People always say, what is the point in Blogging, it doesn't generate direct sales and is out dated. But what they don’t realise is that Blogs have massive and far-reaching benefits to your digital marketing efforts.
Want to know what these benefits are? Of course you do! So strap in, don your cape and spandex and prepare to dive into the world of Blogging.
Blogging helps drive people to your website
Every single time you write a Blog post for your website, it's one more indexed page on your website, which means it's one more opportunity for you to show up in search engines and drive traffic to your website in organic search. We'll get into more of the benefits of Blogging to your SEO a bit later, but it's also one more cue to Google and other search engines that your website is active and they should be checking in frequently to see what new content to surface.
Blogs also help companies to be more discoverable. Think about it, every single time you post a blog, you’re creating content that other people on social media could share, like and spread and cross promote on different social networks too. This also helps the business to find new audience. It’s very much like pollination, with your Blog being the stamen, and the reader being the Bumble Bee.
A great way to help keep your social media presence fresh with new content and to strengthen your social reach is with new Blog content. This will attract social fans and drive new website traffic, building a sustainable following.
Let’s also not forget too that when you’re creating your social media content with a view to drive traffic and build business, having fresh content to syndicate and share is highly valuable.
Blogging helps keep people on your website
If you love Google analytics like us, you'll notice two key elements which effect your page authority and ultimately rankings: Bounce Rate and Page Session.
If someone visits your site and leaves before clicking on anything then Google sees this
as a bad thing, because that visitor did not find what they're looking for. If the visitor lands on your site, clicks and stays on your site to read things like a Blog, then the bounce rate lowers and the averge page session increases, which Google (other search engines are available) loves.
It helps convert visitors into leads.
Now that you are getting people visiting your website through your Blogging, you really have the chance to grab that customer with both hands and convert them into leads. Think of it like this, every blog post is a new opportunity to generate new leads. But one thing you can’t forget about is … Putting a call-to-action to every Blog.
Popular call to actions can be buttons that lead to things like shares, free gifts, free whitepapers, free E-books and basically anything that someone would want to continue reading or sharing. This should cost them something in terms of data capture. In other words, here’s more, juicy content for you, but if you want to receive it, then we would like your email address first.
Focus on your business’ talent
A relatively untapped benefit of Blogging is the power to put the spotlight on your business’ individual talent and internal skill sets. This is something that Digital Paint put a lot of focus on, but most businesses don’t. Encourage your staff to Blog, but use your website to bring them front and center to nurture their talent and writing skills. Your staff are then more likely to personally share the blog with their network which ultimately assists in powerful market exposure and reach.
If you’ve never tried it, check out our website for some great Blog styles, but just know that there isn’t a right or wrong for Blogging, but consistency and frequency is vital for success. Write meaningful content, in a style you like, write it regularly, be passionate and share it and the fan base will grow.
Continue the conversation on Twitter at @digitalpaintweb using #DPblog #DPinsights and #Protege
