20 Feb No more excuses! Six reasons why you need to start blogging today
For businesses who perhaps don’t have the budget to run large, lengthy advertising campaigns, there is one thing that can be just as effective at reaching potential customers – blogging. Unfortunately, it’s also the one thing that often remains on the backburner due to lack of time, inspiration or sheer confidence.
While blogging isn’t a ‘quick fix’, it will help to bolster your online presence and get the conversation going among your audience. So if you have something interesting to say, why not say it through your blog? Here are just six ways in which a blog could help your business:
- Hone in on the right audience
While the actual words of a blogpost aren’t going to draw people to your website alone (you also need to “optimise” content in order for it to be found by search engines), getting your ideas onto paper is a great start. And if you’re unsure what to do next, we can help you add the right captions, tags, images etc to target a more defined audience depending on the topic of the blogpost.
- Become a ‘thought leader’ in your field
Thought leadership is basically marketing speak for establishing authority on a particular subject, for example a current industry trend. By writing informative articles on a topic which relates to the products or services you offer, or even just the sector in which you operate, you will soon gain credibility among peers as a company who really knows what it is talking about. So if other business leaders aren’t telling the story properly, seize the moment and tell your own story.
- Build engagement over time
As mentioned, creating a blog isn’t going to drive traffic to your website overnight, but it’s a sure-fire way of building a relationship with online customers over a period of time. And the more you post, the more customers will naturally come to your site as a source of interesting and relevant information – whether during their coffee break or even as part of their own research. At OY, we often browse original blog content for the latest industry opinions and insights, so if you have interesting things to share, you never know who might stumble across it!
- Become more organised
Creating a blogpost is so much more than just writing. In the course of compiling content, you will think, you will research, and you will learn new things. Without even knowing it, the very technique of internalising what you learn during the process will make you mentally much more focused and organised in your business.
- Be one of the one percent!
In a world where we have so many free platforms on which we can share our views and opinions, it may be hard to believe that 99% of internet users simply consume content, leaving only one percent who actively create content. This presents a huge opportunity for your business to stand out from the crowd and tell your own unique story – the way you want to.
- Improve time management
Setting aside some time each month / fortnight / week will give you renewed focus and a real sense of achievement once your content is published. And if you really don’t have the time to articulate your ideas, consider working with a dedicated content writer who can help take the burden of the research off your shoulders and offer a fresh perspective on your chosen topic. Even setting aside half an hour to brainstorm your ideas with a writer – in order to cross “blogpost” off the to-do list – is a step towards improving your time management.
Blogging is a completely free way of telling your story; engaging with potential customers; becoming an established authority in your sector; and giving you a sense of real achievement in what you’re doing as a business.
So if you’ve got a blog page, use it! If you don’t, set one up today! For advice on what to post, or help with content writing and/or optimisation, come and have a chat.
