Do You Really Need a Business Blog? This Will Help You Decide.

Why Businesses Even Ask This Question

“Do I really need a business blog for my website?”

This is a common question that many clients ask, or that people wonder about. Some of the barriers that lead them to even ask this question are factors such as:

1. Time & Effort Involved

Blogging is not a one hit wonder. It requires time, effort and most importantly, consistency.

Questions that people ask:

“Do I have the time to work on this when I could spend my time generating direct sales?”
“How do I keep up with blogging when I have so many other more important things on my business and personal todo list?”

2. Cost (Spending Money or Spending Time)

As described above, blogging takes time and effort. You can either spend your time writing blog posts yourself, or spend money hiring someone to write them for you. Either way, there is a cost involved.

Here are some common reasons I hear on why clients don’t think they want a business blog:

“It’s too expensive to maintain.”
“I’d rather spend my budget on something more ‘worth it’.”
“My company doesn’t have the budget for ‘addons’ or ‘luxuries’ such as a business blog.”
“Am I going to see a return of investment with a business blog at all?”

3. Topics - What Do I Even Write About?

Some people have endless ideas flowing, whilst others dry up after one or two. The relevancy of topics to your target audience also matters. What’s the point of writing a blog post that nobody is going to read or find useful?

Some niches are also quite specific or competitive. Clients sometimes wonder what else they can write about that isn’t rehashed. Or how they’re able to compete against bigger brands, and even get their post to rank on search engines.

4. Keyword Research & SEO (Unaware That It’s Even a Problem)

Many people start writing their business blog – or even personal blog – like they would in a letter, magazine or book. But writing for an online audience requires skills beyond just ‘writing’.

Some clients insist on writing their own copy, so I let them be. But when I go through the content, I know that their website isn’t going to appear on the first page of Google search, or even page two or three.

You need to do proper keyword research so that people can actually find your post at all. You also want to rank on search engines for these keywords. As they say, “the best place to hide a dead body is on page two of Google search”.

What's the Point if It's So Painful to Set Up & Maintain a Business Blog?

After knowing all that, it must sound terribly painful to start a business blog. But let’s take a more in-depth look at how a business blog can grow and impact your business in more ways than one.

I’m not going to lie and say that it’s easy. It might take months before you even rank on search engines.

But I believe that you and your business are here for the long-term, and blogging is a long-term strategy. It is to keep casting more nets out into the endless digital ocean, and to keep anchoring deeper over time.

Climb the Tall SEO Ladder

SEO (search engine optimisation) is a buzzword these days. Just about every client asks me to ensure that their website is optimised for SEO.

Yet what does it mean to optimise a website? I won’t dive into that here because it’s a pretty hefty subject and not the main purpose of this post.

Website Content & SEO

A huge part of SEO includes website content. When you own a business blog, what that means is that you can keep growing your website’s content.

When search engines crawl for information to show to potential audiences, they have a lot more ‘gold nuggets’ to pick up on. (Of course, first you need to define what these ‘gold nuggets’ people are looking for through keyword research.)

Over time, these keyword nuggets help to boost your website’s ranking on search. This will depend on the quality of both your content and keyword choices. It has to be valuable to the reader and also easy to find. These two go hand in hand in the digital world.

How a Business Blog Increases in Value Over Time

Whilst it might take 3 – 6 months for your post to even show up on page one of Google search, remember that this is a long-term strategy.

The good news is that blog content is evergreen. Meaning that it isn’t going away any time soon. Its value may even increase the longer its there, and the more people click to read it.

I’m sure you can see how that’s useful. Not everyone is going to know who you are and search for you specifically. And paying for ads can add up quite a bit, especially in a competitive market.

A business blog allows people to find you through an organic method, meaning you don’t need to pay to display it. You’re not only helping them to solve a problem through your post, but making them aware of what you have to offer at the same time.

Boost SEO with Internal Links

Internal links are simply links that point to other posts and pages on the same website. They are important for several reasons:

Make Relevant Information Accessible Upfront

Make it easy for users to find other things that they might be interested in your website. This helps to keep users on your website for a longer period of time.

Time spent on your website is a major ranking factor on Google – the longer you can keep a user on it, the better. It boosts your credibility and value not only to search engines, but to users as well.

Making Sense of Your Website's Content & Structure

Internal links help to ‘join the dots’ to create a clearer picture of your website’s content. This makes the job of spiders (those search engine bots) easier. They can not only mine your ‘gold nuggets’ faster, but also serve them up to the right people with more accuracy.

