Here's the thing...
It seems as though every website has some form of a blog, even sites that, on the surface, seem to have no reason blogging. We’ve worked with clothing boutiques, electrical contractors, herbicide manufactures, restaurants, and everything in between, and have seen blogs on each and every one.
A blog on an e-commerce store or some kind of B-to-C business makes sense for most people – most people can get on board with the idea of putting up content for the masses to find and read. But what about B-to-B? Would any potential business client really take the time to read a blog post? Would they even care? It’s this thought that tends to distort our understanding of what blogs should accomplish for your business. Not everyone who comes to your site will read your post, nor will everything you bring in thousands of sessions. But, that doesn’t mean that your content doesn’t have value, because it surely does.
Here’s a link to Forbes where they talk through why Small Businesses should care about blogging, and why you should too!
So, what do you do?
1. Blogs Update Your Sitemap
Every time you create a new page/post/portfolio item, your website adds another block to your sitemap in, hopefully, an organized manner. Google and other search engines are constantly indexing your website to see if you’re actually using it. A website with great content that hasn’t been touched in 5 years is significantly less likely to appear in search results than something that has been. Creating content and publishing it through a blog or generic “posts” format signifies to search engines that “Hey! I’ve got some new content over here! Come check this out.” The more Google is paying attention to your content, the more likely you are to reap benefits (unless your content is garbage, false, or stolen).
2. Blogs Create Keyword Specific Landing Pages
When you create content about a specific topic or keywords, you’re creating a new hub of information on your website that, hopefully, solves problems and answers questions for users. Assuming that your blogs are well-written and provide a service or update for your publics, then what you’ve done is give users another opportunity to find you organically.
For instance, lets say you have a post titled “Why You Should Use WordPress For a New Website.” If you’re a web developer, and you’re interested in selling WordPress-based websites as part of your services, then you have a much higher chance of bringing in new users who are searching for phrases like “why should I use wordpress,” or “should I use wordpress for my website.” Google recognizes the content you’ve published and, if it’s crawled and indexed well, will include your content in their algorithm of websites that attempt to answer this particular search query.
3. Blogs Reveal The Purposes of Your Website
Many businesses use their blogs to primarily showcase work that they’ve done, while others user theirs to promote “inbound marketing” (answering user’s questions and solving problems), while others still user their blog posts to update their constituents on news & updates in the political world or things that may affect their clients. None of these uses are wrong or bad. In fact, using a blog for any of these purposes is, 99% of the time, going to be exponentially better for the health of your website over not blogging at all.
The content you publish on your blog shows users what you want them to know. We, for instance, have subscribed to “Inbound Marketing,” where we write content that helps our clients, partners, and leads understand what we do and how it affects them. This idea for us comes from the technicalness of our world we work in, and making every effort for as many people to be as educated as possible.
4. Blogs Give Your Business Personality
Regardless of who in your organization is the one to publish the content itself, there’s a clear voice of the write coming through blog posts. Even the most experienced copy-writers have certain tells and ticks that reveal the personality of the writer. However, think of this personality as a positive, not something to be hidden. Unless your brand is large enough where people don’t care who works there (think Nike or Coca-Cola), then it’s wise to connect with your audience. It’s easier for people to relate to other people than with a nameless, faceless business. Therefore, we encourage blogging as a means for you to connect with users looking for a personal experience or specific information from a person.
Blogging is good if you want new customers, want to help prospective customers, or want to connect to your constituents in a new way. Know your audience, write well, and accomplish whatever purposes you have for your blog.