. Publish content that helps visitors solve their problems. Strive to be the go-to-person in your industry. This way, more people will trust you and will keep coming back to read your posts.

2. Increase traffic to your website

If you already have a website, you definitely check your stats regularly to see they number of visitors. One of the main reasons for setting up a website is to attract your target audience, right?

With a blog, you can easily boost traffic to your website. One way to do this is to publish regularly, whether it is daily or weekly. Search engines such as Google and Bing favour blogs which post new, interesting content consistently.

To rank higher, you need to optimize your posts for search engines. Some of the optimization strategies include using relevant keywords in posts and acquiring backlinks from authority sites.

Your aim should be to appear on the first page of search engine results as most users don’t go beyond it.

3. You can go deep

Start a conversation with someone on a topic they love and they can go on for hours.

A blog gives you something that most platforms don’t: a chance to get to the nitty gritty of a topic your readers love.

You audience actually likes it when you create an in-depth piece. They gain more information on that subject and are likely to recommend other people to your blog.

All you have to do is figure which subjects trigger your audience. Use that knowledge to come up with ideas for in-depth blog posts.

4. Attract potential clients/customers

Blogging is an ingenious way to market your products. It’s not like you are marketing directly to your potential clients. First, you’re blogging extensively on a topic that they’re interested in.

This alone draws a huge number of people to your blog. When they visit the blog they expect to find solutions to their problems.

Blogging is like offering consultancy services for free. When people see that your posts provide valuable information, they are more likely to purchase your products or subscribe to your weekly newsletter.

5. Create new connections

Partnerships and collaborations are forged in the blogosphere every day. You can never conquer the world alone. If you have an active comments section, you’ll notice the people who regularly engage you.

It could be potential clients or other businesspeople in your industry. Building such relationships enables you to increase your reach.

A good example of this is where you collaborate with other bloggers and recommend each other’s products. If you have a blog you should already be making such connections.

6. Blogging doesn’t require much time and resources

It’s a fact that you could spend so much money marketing your products to the wrong audience and eventually make little or no sales. I like to call this blind marketing.

Many businesspeople haven’t started blog because they want to keep marketing expenses low. They don’t want to use a tactic that doesn’t work. But the truth is, blogging is affordable. Almost any business can afford to set up one.

All you need is a little cash (usually not more than $200) for domain and hosting. If you have no money at the moment you can create a free blog on a platform like WordPress. When you have that, dedicate a few hours each day/week to craft a blog post.

Sharing on social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. If you have little time to work on blog posts, you can always hire a freelance writer.

7. Blogging works well with social media

When you publish a new post, the goal is usually to reach as many eyeballs as possible.Reports show that 66% of marketers use social media to promote blog posts.

Social media is actually one of the best places to promote a business. Identify your target audience and know their interest so that you can post content they can relate to.

When you craft a top notch blog post, you can be sure it will be read and widely shared by hundreds or thousands of people on social networking platforms.

Now you don’t need to ask again why your your business needs a blog. If you don’t have one yet, don’t worry. You’re not really late to the party. There are still plenty of opportunities waiting for you. Create a blog that offers value to your target audience and watch your business grow.