I was on the phone yesterday with a client and she wanted some information about how a blog could help her business. It’s not uncommon to be asked about blogs these days, but we had a good discussion about why a blog is essential for her company. You can attend all-day seminars that cover blogging, but below are five reasons why every business with an online presence should have a blog.
1. Blogging gives you an online platform to be the expert – Using services like LinkedIn, Yahoo Answers, and Twitter, you can see what people are asking and you can provide them with your knowledge and insight. It provides value to your customers and potential customers because they see you as an expert in your field. This is also a great way to add content to your site, and one of the best ways to get your feet wet with blogging – talking about something you’re comfortable with and know a lot about. And since I mentioned the three services above, if you’re not a member of any of them, go ahead and sign up. They’re all free and you should be using them anyway – your competitors probably are, and if they’re not, why not get a jumpstart on them?
2. Using a blog helps you stay relevant - A lot of companies want a blog because everyone tells them they need one, so they launch a blog, make a couple of posts and then they forget about it. If you’re not going to use your blog, you’re better off not having one; it looks worse to have an outdated blog than no blog at all. We are using the web to find news and information daily, so make sure your blog is current so that people can find the latest information available regarding your industry, products or services. Using a blog also helps get your content out there by allowing people to share it using features like sharing, bookmarking and trackbacks. Once people see that you are a relevant source of information, they will return for more. Blogging regularly does take some time and effort, but the rewards are well worth it.
3. Build stronger relationships with your customers – What do you know about the people using your products and services? You might have some statistics and demographics, but what about the people behind that data? The better you know them, the more likely you are to find more people like them. Blogging gives you the opportunity to speak directly to your customers and have a two-way conversation with them by allowing and responding to comments in your posts. By connecting with your cutomers, you build trust, loyalty and a strong relationships.
4. Search Engine Optimization – “Back in the old days” we had to wait weeks, even months, for websites and new pages to get indexed by search engines. What a headache. Today you can go to Google, search for something and find news from this morning! Some of the better blogging platforms, such as Wordpress, which is what we use, are very search engine friendly, so you can rest assured that all of your blogging content can be found via search. Wordpress also includes features that other blogs such as Blogger don’t, which helps in sharing and pushing out content even more. Remember the old days of swapping links? Links pointing to your blog or posts help build pagerank and make your blog rank higher in the search engines; many blogs allow trackbacks in the comment areas of blogs, so take advantage of them.
5. Show some personality – Business is changing. When I look back at my Dad’s career, whom I admire very much, I see how things have changed in the corporate environment from when I was a child until now. Suits, ties, it’s all business and nothing more. No face. No personality. All of that is going away. Heck, even Microsoft can show a (tiny little) bit of personality when they try… hey, at least they’re trying! People want to know more about you and your business. If you come off as someone that cares about their customer rather than a corporate big whig or sales person just pushing a product, your audience will connect with you. Let them know more about the people behind the company and you will begin to build trust. Your blog gives you the perfect opportunity to do this by talking to them like they’re sitting right there with you at the pub.
There are more reasons to use a blog than just the five items above — viral content, syndication, push marketing, etc — but the items that I mentioned are important ones, and if you keep them in mind while implementing and using your blog, you will be on the right path.
