While the term itself might be a little bit outdated, blogs are still highly relevant, useful tools for those looking to share ideas and opinions with the world, including digital marketers. To understand how they work and how you can effectively leverage the concept in your marketing strategy, you’ll need to thoroughly understand your audience and your topic so that you can write to them in a way that connects the two. Before we dive into that, let’s start with the basics.
What is a blog?
The term blog is a truncation of the term “web log,” originating from the early days of the Internet in which creators would create informal, diary-style text entries. These days, blogs can include nearly any topic and format, as they’ve morphed into a much less defined concept. The idea behind the practice of blogging, however, is still the same. Your blog is your space to write about whatever it is you’d like to write about, whether it’s what you ate for lunch or your political views. Blogs aren’t limited to personal use – many companies, institutions, and public entities find them to be a useful tool too.
How do businesses use blogs?
The low stakes and low cost required to blog means that businesses and other public entities often find them a useful way to communicate useful information and updates with stakeholders. With the advent of search engine optimization (SEO), blogs suddenly became a tool for attracting organic traffic to a website, which meant they were a tool that could be used for marketing.
How do marketers use blogs?
Savvy marketers have realized that consistently publishing blogs and other genuinely helpful resources is a great way to garner brand loyalty and trust. The most successful blogs have one thing in common – they offer value to their readers, whether that’s through entertainment or sharing knowledge. The unfortunate truth about most marketing (especially most traditional marketing) is that it’s intrusive, and most people don’t want to see it. A blog offers a way to establish a genuine connection with your potential clients while showcasing your knowledge and credibility.
How do you get people to read your business blog?
Now, of course, getting people to read your blog isn’t as easy as just publishing as much content as possible. Here are a few steps to take if you want to genuinely grow your blog’s readership.
- Have a purpose.
Writing about anything and everything is both exhausting and pointless. If you’re writing for your business, you should know exactly what your niche is, and your blog topics should focus on that niche accordingly.
- Do your research.
If you’re a business owner, you already have access to a ton of information. Think of the questions you spend the most time answering in your day to day. For example, plastic surgeons might blog about the procedures they perform and the associated recovery times. A cannabis retailer might blog about which strains they prefer. The opportunities are endless, but they’re also pretty specific to your company and what you do.
- Optimize, but don’t over-optimize.
SEO has changed drastically since the advent of blogging, largely for the better. Google and other search engines now favor well-written, useful content authored by someone who is an authority on the topic, especially if the topic falls in the category of what it calls “Your Money or Your Life (YMYL).” This content is any type of information that could directly impact the reader’s happiness, health, safety, or financial stability if presented deceptively or inaccurately.
While keywords and tagging are still important to get right, it’s arguably more important to dial in your content than it is to make sure every aspect of your SEO is perfectly optimized. Search engines keep reiterating the same message: content is king, and good content will always beat optimized content.
How do you get your blog to grow your business?
While traffic and brand building have obvious benefits for businesses that primarily operate online, brick and mortar businesses with set locations often don’t see the value in blogging. After all, what good is traffic to your website if it’s ultimately not turning into new clients walking in your door? The answer to that question isn’t straightforward, because the benefits of a blog often aren’t immediately visible to business owners. Here’s the deal: increasing the authority of your website helps increase your visibility across all searches – including local search!
If your website is properly optimized for your geographic location, you’re more likely to come up in a search in your area if your website is seeing more traffic and has more authority in the eyes of the search engines. And that’s where blogging really comes in handy. Need proof? Well, you’re here on the MyAdvice site right now, reading this blog. We hope it has been helpful.
We Can Help
Of course, blogging is still a ton of work. If you’re not sure how to start your own blog or what to write about, set up a free consultation with one of MyAdvice’s digital marketing experts. They can recommend solutions based on your unique business needs.
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