The Business Benefits of Adding a Blog
By Brad Stitgen
Does your business website include a blog? Have you thought about adding a blog but your not sure about the possible ROI. In this post, I’ll discuss why you might want to take your website to the next level by adding a blog to your website.
Why Add a Blog to Your Business Website?
There are three primary reasons for adding a blog to a business website. First, it will make it more attractive to the search engines. Secondly, It’s a great way to provide information and educate your customer about your products, business, industry, etc. Lastly, a blog can give a human face to your business making it stand out from the crowd.
It should be noted that the type of blog I am referring to in this post is not the standalone type blog which “is” the website. Standalone websites are commonly created around an interest or hobby, a cause, as a public diary, or as a way to attract readers that will ultimately click on sponsors advertisements to generate income for the blogger. For the standalone blog website, success is typically judged by the size of the audience that returns week after week for new content. Because of this, standalone blogs typically require a lot more work to keep readers interested and coming back. Posts need to be very frequent and comments pertaining to the blog posts need to be closely monitored.
The SEO benefit of Blogs.
While every business would like for their website to appear number one in the search engines for their given keywords, the reality is that for most businesses there are a lot of other sites vying for the same high ranking. While search engines sadly don’t reveal the “secret sauce” they use to determine which sites they display first for a given search term, we do know they like fresh, relevant good quality content. It should be noted that search engines such as Google have the same goal as most website owners. They want their visitors to keep coming back. To do this they need to strive to make sure the most relevant high-quality website page links are returned for their customers’ searches.
The problem many small and medium-sized businesses face is that their websites commonly lacking in text-based content. The typical site contains under 20 pages of static content. On top of this, it’s not uncommon for the pages to not contain a lot of text… i.e. “red meat” for the search engines! Add to this the fact that the content is pretty much static and it becomes difficult for a site to rank well.
For these reasons adding a blog can really help a site move ahead in the search engine results pages. The nature of a blog means it contains a lot of text and new content is added regularly. Simply add some well-chosen keywords into the mix and your site should in no time be moving up in the results pages!
Blogs are a great way to educate your client.
Blogs can be a great way to educate your clients about the products or services they are seeking. For clients that may be new to purchasing your service or those that wish to learn the nitty-gritty of why things are done the way they are done, a blog can be a great tool. A blog can also be used to keep customers informed of changes in the industry. Finally, blogs are a great way to convey to your client your expertise and why they can count on you to serve their needs.
Blogs put a human face on your business.
Blogs are commonly written in a conversational style. This can have the benefit of putting a human face on your business while better connecting you to your customers. As evidenced by the current crop of reality programs on TV that have to do with the day to day realities of running a business, it’s not uncommon of for customers to be interested in learning the backstory of businesses they patronize.
The Takeaway
While adding a blog to your business website does require a bit of a commitment it is a great way to keep your site fresh in the eyes of the search engines and your customers. Blogs are an easy way to add content in an organized fashion. With as little as one article a month you can steadily add blog posts that educate your clients about issues targeted to the issues of your industry. Lastly, blogs are a great way to humanize a website and better connect with your customers.
