The digital age has presented additional business opportunities to increase awareness of your products/service in a cost-effective way. Blogging is a tool that some companies don’t utilize, often due to the lack of knowledge behind the impact a blog can make for their company. Here are five reasons for your company to blog.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) is seen as arguably the top reason for companies to publish a blog. When you search a term on Google, the most relevant sites appear at the top. Most people, when searching keywords, do not have a specific company or webpage in mind (otherwise they would simply bypass the search engine). The best practice to get to the top of a Google search lies in SEO. Blogs are a tool for good SEO because they give your website more “meat” to grab on to. The more keywords that your site has related to the target keywords you want to show up for, the more likely you will appear higher in search engines (i.e. if you sell garage doors, the more words on the website that discuss garage doors the more likely you are to show up in search engines).
- Expert Advice. You need to prove to your audience that you are an expert, if you aren’t considered an expert why would someone do business with you? They wouldn’t! Putting your expert advice on the internet for your customers and potential customers to see can lead to (more) trust. Blogs help companies gain loyalty from customers by communicating in a personal tone.
- It’s easy and “free!” If the first two points aren’t enough to start a blog, the third point should put you over the edge. Blogging is free….generally. Upon your discretion you can purchase domain names for your blog, or you may have to pay more through who manages your website. Trust me; the impacts of a blog will outweigh the minimal price time and time again. Once you get a blog set up, you can post anything – videos, pictures, writing, links etc. Blogging is not meant to be hard, that’s why there’s a blog to cover virtually every topic.
- Cross promotion. A blog can help promote your website, or other social media sites. The internet truly is a “web” of topics that is waiting to get tapped into.
- Buzz. Have something innovative that will change your industry as we know it? Apple is a company that uses this tactic very well. Most companies would send out press releases to promote a product. Not Apple; instead the company spreads their buzz via blogs – at least blogs happen to hear about their product launches. Apple successfully doubles up their coverage when most companies would unveil the product at the launch; Apple chooses to release small details along the way increasing suspense.
Bottom line, if your company doesn’t blog, then they are in the minority! Amazing, right!? If your company isn’t blogging, what are you waiting for? Get started! Set a goal of sending one solid post a month, and try to increase the amount of posts once you get comfortable.
Is your company blogging? What impact does the blog have for your company?
By Guest Author – Greg Brey is a young marketing, social media professional in the Milwaukee, WI area currently working for www.keystoneclick.com. During his free time Greg enjoys watching and playing sports, playing with his yellow-lab Junior, hunting and partaking in anything new or exciting. Please follow my blog as well; connect with Greg Brey online via Twitter.