Establish Yourself as an Expert & Authority in Your Niche

When users land on a business website that owns a blog full of useful articles, it helps to establish trust. Let’s illustrate with an example. Take two websites selling beauty creams, whose brands you are unfamiliar with. One only has a sales page, whilst the other both a sales page and business blog.

The one with the blog contains in-depth articles about their products, ingredients and production process. Also on their sustainability contributions, skincare and wellness tips, research and more. Which website would you trust more, and which products would seem more credible?

The one with the business blog not only demonstrates why their products are worth buying. They’re also establishing themselves as industry experts in the process.

They show that they know what they’re talking about, why they believe in their products, are transparent about what goes in and out of them, and at the end of it all – how it benefits their customers.

They can also branch out to share general skincare and beauty tips, which are beneficial in many ways, too. These articles help to add even more authority and weight to the brand within their niche.

They also help to earn the trust of their readers and potential customers. They know what good and bad skincare is all about and the solutions. This goes in a loop, which comes back to showing how and why your product truly is the best.

Form Deeper Connections with Customers

Transform a Monologue into Enriching Conversations

A static website is pretty much a monologue. People come into your ‘store’, and you start talking about you, your brand and what you’re selling. There is no room for a response or conversation, unless you count the ‘contact me’ form as a channel.

A business blog on the other hand, opens a channel to connect with your customers. They can leave comments, share opinions and leave feedback on each post. (Don’t forget to turn the feature on!)

It's Always Nice to Know a Human Being Exists Behind the Screen

Your business blog adds dimension, depth and colour to your brand. It reveals personality beyond a flat logo.

It reveals that there are human beings behind the brand who want to communicate with their clientele; as a professional who has the knowledge, but in a conversational tone at their level.

A business blog shows your customer the ‘real you’, and not just what you do or provide. As human beings, personality appeals or repels, and is a powerful thing. Use it to your advantage.

Analyse & Improve Things for Everyone

Apart from making them feel heard, these comments are a goldmine themselves. You can get a feel of what problems your customers are facing that may not have even crossed your mind.

You can then provide the answers and solutions. Either through more blog posts (casting more SEO nets). Or incorporating them into actual services and sales.

Own Your Content, Marketing & SaleS Channels

A business blog and website is something you own, unlike any other channel.

Social media platforms can and have gone bust over time. They can also screw you over for whatever reason – algorithm changes, someone reporting your account as ‘spam’, etc.

Paid ads have their limits and well, as you need to keep forking money out for them. You are at the mercy of these channels when you use them.

The Ability to Deep Dive & Refine All Your Funnels

With a business blog, you have control over the flow of your content, marketing and sales funnels.

Beyond the content in and of itself, you can place call-to-action buttons in strategic positions.

You can test and analyse the user journey for each of your pages. Then optimise their experience and also your sales funnels even further.

A pleasant experience increases the possibility of returning customers and hence, recurring revenue.

Oh and whilst all this is happening, your organic traffic is going up, because you are providing value to people.

Keep Your Customers Updated

You can also use your business blog to keep your customers updated with the latest news from your company.

You might be running an upcoming workshop or event, or hosting a giveaway. You might have some new products or services in your repertoire that you can’t wait to share.

These updates show your customers that you are very much well and alive. That you are passionate about what you do, and that they are on your mind. It also allows you to have a voice and to share your perspective with them.

It also allows you to deep dive into the details of each event, service or product. This is especially great for topics that are technical or complicated in nature. Where a short paragraph on your ‘About’ or product description page won’t quite suffice.

Expand Your Clientele

Your business blog is an archive and wealth of information. It raises awareness about your brand, products and services. This exposure has a two-fold benefit.

Letting people know of your existence online is like setting up a shop along a busy street. Over time, you hope that your store gets popular and more people stop by and step in. (More and more blog posts, increase in organic traffic).

The other benefit is the potential of expanding beyond a single type of audience. By stepping into your shop, they can browse around. They might find other items on their ‘to buy’ list that they didn’t know you sold, too. (And one that’s of excellent quality, at that!)

You can take this opportunity to cross-sell other things that might be of interest to them as well. Show them that you not only offer product A, but a complementary product B, and even C, too.

Free Social Media Mileage

Blog posts with share buttons and linkable assets are like free social media passes. It is common for people to share your post if they find it helpful or insightful.

They too, want to be seen as having their finger on the pulse. And one way to do this is to share the latest and best articles in the industry. Which is, hopefully, one from your business blog!

These social media shares give your entire website a boost. It’s the online version of word of mouth. And search engines? Of course they try to eavesdrop, too!

In Conclusion

There may be barriers that are stopping you from starting your business blog. Many of these concerns are valid. Yet having read this post, what do you now think about owning a business blog, or even a personal one? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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