5 Things You Didn’t Know a Blog Could Do for Your Business

Everyone seems to be blogging these days. Or are they?

There are over 600 million blogs currently on the internet today, and while the web seems to be drowning in mommy blogs, food blogs, and other lifestyle blogs, small businesses appear to be lagging behind.

The fact is, businesses who blog receive 97% more links and 55% more visitors to their websites than those who don’t blog.

One thing every small business should want is more traffic to their website, and more credibility-boosting, visibility-enhancing backlinks. Stats like these beg the question – why aren’t small businesses taking advantage of this essential marketing strategy?

Why small businesses don’t blog (even though marketers swear by it)

I have a theory, of course. But to get to the root of the question, I’ve asked customers past and present as well as my fellow entrepreneurs about why they were, at one point or another, reluctant to blog.

Here’s what they had to say.

I didn’t know what a blog was, exactly.

This is a surprisingly common answer. Most of the business owners I spoke to had heard the term before, and had a loose understanding of what a blog was, but they didn’t really get how it applied to their small business. Their exposure to blogs were limited to endless scrolling through paragraphs upon paragraphs of text, annoying ads, and high-res, slow-loading photos in order to get to that one small recipe at the bottom (hey, we’ve all been there, right?)

I don’t have the time to maintain a blog.

This one I can totally understand. Creating even a single blog post is a time-consuming process. In fact, according to Orbitmedia, it takes bloggers an average of nearly 4 hours to create a single blog post – and that’s for an actual blogger, not necessarily a small business owner who has a million and one other things to do. For someone unfamiliar with the process, it can take even longer.

As the saying goes – ain’t nobody got time for that.

I never saw results from blogging before

It never fails to break my little blogger’s heart when I hear a small business owner say this. As a marketer and content strategist, I’m intimately familiar with all the many ways a blog can benefit a small business. From improper formatting or not taking your SEO strategy into consideration in the planning phase to taking a ‘publish it and forget it’ approach, there are many reasons small businesses simply don’t see results from blogging.

The fact is, blogging can be difficult if you’re not a trained professional. It’s time-consuming, and it involves so much more than simply writing down some words on a page and hitting publish. But no matter how difficult blogging may seem, the benefits are worth it.

5 surprising benefits of small business blogging

I could create a list of 100 benefits of blogging (and maybe I will) but for now, let’s take a look at the top 5 reasons I personally feel small businesses should be blogging (in no particular order).

Blogging gets you found on Google (hello, SEO)

Okay, this one might not be so surprising. Surely you’ve heard that content is the cornerstone of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Oh, you haven’t? Well let me tell you then… CONTENT IS THE CORNERSTONE OF SEO.

There you go. I said it. But what does that actually mean? The answer is not quite as simple. Let’s take a closer look at a blog’s role in your search engine optimization strategy.

First off, the goal of SEO is always to get your website found organically by people searching for answers and solutions on Google and other search engines. SEO is the process of optimizing your website to be more search engine friendly. In short, SEO is all about making a website that Google will like.

At one point in time, that meant making sure that your website was chock full of keywords so when someone typed in “Plumber in Anytown, USA”, you, Ms. Plumber in Anytown, USA would have your website show up at the top of the search results.

As long as we used the words “Plumber in Anytown, USA” enough on your website, and we fulfilled a number of other requirements that Google directly or indirectly laid out for us, the chances of getting your business ranked were pretty high.

That led to blogs and even website copy that sounded completely unnatural. They were so densely packed with keywords (or “keyword stuffed” as we call it in the industry) that they seemed like they were written for robots.

Because they were. And it worked, for a time.

But these days, Google wants us to make websites that searchers – a.k.a. your customers – will like. That means that keyword stuffed content may actually wind up hurting your brand rather than helping it.

Blogging gives you the chance to consistently put high quality content that your potential customers will love out on the internet for all to see. Write those blogs with actual humans in mind, and your business will be rewarded for it with better rankings.

Blogging makes your social media management SO much easier

Blogging and social media go together like fake news and the Facebook “block” button.

