Years ago, blogging was mostly a form of social journaling that individuals used for any number of reasons: to document their family’s big events, to find community among a shared interest, or in hopes of becoming “Internet famous.” Not surprisingly, many businesses and managers have a perception of blogging as a trivial activity that’s more relevant to teenagers than to emerging businesses.
Unfortunately, those views couldn’t be farther from the truth. Blogging has become a highly sophisticated form of communicating, and for any company, it’s a great channel for marketing to an online consumer base. For anyone who still doesn’t understand why they need a blog for their business website, here are some key benefits of starting to publish your own content.
Increasing Visibility and Search Engine Traffic
Blogs are very visible through search engines like Google. When a consumer types in a question or a search phrase into a search engine, the engine displays what it feels are the most reliable pages that directly address the consumer’s query.
When you write a blog post, you make it possible for search engines to “crawl” your entry, meaning they will examine it and incorporate the content into their search information. Keywords, links and other metrics are used to determine the value of your page. Over time, this page should generate traffic that comes directly from search engines, increasing your visibility to your relevant audience.
The more pages you have, the more opportunities you create to bring in search engine traffic. This helps your business get discovered by customers that might not otherwise know about it, increasing your visibility and your opportunities to make a sale.
Demonstrating Authority in Your Industry
Blog posts can be promoted in a number of ways. You can share them on social media accounts and link to them in business newsletters sent out to your customers. While this all increases the visibility of your brand, it also performs another key promotional service: your blogs can make you a respected voice within your industry.
Consumers are always looking for evidence that a business is legitimate. This is how they know where to put their trust, and how they decide which brands can best service their needs. Even when blog posts you have written don’t directly prompt a sale or even an inquiry, each new publication helps to build credibility for your business. This is vital for young brands with no reputation, but older companies can also benefit, because consumer trust has no ceiling. The more goodwill and trust you can generate, the better off you will be. Eventually, a trusted brand that provides a useful solution will always find a consumer base.
Making the Sales Pitch With No Time Lost
Whether you have dedicated sales personnel or not, a major component of any company’s success is how well it can sell its services to consumers. In the physical world, making that sales pitch takes time: answering questions over the phone, demonstrating the value to customers, or even going door-to-door. This type of selling is effective, but it can be inefficient.
When you have a blog on your website, you can use the content to effectively serve as a sales tool. By making some of the same top-of-funnel points you would make in a sales pitch–this means providing general information, making the value proposition clear, and offering next steps a consumer to take–you can turn interested consumers into genuinely hot prospects. Some may contact your business ready to buy, no questions asked. Ultimately, this creates more sales leads with no time lost, increasing revenues for your company.
If you’re ready to take advantage of company blogs for all they’re worth, contact DBC Digital today.
