Where are you? I often wonder that myself when looking for business, a service, or product information. How can I find out more about you if you’re not creating content that gets you noticed? In the past couple of weeks alone, I’ve come across B2B and B2C sites that still don’t have adequate content online.
Some of these websites have all the visual bells and whistles, but the actual content – you know, that stuff that informs, entices, and fulfills your need to know more – is missing. The first thing I look for on any site is a blog. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a medical provider, a dog walker, or a wilderness outfitter. Blogging should still be part of any content strategy.
Don’t ignore what high quality blogging can do for your business
Want some stats to back up the importance of blogging?
According to Hubspot, business blogs (as a component of their all-around content marketing) achieve nearly 70% more leads that businesses that don’t blog. Your chances of ranking higher go up over 400%. Who doesn’t want that?
Approximately 80% of businesses (B2B) use blogging as part of their overall content strategy, and 50% of those swear by their blogs in marketing success.
Increased brand visibility and leads for B2B and B2C are directly related to quality and consistent blogging.
Video is nice, but it doesn’t dig beneath the surface the way a blog can – due to its very nature, digital videos as marketing pieces must be short and, well, visual.
Blogs serve to educate and inform
Blogs fill that place for consumers seeking comprehensive information. Those nitty gritty details. It’s a place to touch on your target audience’s concerns and needs. It’s a place where your business comes to life. It’s the place where you increase brand awareness and visibility.
High quality blogs are an excellent and effective tool for optimizing your brand, services, or products while at the same time keeping Google rank rising. It’s about visibility. It’s about increasing those inbound links.
These are not new concepts. This is basic stuff to content developers, but plenty of business owners still hem and haw over starting one. Why? In most cases, ‘I don’t have time’. Sure, it takes time and effort to be consistent with blogging, and that’s the only way it will succeed. Consistency is vital. Regularly scheduled blog content gains companies approximately 97% more links back to their websites than those who don’t.
Your blog content has to offer value. Information. Most importantly, it has to make a connection to the reader.