Why create a blog for your business
You’ve heard people talk about blogs before. You know it’s ‘probably a good thing to do’, and you’ve promised yourself you’ll get round to it one day. The only thing is, something else always seems to crop up. Running your own business is a lot of work, and it’s easy to think of a blog as ‘just another thing’ that zaps your precious time.
Today, we’re going to talk about why having your own blog is something you absolutely must prioritise, and why putting it on the backburner is hurting your business growth, and ultimately, losing you money.
If that sounds a little depressing, fear not. We have a nice surprise in store for you, and by the end of this jam-packed guide, you’ll understand why your very own blog is so important for your growth, and what you stand to gain by getting the ball rolling on your new marketing secret weapon. Let’s dive in.
Should small businesses have a blog?
If you want to win more business, then the answer is a resounding yes. You know that huge, unavoidable elephant that has a big say in your online results? Those guys over at Google? Well they absolutely love updated web content, and reward you handsomely for sharing your knowledge with info-seekers across the web.
They’re not biassed either – they don’t care if you’re a one-man-band selling calendars on Etsy, or a gigantic powerhouse like Amazon selling er, everything – they reward any business who keeps the content flowing. How? By lifting you up the search engine rankings. When this happens, you’re dropped smack bang in the middle of where your ideal customers are – and we can’t ask for much more than that!
When it comes to blogging, size really doesn’t matter. Don’t let the number of employees you have, or the type of products you sell, or your projected revenue for this year.. Stop you from putting yourself in front of the very people who are seeking you out. Whether you run a kebab shop in Manchester, a locksmith in London or a jeweller in Jersey, a blog is an investment with extremely lucrative returns.
Is blogging good for business?
This is a popular question from would-be bloggers. What we really want to know is: is it actually worth my time? Here are 5 ways setting up a blog can help you bring in customers, increase your revenue and help more people:
- Increased website traffic – More eyes on your website = more people clicking to see what you have to offer = more products sold. If someone is searching for a solution to a problem, and they stumble across your high-quality blog full of useful information, they’re very likely to scan your website for other products and services that can help them. You’re luring in the very people who want what you have!
Take these findings from hubspot as an example. Websites with a blog saw a whopping 55% more visitors to their site than those without – not an insignificant number by any stretch.
- Be seen as an expert – Our blog at Stratton drives home this point nicely. We’re experts in SEO, and help businesses get in front of their dream customers. Our blog is full of useful, practical info (we hope!) around that topic, and our goal is to give away free info so good that people would be happy to pay for it! When people have benefited from the free information we’ve shared, they want to check out our other offers because they’ve seen firsthand that we have the knowledge to help them get from A ————— Z. See how it works? By default, your blog positions you as a trusted source of high-quality information.
- Blog posts last a lifetime – Let’s say you’re a bakery and you wrote a blog post in 2012 talking about, hmm, how to bake the perfect loaf of bread. It doesn’t matter that you wrote the blog post 10 years ago, because a decade later, people still want to know how to bake the perfect loaf of bread! Blogging is evergreen – blog posts you wrote about years ago can provide you with leads (and cash!) today, meaning you do the work once, but it can pay off for the lifetime of your business. Now that sounds like a pretty sweet deal!
- Link building – It’s a technical way of saying ‘have useful links in your blog posts that help your audience even more’. It’s one of the ways the big search engines figure out if your blog posts are helpful. If they are, they’ll push you to the top of the queue, and more people will be directed towards your blog (and then your website!). It’s another technique for getting your business in front of the right people, and that’s something we’ve got a lot of time for.
- Increased engagement – People want to do business with real humans. Times are swiftly changing, and consumers want to forge a genuine connection with the brands they buy from. A blog helps you connect with your customers, and it helps to keep you ‘top of mind’ too.
Will people read my blog?
Sometimes we think of blogs as a luxury the big boys and girls at the top of the business chain can enjoy. Us smaller guys? We should stick in our lane and focus on our customers. I mean, who is actually going to read our stuff anyways?
Let’s dispel that myth. A gigantic 77% of the 4 billion internet users read blogs – over 3 billion people. These people are reading blogs on knitting, car washing, French wine, German cars, fish n’ chips, accounting, candles.. We could go on, and you’ll be glad to know the topics get even more obscure. People have wide-ranging interests, so no matter what industry you’re in, there are readers out there waiting for you!
A better way to think of it is: when did you last read a blog? An hour ago? This morning maybe? Surely within the last 2 days! Whenever we want to learn more about something, we hop online, do a quick Google search and then we start looking for the info that pique’s our interest. It doesn’t matter what it is – lasagne recipes or how to find cheap flights – we’re constantly consuming information, and blogs are a massive part of getting this information to the people who need or want it.
Is blogging expensive?
Remember at the start of this guide we said we had a nice surprise for you? Here it is: blogging is one of the cheapest (and most effective) ways of putting your business in front of your target market.
WordPress is one of the most popular blog hosting platforms, and you can get started from as little as £5 per month. £5 per month – we spend more on our daily lattes!
Where else can you have an almost unlimited source of leads for your business for the cost of a trip to Starbucks? Sure, it takes some work to get going, and you’ll have to be persistent with it. But if you can do that? You’ve found yourself a reliable lead source (that’s cheaper than a drink in London) that’ll pay off time and time again.
If you do find a cheaper way to put your business in front of millions, please let us know!
Writing isn’t my strong point – should I still start a blog?
The first thing we’ll say here is you don’t need to be the next J.K Rowling to run a successful blog that people love to read. Grammar matters, but the odd spelling mistake isn’t the end of the world. It’s the same with your ‘stories’ and ‘how you word things’ – sure, they matter. But people aren’t going to run for the hills, never to return again, all because you’re not on Shakespeare’s level.
People want to be educated and/or entertained, so keep that in mind and have some fun with it.
The other thing to consider is hiring a writer to write blogs on your behalf. Maybe you’re too busy, maybe you hate writing, or maybe you’d just feel more comfortable handing the reins over to someone who writes for a living. If that’s the case, a quick search online (maybe on a blog!?) will give you plenty of options for outsourcing your blog work. Lot’s of businesses take this route, so it’s definitely worth thinking about.
Final thoughts
In a nutshell, blogging has the potential for very big rewards with minimal outlay, and that’s a trade we can get onboard with. People love blogs, and they’re cheap. They help you connect with your customers, and they last a lifetime. They work for every industry, and they help bring in more customers. What’s not to love?
Now you’ve seen the benefits of starting a blog, what are your initial thoughts? If you’ve got any pressing questions, or if there’s something you’d like more info on, leave us a comment down below. Maybe we could answer your question with another blog?
If you want some blogging inspiration, or want to learn more about Stratton and how we can help your business bring in more customers, click here – we’d love to help. See you on the next one!