Blogging first started as an online personal web log, in which a person would record details about their day. Many entrepreneurs saw a marketing potential in having a web log, so web logging took off and began to be used for the purpose of marketing. From there, the word changed from ‘web log’ to ‘blog.’
If you have been reading about ways to start your online marketing efforts, you probably will have read about the importance of a blog. But is it really useful? Is blogging really worth your time, energy, and frustration? In this article, we will discuss the importance of blogging for your marketing efforts, and how it can be an incredibly useful business development tool.
It is not hard to conclude that, in a world which places the greatest stress on the importance of customer engagement and user-friendliness, blogging simply has to play a crucial role. In just two decades, we have seen significant changes in the way we shop, work, and carry out our day to day chores.
According to opinionresearch.com, 61 percent of consumers’ decisions about the purchase of a product are influenced by reading online recommendations on a blog. Similarly, 81 percent of people now tend to search and read about their favorite products online before making a purchase. The change in consumers behavior has also compelled businesses to alter the way they communicate and engage with prospects and potential customers. No matter the size of a company, chances are that it now heavily relies on blogging to stay competitive in the overcrowded digital ecosystem.
This makes sense because the digital space needs to recreate the same feeling which a face to face communication have in a brick and mortar store, and blogging does precisely that. It not only helps you garner bigger visibility but also convert your conversion rates and ultimately your sales. If done rightly, blogging can become the backbone for the growth of your business, and here is why:
Since blogs are regularly updated, they give your readers a reason to visit your website regularly for useful content. According to Hubspot, businesses that blog frequently get benefits in the form of more traffic and leads compared to those that rarely blog or doesn’t have one.
Webbiquity also reveals that companies that publish more than 15 blog posts per month generate 5 times more traffic than companies that do not blog. More traffic on your site online means more potential client inquiries, more potential bookings, and an increase in sales. More visitors on your website is always good as long as they are going to buy your product or service. Make sure to create content that solves the audience’s pain points and grab their attention with a bit of storytelling.
Now that your blog is driving enough traffic to your site, it is time to convert that traffic into leads. Every blog post that you write is just another indexed page that increases your opportunity to show up in search engines and generate more leads.
To simplify the traffic to lead conversion, businesses can add a “call to action” to their blog posts, so every time a visitor comes to your website and sees the call to action, they would most likely click it. This will take them to your landing page where you can convince them to fill a form so you can turn them to leads for your sales team.
Not every reader of your blog is going to convert, but it is essential to take some time and create a blog strategy. No matter the size of the business you run, just get to blogging and make efforts to improve every month. For instance, a home contractor could share home improvement tips and post before and after pictures of their work along with a short description of the project for the readers. Similarly, an online fashion store like leather skin shop could write about weekly style predictions and post outfit tips per season.
Every blog post on your website shall inspire some action and potentially bring in leads. This is possible when you keep the best SEO practices in mind, that will nurture customers round the clock.
Blogging helps you drive continuous site traffic and new leads. Once you publish a post, it can continue to attract new prospects and customers and help you increase business sales. More than three-quarters of the blog views for Hubspot are for old posts. These posts help them collect the vast majority of their leads.
While every new post will help you gain authority and rank you better over time, it doesn’t end there. The blog post will now be ranking in search engines, so you will continue to get traffic and leads for days, months, and years to come.
These posts will bring in a decent amount of traffic, but sometimes they will require a few tweaks to remain relevant and serve your business goals.
One of the aims of every business is to lower their marketing costs, and blogging is often a vital element that allows it. Once you create evergreen content, you can distribute it to a wider audience by posting it to your blog. According to Content Marketing Institute, content marketing (or blogging) costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing. Even better, it generates 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing. Additionally, content pays dividends long after it is posted and the effect multiplies as you create fresh content.
These reasons and a plethora of others make blogging the backbone of your business. With the current cut-throat competition in the market, you will need to give the right amount of time and attention to blogging, not only to attract and nurture leads but also capture and engage new customers.
