Did you know that there are millions, MILLIONS of blogs out there? Apparently 20,000 new ones are started daily! There are many benefits of running your own blog. Whatever sector you are in they can help bring new clients business in, keep your customers up to date & really stamp your name down as a leader in whatever field you are in.
There are a few key factors to maintaining a successful blog. Firstly, update is regularly. If a visitor comes to your blog & the last post was months or years ago, they probably aren’t going to stick around or visit again. It helps to build that look & feel of a company that can be trusted & contacted. Also, search engines like Google reward fresh content. So keeping your blog current helps your website to get crawled more frequently which in turn allows your content to become searchable quicker.
No one wants to read the same stuff over & over. Be original, or at least, if you’re blogging about a subject which is likely to be heavily blogged, saying something different about it, come at the matter from a different angle or stir things up a little by being controversial. Don’t intentionally type things that will start arguments but always be willing to back up your writing & be open to discussion. Say something interesting, unique & meaningful & encourage feedback & comments.
As no one wants to read the same stuff, no one wants to (or has time to) read blog posts which turn into essays. Keep it short & to the point. People are more likely to share something which they find easy to read & think others will too.
Using imagery helps any blog post. They say a picture tells a thousand words so whilst you’re keeping your word count low; you’re actually speaking extensively by including an image. Make sure it is relevant & try & use one that is a little different to the ‘norm’ for extra impact.
Your blog allows you to insert links to your own website pages & other pages too. Create those links to back up your views & opinions. If you’re discussing a service you offer, link to the page where the reader can discover more about it. Link to the page of someone you’re quoting too. Creating links helps the user with navigation & encourages click through. No one will click on a link that isn’t there!
Social media can help blogs spread. Don’t overdo it, but find the right balance. If you start sending the link to your most recent post to everyone it will look like spam, but linking it to a select few places might encourage readers. You can even upload your blogs to other sites where they can be read as a ‘guest blog’. If you can, make sure you set up a profile with these websites so people can find out more about you & discover your own site, or where that option is not available, make sure a link back to your site is included.
So, the benefits of a blog include your business appearing up to date which is fairly essential. I don’t think anyone will want to do business with a company that looks like the last website update they did was on Windows 97. If you discuss current happenings in your field of expertise, you show that you are radical in the latest news & events. With that you will start to look like an expert in your field & your opinions will be valued more.
If you encourage feedback & comments you build interaction & start to form a network of people around you who will continue to read future posts & interact with those too. This way more people know about you & your business. Continuing the conversation through comments & feedback also allows you to give more insight in the subject discussed whilst not overdoing the original post. You lay the groundwork, encourage comments & then continue with your knowledge. Off the back of becoming an expert with your views & opinions, you also stay knowledgeable. Don’t forget those SEO benefits too! You are in control, you control the keywords & the links & hence your overall online presence. Good content is what internet users are after, so it gets shared more, which is exactly what search engines are after. With social media involved you can gain a far reach for blog content you write. Go on, go write a blog…