Building a business is hard work. There are hundreds of decisions to make every day. As the owner, you are the expert and final decision maker, but there is only so much time in each day. Prioritizing tasks is necessary, but when it comes to marketing are you focusing on the right things? If you aren’t blogging, then the answer is not likely.
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Why Prioritize Blogging?
Logistically there are several ways a blog helps your customers find you through an internet search.
- The more pages your website has, the more ways to find you in search.
- Consistent blog posts are one way to show your website is current and active.
- Blogging sets your website apart within your industry.
- Statistically, your website traffic will increase by over 50% with the addition of a blog.
- Blog posts provide fresh content to share on social media.
- Blogging is another opportunity to show your clients and potential clients how much you care.
What Types of Blog Posts are Best?
Ok, so we know how great a blog will be for your website, but it’s important to point out not all blog posts are equal. High-quality, relevant content is the key to attracting customers to return to your website as well as remembering your name when they need the service or product you provide.
Blog posts should always be industry relevant and have original content. More than that they should inform or educate your reader. For example, if you are a home builder your blog post subjects could include different styles of homes, things to ask your contractor before beginning the building process, and how to decide if the time is right to build a house. These three subjects are very different, but all revolve around the industry of home building.
The best blog posts tell your potential customers about your company, yourself, or your industry. They are interesting and helpful. They are well-written, grammatically correct, free of spelling errors, and optimized for SEO. An optimized post will automatically rank higher in search results. It’s important to implement best practices to give your website the best chance to rank high.
Isn’t Blogging a lot of Work?
Even with the benefits we’ve laid out, you may wonder if blogging is worth the time and effort it will take away from more pressing business concerns. I suggest instead of asking whether it’s worth it to blog at all, you shift the question to ask how many times a year can I write a blog post.
The benefits gained from blogging far outweigh the time it takes to prioritize having a blog on your website even if you only blog a few times a year. Of course, a few new blog posts a week have a better chance to drive customers to your site than a few blog posts a year, but the benefits remain the same.
This is especially true with evergreen blog posts. Going back to our house builder example, there is some content that stays industry relevant while other blog articles are only helpful for a short time. A blog post that features the most popular building trends in 2001 isn’t going to be of much interest to people looking to build in 2018 unless the trends have stuck around. The fewer blog posts you publish, the more you should focus on creating evergreen content.
How Do I Prioritize Blogging?
Every business owner knows at some point you need to ask for help. As your company grows, it becomes more important to focus on some things while hiring help for others. The one thing that never ends as your company grows is the need to continue to market your company.
To grow you need to reach new clients. Word of mouth works well to a point, but in reality these days the first thing people do when they need to hire a service or purchase a product is to hop on Google. Having a web presence is the most efficient way to be found on Google.
Here are a few ways to prioritize blogging:
- Decide how many blog posts you want to post in a quarter.
- Choose the subjects of the blog posts.
- Assign writers for each post.
- Ask for help.
The best way to prioritize blogging is first to decide it’s going to happen and write it down. Taking that small action will solidify that blogging is a priority. Next, assign the job to the most qualified candidate. You may have a creative person in-house who has the bandwidth to write all your blog posts. You may also find that having several people each write a blog post divides the labor enough to accomplish the job.
If you are still not meeting your blogging goals, it’s time to ask for help. Whether you enlist the help of a freelancer or partner with a marketing agency to pick up the pace on blogging the investment will pay dividends when you choose the right people for the job.
Asking for help doesn’t mean handing over every aspect of marketing to other people. It means you are delegating an important part of your marketing strategy to marketing experts, so you are better able to focus on other parts of your company. It’s a win-win. Marketing happens, and your business receives the attention it deserves in other areas.
Are you ready to add a blog to your website? Do you need help creating a content marketing strategy? Send us an email. We’d love to help you develop a personalized marketing strategy for your business.