Ouch. Not a good analogy? Is it too soon? Ok, we’ll stick with “peanut butter and jelly”

The point is, blogging and social media are a dynamic duo, and one makes the other better in an endless cycle of content marketing love.

We’re going to talk about this a lot here at iHartContent, because it truly is one of the most important reasons I believe small businesses should be blogging. I call it the Snowball Method. We won’t get into all the details today, but for now, just know that you can use your social media metrics to understand what your target audience really wants you to be publishing, while using your blog metrics and the content itself to make your social media more effective and engaging.

Anyone who has worked on my team before knows that I am a huge fan of repurposing content. In fact, if a piece of content can’t be repurposed into at least 3 to 5 other pieces of high quality microcontent, I want nothing to do with it.

Kill two birds with one stone and all that. Or, as my old boss used to say “feed two birds with one scone”

I like that version. Much less violent.

Blogging can help you reach customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey

These days, a blog’s role has evolved from an opportunity for cramming even more keywords onto the website to a tool that can attract valuable traffic, educate your target market, and nurture them into leads. Your blog plays a role in every stage of the buyer’s journey, from the awareness and interest stages to evaluation and purchase.

That right there makes it one of the most important sales tools you have in your toolbox.

Just like with the example of “Plumber in Anytown, USA”, it all comes down to keywords. Taking a more human approach to both a content and keyword strategy means that now your blog gives you the opportunity to tackle topics your customers actually want to learn about. Topics like “Why won’t my toilet flush?” or “What to do if there’s a snake in your toilet” (apparently “toilet snakes” – yes, that’s a technical term – are the result of uncovered ventilation pipes. Who knew? )

Those make for way better reading than “Why We’re the Best Plumbers in Anytown, USA” I can assure you.

In short, your blog is now one of the most important first points of contact your customers will have with your business as they’re searching for answers around the products and services you provide.

Blogging is one of the fastest ways to establish yourself as an expert in your field

Just as your blog allows you to provide answers to the questions your would-be customers have regardless of the stage of the buyer’s journey they currently find themselves in, answering those questions helps to establish you and your business as the go-to experts in your field or local area.

Publishing consistently, and ensuring that you’re sticking to high-quality content that is so valuable and helpful that it’s nearly a product in and of itself is key. When you regularly provide meaningful content that actually addresses your customer’s questions and concerns, you build trust with them. When they eventually decide to pick up the phone and call you, you will have already invested in building the foundations of a relationship with them.

Let’s just hope they’re not calling you to address a toilet snake problem. That would be unfortunate.

Blogging helps you sell your products and services without being salesy. 

Do you see those praise hands? I feel this one personally. If you really hate being salesy (as I do) then rejoice with me. Blogging is one of the easiest ways to help your business generate leads and get new customers without being overly salesy. As in the previous items above, it comes down to creating great content, and enough of it that your potential customers come to rely on you as a resource in the industry.

It’s also about giving your customers a chance to get to know you and your brand. Think about it. Imagine you’re trying to decide who to hire as your new local plumber and you come across the following two blog posts:

Be honest. Who would you rather do business with? If your answer was the goldfish killer, you’re not alone. Most consumers want to work with brands that they can identify with. While we might not all share the experience of having sent a goldfish to its death by way of a residential plumbing system, we still appreciate a brand that isn’t afraid to tell its story and show its personality.

And if you all think there couldn’t possibly be a website or blog so blatantly keyword stuffed as the example above, I invite you to check out this gem: Plumber Oklahoma City OK Plumbing & Repair at https://plumber-oklahomacity-ok-plumbers-plumbing.com/

Yes, that is the actual business and domain name. #allthekeywords

Final Thoughts on Blogging

I can’t possibly write final thoughts on blogging. I simply have too many thoughts on it. It’s why I started a business built on blogging, after all. To wrap things up for now, however, consider that with so many business owners recognizing that blogging is an essential growth tool for their business, yet so few of them actually doing it well, you have an opportunity to fill a need among your potential customers. The need for high-quality, informative content that is actually fun to read.

Do that, my friend, and the results will speak for themselves.

Disclaimer: no fish were harmed in the writing of this blog. Except for those 3 sushi rolls I ate this week during date night.