With the rapid evolution of technology, ever-changing consumer demands, and the 2020 pandemic driving shoppers online, it’s now more important than ever for small businesses to build a strong online presence to engage and interact with their customers. Although having a well-designed website in place is instrumental in developing a successful online marketing strategy, the stiff competition and ever-changing global business landscape require small businesses to do more.
And the most effective way that small businesses can attract potential customers to their sites and improve inbound marketing efforts is through blogging. Here’s a look at some of the powerful benefits of blogging for your small business.
1. Position Yourself as an Authority in the Industry
You can tailor the appearance of your blog and your writing style to resonate with your brand voice and identify. These elements will set your blog apart from the crowd and build a deeper connection with your target audience. Your audience will love to associate with you and buy your products or services, as they’ll view you as a transparent brand.
Small businesses can use blogging as a tool for sharing knowledge with consumers regarding the industry or other useful topics. By continuously publishing well-researched and compelling topic-focused content, you can stamp your authority as a thought leader in a specific subject area. That way, consumers will cultivate trust and respect for your brand.
2. Offer Value to Your Target Audience
People don’t like brands that are too salesy. There is nothing exciting about sales posts. So if you want to build a blog to generate income, you should avoid filling it with a lot of sales posts. Instead, provide your customers with valuable information they can apply in their everyday lives.
You can share a helpful checklist, a how-to-guide, recipes, and more. By providing value through your blog, you will turn potential customers into loyal, returning customers. Offering helpful insights before selling can generate impressive results. As Ben Richardson of Development Academy put it, "We view blogging as a way to establish our credentials as subject matter experts. That way if someone needs help we're the obvious people to ask."
3. Expands Your Customer Base through Sharing
One of the biggest benefits of blogging is content sharing. Every time a customer shares a blog post, people in their circle will see, develop interest, and perhaps even visit your site. Blog shares can help you expand your audience.
If those people keep on sharing the blog consistently on multiple social media platforms, your site will see rapid traffic growth. And once you gain the attention of your target customers, you can introduce them to your products and/or services. Another great way to share your blog and expand your customer base is by sending new blog posts to your email list. Many email services offer free plans out there, so take advantage of them and build a comprehensive email list.
4. Attract Visitors to Your Website
Adding new customers to an existing customer base is always a tough job, especially for small businesses. It also takes a lot of money to drive a significant amount of traffic to your website. Given that money is a scarce resource for your small business, you must come up with creative ways to attract new visitors to your website. And blogging happens to be the most inexpensive and most effective way to usher potential customers to your website.
Every article you post on your website is considered an indexed page, which increases your odds of ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERP). The higher the ranking, the more visitors you’ll drive to your website. Build Sales Funnels to attract your visitors, with Awareness, interest, Decision and Action stages.
5. Boosts Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO goes beyond just ranking. It’s a lifelong strategy to help your business maintain higher visibility in search engine results compared to your competition. There are a few ways to make that possible.
One of the simplest and inexpensive ways is to identify keywords that your target customers usually search for and create quality blog posts around them. This helps you publish relevant content and increase your visibility on top search engines. So always create meaningful blog posts around relevant keywords, share them with your email list, and finally market your blog.
Key Takeaways
Blogging can be a powerful tool in your marketing armory. It can help you cement your position as a thought leader in your industry, offer value to your customers, stand out from the crowd, expand your audience, and even grow your sales.
About the Author
Nancy Cambell is a digital marketing manager for her father's small business. She designs, builds, and maintains your social media presence, so she can contribute to marketing effectiveness by identifying short-term and long-range issues to address.
