Blogging can help to increase exposure to your target client base and demonstrate that you are an expert in your industry - if you do it correctly. Statistics show that 47% of buyers view 3 to 5 articles on a site before engaging with a sales rep. Your task is to get them reading those articles on your site, instead of your competitors. Follow are five ways that blogging can help get those people to your site.
1. Blogging can improve your search engine rankings
Regular blogging contributes to your SEO (search engine optimization). Just blogging once a week will add four fresh pieces of content to your website each month which will help bump you up in the rankings. Your content should always use keywords that are related to your business. That way, when they click on a link to read your blog post, you know that they are interested in your industry. For example, if you own a gym, write about topics related to fitness. These could include home workouts, healthy recipes, weight-loss related subjects, or even fashion tips when wearing sports clothing. The result you are trying to get is that when someone is searching Google for a topic related to your industry, your blog will be listed in the results. While getting in the top 10 links is great, everyone’s goals is to get in the top three. There is a really good chance that even if the user has never heard of you, they will click through since it relates to what they were searching for. Once they are on your site and read several articles, you have a chance to sell them on your business and capture their information.
2. Regularly updating your blog with good content keeps them coming back
While using the right keywords and choosing topics that are relevant to your business are important, the blog posts have to be interesting and offer value to your readers. Your blog posts are not the place to try and do a hard sell on your business. The trick is to provide them valuable information that doesn’t mention your product, but highlights the importance of it. People buy products that fulfill their needs or solve their problems. They will make the connection to your product if you talk about the solutions they are looking for.
3. Share your content on social media
Sharing your blog posts on your social media accounts will also drive traffic to your website. And if people find it interesting enough, they might share it with their friends and followers. Don’t make the mistake of not including social share buttons on all of your blog posts. If your visitors organically share your content, it will have a much larger impact on the amount of exposure your business gets. I think we have all seen how a post can go viral and get reposted hundreds of times. While you can always pay to promote your content, this can be costly. However, paid ads are probably the best way to increase traffic to your website quickly.
4. Using lead generation forms will help you get more subscribers
Once your content gets potential customers to your site, you need to develop a relationship with them. You should encourage your readers to leave comments or share your content. You could use popups to ask them to join your mailing list, get demos or download free e-books and articles. Don’t forget to also use your blog to share updates about your business, upcoming promotions, consumer events or new products. These are things that can also get readers to increase their interaction with your company.
5. It can establish your credibility and expertise
When you share important industry-related information, by producing expert and insightful content, it establishes your credibility, leadership abilities and builds trust among your regular readers. Writing a series of similar posts establishes you as an expert in the field and that gets readers to trust you over time. You will also find that they are more likely to return to your site to read topics they may find useful. In addition, regularly sharing blog posts humanized your business, because it helps put a face behind your brand. Business, in the end, is a person to person business.
A final note
While creating a blog can greatly increase the exposure your business receives, it is a lot of work to do it consistently. If you are willing to take the time to do it right, it will be worth the effort.