Lately, I’ve been having quite a few conversations with clients about the importance of blogging. Some, firm believers in the power of a blog and are eager to join the ‘blogosphere’. Others aren’t so eager and are questioning the value of blogging for business.
The blog bandwagon
If you fall into the “not-so-sure” category when it comes to blogs, read on dear reader.
Shootin’ the breeze
When you blog you connect directly with your site audience. You can create a dialogue by asking your audience questions at the end of your posts or allow comments and feedback. By reviewing and responding to comments, you create an audience rapport, build trust, and gain valuable insight into what your customers are looking for. Remember: your readers can be potential AND current clients; equally valuable.
Positioning, positioning, positioning
No matter how small your business is, you can build trust by providing valuable, expert information in your blog posts. Over time, you establish credibility and become a trusted resource. This credibility is proven to lead to higher conversion rates, as you nurture your audience through the buying cycle.
Give voice to your brand, and your cause
Having a blog opens up a channel that’s more personal than what you can build through traditional marketing channels. Blogging gives others a sense of corporate standards, vision, and the personality of your company.
Beef up your social presence
Every time you blog, you create an opportunity for your audience to share your blog with others. Whether they link to your blog post, tweet it, or email it to others, it’s ‘free’ marketing and further validates your credibility.
Boost you SEO
Google loves quality, fresh, regular content. The best way to provide that to Google is with blog posts. By blogging consistently, you give Google and other search engines new content to index and create opportunities for the keywords you want to show for. And thanks to the recent Google updates, Google loves bloggers even more. We blogged about this a few months ago, check it out here.
If you’re convinced of the powers of blogging, let’s talk.
Businesses that blog regularly have a solid strategy, which takes away blogging stage fright. Next week we’ll discuss how to hit the ground running with a great blog.
See you next week,
Darnelle
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