When working with all kinds of businesses, from B2C all the way through to the third sector, I am shocked at how many marketing teams have neglected one of the most fundamental tools at their disposal: their blog.
Usually free to add to an existing website, a blog can be an incredibly effective method to share news, improve your site's SEO, and humanise your business. Let me talk you through what you could be missing out on by failing to blog.
An SEO Boost
By posting regular blogs, you will be providing more content for Google to scan; the more often you blog, the more often Google will send their spiders to search your site. Keeping your site fresh and adding new content ensures your website is constantly scanned and therefore, your ranking on Google is always reviewed too.
As well as this, blogging is the ideal way to introduce keywords to your site. Think of the words people will search when your business appears on Google (apart from your business name), these are the words you should be including in your blog posts. Be careful not to stuff keywords into your content or you could end up blacklisted by Google. Ensure your content flows and makes sense but also incorporates your desired keywords.
New Content To Share
Far too often I hear that brands and organisations don't have enough content to share on their social media platforms, this is not true. If you are struggling with content to post, snippets from blog posts always go down well. Your newest blog post could provide filler content for the fortnight after you post. This also stands for email marketing. If you have a newsletter (which you should), share your latest blog post with your subscribers to provide them with something useful to their lives or business.
One of my favourite ways to share a blog post is by using quotes. Pick out 3-4 of your favourite passages from your latest blog post, turn them into graphics on Canva and tease your content across social media. Not only does this give you something to post about, but it can also generate web traffic in places you wouldn't usually expect (like Pinterest).
Proving Your Knowledge
Testimonials are great, but the best way to prove you know what you are talking about is by writing about it. Show your clients and customers how passionate you are about what you do and that you know your stuff by highlighting various topics on your blog. If you're a third sector organisation, why not write about where your latest donations have gone? Or, if you sell protein supplements, write about the fitness world and your best tips for the gym.
Anyone can research a topic, but it's hard to impersonate real passion. Through strong writing, your readers will know you are passionate about your products and services and are more likely to choose your organisation over one where passion isn't present.
A Humanised Business
In recent years there has been a huge shift towards shopping local and supporting small businesses. This is down to the personal service you experience by shopping with these kinds of businesses. By blogging about your businesses' news and updates from within the company, you can achieve this same effect.
The general public wants to know who they are buying from or donating to. They want to know your passions, your hobbies, what makes your heart sing and what you are celebrating. Humanise your business by writing in a chatty style and sharing what makes you happy (even if that's the office dog's birthday party).
Choose Your Blogger Wisely
To achieve all of my aforementioned points, you need to choose who runs your blog wisely. Not only do they need to be a strong writer in your business' language, but they need to exude passion, know how to convey emotion and be able to switch their tone to fit the topic you choose to cover.
This could be achieved by a member of your team or by outsourcing your work to someone who knows about your industry and has a keen interest in your products or services. Whoever you choose to write on your behalf, make sure you have seen their work and like their style before allowing them to take over what could be your most important marketing tool.
If you need support setting up or running your blog, email me for a discussion and a quote.
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