Why Are Business Blogs So Important?

It’s an important question.

Don’t do it to jump on the bandwagon. Don’t do it because your competitors have a blog. Don’t do it because you think you know the value.

Let’s figure it out together.

Business blogs are one of the best ways to communicate with prospects and customers. They’re fairly easy to setup, not overly complex, incredibly easy to maintain technically and designed with a spirit of openness and communication in mind.

1. Search Engines Love Blogs. Many small businesses spend money on Google AdWords. Google makes a killing off them. And most small businesses struggle with search engine optimization and getting up on the top pages of Google results (and other search engines too.) There are a million search engine optimization companies promising all kinds of things. But it’s generally difficult for small business owners to understand…it’s very “black box.”

   Blogging is straightforward. Blog on a niche topic and search engines will love you. You’d be amazed at how quickly your blog content will show up in search engines and how highly it will rank. Type “good constructive criticism” into Google. One of the top (if not the top) results will be 5 Steps to Providing Good Constructive Criticism » Instigator Blog. That’s a single blog post I wrote on constructive criticism. If you were a business coach or management coach, that kind of ranking for that term could generate business.

2. People Love Blog Content. People intrinsically trust blogs. There’s pros and cons to that, but fundamentally people see blogs as a honest form of dialogue. That’s gold for small businesses that have trouble getting their message and ideas out the door. Traditional marketing is expensive and very focused on closing deals. Start blogging, stick with it, generate useful content and people will come. Take a look at some blog success stories from lawyers. Customers are already picking who they do business with based on whether those businesses have blogs or not.
3. Blogs Help You With Your Authentic Voice. You’ve got something to sell. You believe in it. You’re passionate about it. But, you can’t get that across to others. Blogs help tremendously with that. They give you the opportunity to speak your mind, differentiate yourself and create discussions around your business and industry. Sure, your competitors might have blogs too, but you’re unique, you offer specific value, and now you have a way of sharing that with customers.
4. Business Blogs Are The Most Inexpensive Marketing, Sales and PR Channel Available. Blogging isn’t free. It does take time. It takes commitment. Technologically, blogs are easy to setup, and with some help on how to blog you’ll be ready to go. Your time isn’t worth nothing, it’s incredibly valuable, but business blogging is still a less expensive proposition than traditional marketing, contextual online advertising, direct sales and public relations.

Business blogging can make your business more successful.

But don’t just take my word for it, check out:

• What You Lose By Not Blogging
• Why Business Blogs Are Important
• Calculating the ROI of blogs – it’s not about the math
• The Value of Business Blogs

Tags: benefits of blogging, business blogging, corporate blogging, customer relationships, online marketing, customer service, public relations, how to blog