A common question we get asked is, “how should my business use a blog?” or “how might a business benefit from adding a blog?” In this article, we’re going to cover why you should be blogging on your company’s site, content ideas, and how to leverage your blog for maximum search engine visibility.
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To give you a quick answer, effective blogging will drive more traffic to your company’s website, encourage your audience to reach out to you, and help you build an authoritative brand across your industry.
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Some ways you as a business owner can use a blog are by optimizing it for more search engine traffic such as people in your area looking for your services, building authority and brand loyalty, capturing more visitors from social media platforms, building a good lead list, harvesting long-term ROI, and improving your marketing and sales skills.
- Optimize it for search engine traffic.
- Build brand authority
- Capture people’s attention from social media
- Build a strong lead list
- Harvest long-term ROI
- Build your personal and professional skills
BONUS CONTENT IDEAS AT THE END
1. Build Search Engine Traffic
The best way you can use a blog is by performing some basic SEO and using it to drive more traffic to your website. This is because blogs are the easiest way to show Google and other search engines that your website is active and puts out relevant content. Anytime you talk about your industry or answer customer questions, Google picks up on that. In other words, you show search engine crawlers that your website is worth putting at the top because your business is relevant and credible.
Which doctor do you think does better market-wise? The one who sticks to his practice and doesn’t get involved in research, publications, and affiliations, or the one who participates in university studies, publishes articles and research papers, and has affiliations with major health networks? The latter, of course.
Now, if you’re not looking to be the best in the market, that’s ok. This article isn’t for you.
But if you are looking to dominate your industry, consider these things next time you write an article…
- Always link one blog post to another one. This is called internal linking and will be your go-to weapon of choice when doing SEO for your business.
- Signup for Google Search Console and index your blog post.
- Make videos summarizing the article, add audio recordings/podcasts
- Use relevant photos (preferably original ones, but stock photos work well too)
- Go after long-hanging fruit, aka easy keywords, before tackling big fish. E.g., “sink repair near me” instead of “plumber near me”
Looking for assistance optimizing your blog? Contact our SEO team at JCSURGE.
Not ready to speak with a consultant? Check out our FREE Blog Checklist for best SEO practices.
2. Build Authority and Brand Loyalty
The second way you may choose to utilize your company’s blog is by building authority and brand loyalty. This means establishing your business as the go-to solution for your prospects’ problems and having them refer you to anybody who has a similar problem. Brand loyalty is a precious asset!
If you’re looking to build your authority, make sure you answer real questions thoroughly, provide examples, and position your brand as being memorable using consistent fonts, colors, and writing styles. By real questions, we mean questions that are asked by prospects and customers related to your service.
Consumers are becoming more concerned with the brand they choose as much as they are concerned with the actual service the company provides. So building your brand is becoming more and more important in the 21st century.
Example by Squarespace
The screenshot blow shows a LinkedIn ad by Squarespace. Squarespace is best known for their website platform which is easy to use and affordable. This is great for small businesses and startups that don’t have the funds to purchase a $5,000 custom website. The way they build their authority is by being known as the best option for newbies in the online marketing world. Here they are demonstrating their knowledge by applying relevant data (92%, 86%, and so on) that is transparent (they conducted their own study) and targeting their audience (young entrepreneurs). This makes their brand memorable.
So how do you do this for your business? Publish regularly, and make sure you’re posting your content everywhere!
3. Capture Attention from Social Media
Brand loyalty leads us to our next method, building a following on social media.
Social media is an effective way to get instant results which every business owner dreams of. The next time you publish your blog, make sure everyone sees it. How? Caption your post. The recommended length for your caption we’ve found is between 30-60 words. Next, get a profile on the basics: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and any relevant forums such as Reddit. Summarize your blog using infographics like the ones below
JCSURGE Commentary: You’re going to need videos for TikTok which can take lots of time. Avoid being a perfectionist and get things done, worry about perfectionism later!
4. Build a Lead List
The fourth way businesses can use a blog is by building a quality lead list. Why quality? Because people who sign up for newsletters, ask for more information are more likely to convert than cold outreach.
Once you have a blog that’s been reviewed, looks good, has infographics and video, encourage the reader to do something. Ask yourself what’s the goal of the blog? Is it to have them sign up for a free trial? Book a consultation? Download an eBook? Or sign up for a newsletter? Don’t just drive traffic to your site, convert them into dollar figures!
Pro tip: Avoid asking for a phone numbers. We’ve found that asking for names and emails is just enough for you to build a good lead list, while not being too picky and evasive. Consumers are becoming more hesitant on giving away their number because of increased spam calls we’ve found.
5. Harvest Long-Term ROI
Once you’ve done all the above, you can comfortably know that assuming you write unique content, with appropriate lengths, and make it easy for search engines to read that you’ll rank at the top of Google for various keywords related to your industry. More importantly, prospects will see and choose you as the brand they value.
The long-term reward is constantly being at the top of Google with little effort. For example, on one of our websites, KOJII Languages, we’ve ranked at the top for “books to learn Yiddish”, the article itself was written in 2020, but even two years later it’s still at the top. We occasionally update a few words here and there once a year.
Once you’re at the top of Google, you’re likely to stay at the top of Google for some time.
6. Sharpen Personal and Professional Skills
The last way your company will benefit from having a blog is if you use it as an opportunity to build on your existing set of writing and marketing skills. Blogging will build a good connection between your business and your audience. To achieve this, consistent practice in writing and brainstorming new ideas is critical. In-addition, you will need to conduct market research which will force you to keep a close eye on what other businesses are doing in your industry.
Some skills to work on to maximize your blog:
- Writing (specifically copywriting)
- Marketing
- Sales
- Graphic design
- Research and analysis
What Content Should My Business Focus On?
As we’ve mentioned earlier, the best content is the content that answers customer questions. Some common questions any service industry will get are:
- How do I get started?
- What do I need to do before I get started?
- How much does it cost?
- What if it doesn’t work?
Once you’ve answered some basic questions, look for what people are searching on Google. How? Start with the “Other people also ask” section…
This will give you a good place to start with your keyword research.
Download Our FREE Blog Checklist
Ready to begin your company’s blog? Don’t forget about SEO! Download our blog checklist for maximum SEO results today! We don’t ask for your phone number, and we’ll never reach out more than 3 times (we don’t believe in aggressive spam).
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