5 Key Ways Blogging Benefits Your Business

We know you’ve heard it before. And yes, blogging does benefit your business — really, it does! But let’s talk about the actual results you can expect to receive from a consistent blogging strategy (“consistent” being the operative word, here). So without further ado, here are five ways blogging can take your business to the next level.

1. Blogging Increases Website Traffic

Fact: Blogging increases traffic to your website. But what does that mean? Simply put, increasing website traffic means getting more people to look at and interact with your website. And if you’re running a business, getting more eyes on your website is a really important part of, you know, selling stuff! 

So, by increasing your website traffic, you’re indirectly increasing your bottom line. 

Blogging helps bring people to your website in a number of ways. First of all, if you’re creating interesting content that people actually want to read, you’re going to draw in people who are curious and want to learn more about that particular topic. With a consistent blog-posting cadence, readers may continue to visit your website for new content that they’ve come to expect. They may even subscribe for email updates, which allows you to send even more content, further increasing your website traffic. 

But that’s not the only way blogging brings new folks to your site — search engine optimization, or SEO, plays a huge role in bringing the right people to your blog. Here’s how it works:

Say you’re in the landscaping business. You write a blog about how to get your backyard ready for a garden party, and so naturally you include keywords that are related to your topic (such as “backyard” and “garden party”). Then, when people have this exact problem and search for these keywords in a search engine, Google is more likely to direct them to your landscaping business’s website because you wrote a blog about that topic using those keywords.

(If you want to learn more about how to use SEO to increase website traffic, check out this other blog we wrote!)

2. Blogging Transforms You Into an Industry Expert

If your business has a high quality blog, this tells people that you know what you’re talking about, that you’re an expert in your industry, and that people can trust you. This is great for your business, because we know that people are more likely to purchase from people/businesses they trust.

Imagine you’re in the market to buy your first house, but you’re worried that your lack of knowledge could result in you either being out-bid or overpaying. You decide to find a reliable realtor to help you purchase the home you’ve always wanted.

While conducting research, you find two realtors that you like:

Realtor A has a website that tells you about them and links to their social media, but no blog. 

Realtor B has all of that, plus a quality blog in which they post consistently about the housing market and buying homes. Scrolling through, you see posts like:

• “5 Tips For Buying a Home in Minnesota”
• “Here’s Why You Keep Getting Outbid on Your Home Hunt”
• “To Buy or Not To Buy: What Higher Interest Rates Mean For First Time Homebuyers”

Who are you more likely to contact? 

One last thing: In order to solidify your reputation as an industry expert, your blog needs to be consistent and high quality. That means you should aim to post at least one blog per month, and make sure it has a decent word count (1,000 - 3,000 words) with enough insightful information to be helpful to your customers. 

3. Blogging Generates Leads 

In life, people rarely enjoy being told what to do. After all, we all like to think of ourselves as independent, capable people, who don’t need to be bossed around. In the world of commerce, though, the opposite is true — prospects like to be directed toward their next step, because it relieves decision fatigue. 

That’s why you should always include a call to action in your blogs. A call to action (CTA) is a button or a hyperlink that asks users to take a specific action (think “Get Started” or “Book Appointment”).  

CTAs can turn your popular blog into a lead-generating machine. A HubSpot study showed that having a CTA embedded into the copy of a blog substantially increases conversions. 

In blogs, CTAs are most effective when included somewhere in the conclusion as written text and/or hyperlinks. That means, instead of a big button, your CTA will look something like this: 

“At [Company Name], we’re committed to helping our customers navigate [industry problem/blog topic]. Call us at [phone number] or fill out our Contact Form to book your first appointment with us. We look forward to seeing you!”

To get the most leads from a blog, you want your CTA to sound natural, as if it’s a part of the article. You can do this by tying your CTA into the topic so it reads as a natural conclusion for the blog. 

(For more information about CTAs, check out our blog How To Design the Perfect Call To Action.) 

4. Blogging Creates an Ongoing Conversation With Customers

Your blog is the ideal place for you to speak to your customers, as well as your prospects. Anything you need to communicate, you can do it right from your blog. 

Need to share company news? Write a blog about it. Have important policy updates? Explain them in a detailed blog. Hired a new team member? Employee appreciation blog. Selling new products or services? B-L-O-G. 

Aside from having an ongoing conversation with your audience, a company blog allows you to develop your brand’s voice. Your voice represents your brand’s personality, and your brand’s personality will help you attract your ideal customers. 

So when you’re writing your blog, don’t be afraid to inject a little personality here and there. It may help to sit down and brainstorm your brand’s personality first (we have a free ebook to help you do just that!) After you narrow down what kind of brand you are, it will be much easier to create a consistent brand voice on your blog. This will humanize your business and ultimately attract more customers. 

5. Blog Content Doubles as Social Content, Triples as Newsletter Content, Quadruples as… 

Perhaps one of the best benefits of writing blog posts for your business is that once a blog has been written, the content can be used, reused, repurposed, and revamped for years to come. That means the 5-8 hours you spend writing a blog will continue to earn returns long after the effort has been expended.

Blog content can easily be repurposed as social media content. This will contribute to your regular social media posting cadence, which in turn helps your social media following stay engaged with your business. 

Sending out a monthly newsletter? Include a sneak peak of your new blog for some easy newsletter content. Including new content every month will increase your Open Rate and other important email metrics.  

Blog content can also be repurposed for ebook content and other sales collateral that can be used to generate leads. Finally, you can historically optimize your popular blogs by simply refreshing them every few years. This allows you to get even more mileage out of high traffic content. 

Ready To Start Blogging? 

If you don’t have a blog yet, don’t worry! It’s never too late to kick off a consistent blogging strategy. At Wild Fig Marketing, blogging is just one of the things we do best! We’ve got a ton of resources to help you, here’s just a few to get you started: 

9 Types of Blogs and How To Use Them To Promote Your Business

Best Storytelling Frameworks For More Engaging Storytelling

Crafting Killer Content: 6 Types of Content For Better Engagement 

How To Optimize Your Content For SEO

Don’t have the time or energy for blogging? Wild Fig has you covered there, too! Our professional team of content writers can craft high quality blogs for your business, helping you to generate leads and convert customers. Schedule a 15 minute exploratory call with us to learn more!