5 Reasons to Write a Blog For Small Business
Doesn’t it seem like everyone is blogging nowadays? In fact, WordPress blogs alone comprise over 20 billion web pages!
With that overwhelming number, you might wonder whether small business blogs are still worth it and can cut through the noise. How can you be sure that your existing and potential customers have any interest in reading what you have to say?
Here are just a few of the best reasons we’ve found for why blogging for small businesses is still part of a rockstar marketing plan.
Key Takeaways:
- Blogging is a cost-effective way to connect with the customers who matter most to your business.
- Your blogs also help you to tell the story of your brand’s personality and establish yourself as an authority in the market.
- Blogging supports your other marketing efforts and promotes creativity and engagement in the workplace.
1. A Small Business Blog Is Cost-Effective Marketing
First of all, blogging is cheap. Demand Metric found that content marketing through methods such as small business blogs costs 62% less than other efforts.
However, the low cost doesn’t translate to lackluster results. According to HubSpot, content generates three times as many leads as traditional methods.
The reason for this outstanding performance is content marketing through regular blog posting supports search engine optimization. Search engines love fresh, original content because it creates more pages for indexing.
As you establish yourself as a fountain of ideas, other sites will be willing to link to you as a reputable source. We’ve seen that link-building becomes another valuable way to build authority and enhance your SEO.
Plus, people are always looking for something new, and each blog gives you another opportunity to pique their interest. As your articles lay the foundation of your content marketing strategy, you will increase website traffic and sales without breaking the bank.
2. Blogging Promotes a Two-Way Conversation With Your Core Audience
Let’s face it: We all want to kick those pain-in-the-butt, low-profit clients to the curb. How can a small business blog help you connect with high-value buyers?
Blogging Helps You Build Relationships
More than ever, building a business is about forging strong connections. Buyers need to know who you are and that you care about their problems.
Also, blogs offer you a golden opportunity to talk about what concerns people and build their trust. Then, you can engage in a conversation as readers leave comments or share their impressions on social media.
Further, blogs give you the ideal platform for reaching more people on their terms. People love to search for answers online and discover solutions, brands, and communities that fit their needs.
Consider: Those billions of WordPress blogs we mentioned above attract over 400 million people monthly, generating 44 million comments and over 21 billion views!
Smart Blogging Reaches the Right People
Remember: Your blog is not about going viral and reaching the masses. When you can laser-focus on the 20% of buyers that really matter, you can spend more of your time on revenue-generating activities.
In addition, you are able to continually tailor your messages to your target audience. You might even build up to creating multiple small business blogs on your site to personalize information for different categories.
Make sure you invite comments by linking to your long-form posts on social channels and asking for feedback. Use the responses to discover and attract the niche markets that are most profitable.
Also, the metrics on your performance in your SEO tools give you a wealth of information on what people care about and engage with. Use marketing technology tools or rely on a first-rate agency to help you ensure you’re connecting with the right types of personas.
As you meet the needs of the people who will be loyal clients, you can say “see ya” to customers who really don’t help you thrive.
3. Blogging for Small Businesses Lets You Establish Your Brand’s Personality
Of course, while a small business blog is great for kickstarting that conversation with your audience, no one wants to interact with someone who’s boring. More than ever, buyers want to feel a synergy with their product and service providers.
Spammy banners and pay-per-click ads can only do so much to let prospects get to know you. Even worse, these ads usually send the wrong message (that you’re an interruption and a nuisance.)
Longer pieces give readers a chance to build positive feelings toward you and your team. Promoting this type of goodwill is even more important for small businesses.
People often turn to small businesses because of a desire to join a unique community and to gain a sense of exclusivity. Your small business blog let you define yourself, which helps attract the client personas you want.
4. Blogging Is the Best Way To Share Your Expertise
If you’re knowledgeable in your field (and you’d better be!), then running a blog can be a great way of proving it to others. Customers love to buy from people who know their stuff, and that’s true whether you’re selling goods or services.
You prove your expertise by doing more than sharing snippets of thoughts on social media or writing articles of a few hundred words. Long-form posts get the highest search results and the most backlinks.
True, you won’t be able to create 2000-3000 word articles daily. Still, you should earmark time in your content schedule to craft longer think pieces, how-tos, and white papers to establish your thought leadership.
Another tactic is to break into guest posting on other small business blogs of relevant companies. The main benefit of writing for other domains is that it connects you with a ready audience while simultaneously giving your business an endorsement from a credible source.
5. Blog Writing Bolsters Your Focus, Creativity, and Innovation
An often overlooked reason why blogging is a good idea is that it forces you to stop and think about your business and your industry. The eternal search for topics forces you to browse other sites to see what’s newsworthy, making sure that you stay ahead of the curve.
On top of that, blogging also prompts you to focus on what you want to achieve with your business. As you choose topics and keywords, you’ll hone in on your objectives.
You also get more engagement from your team when you solicit their talents for your small business blog. Whether they’re brainstorming or writing content themselves, you’re taking advantage of a natural way to educate them and help them upskill, strengthening your team.
6. Blogs Support Other Marketing Efforts for Higher Conversions
Blogging sets the surest foundation for your other marketing efforts as well. Content creation gives you a clear understanding of your own identity and how to craft other messages for your target audience as you stay on top of current metrics.
Your informational small business blog give you a valid reason for reaching out to leads as you invite them to read something that helps them. You can also repurpose the information for social media posts and email marketing, boosting clicks and other conversion rates.
Blogs even make pay-per-click more effective, should you find good reasons to use it. An ad may bring leads in, but your blogs let them get to know you and build the trust they need to eventually become repeat customers and not a one-time sale.
All this is to say, your blog is the next natural progression in your marketing that customers will want after ads, social media, and emails. Be sure you give it to them.
Take the Next Steps in Building Your Small Business Blog
It doesn’t have to be difficult to begin blogging, but starting a successful blog (or revitalizing a flagging one) is easier to talk about than do.
Do you need some help developing and executing your strategy? Check out our SEO writing services for a small business blog or schedule a free consultation to learn even more about how we can help!