If you have ever thought about bloggers and thought, that isn’t for me. Only mommies are out there blogging about recipes, toddler tips and such, you are so wrong. Mommy bloggers use blogging to provide value and help out other mommies typically while using ads on their blogs to create some income. They write reviews about products and get coupons or products for free, but to think blogs are just for moms, think again. Blogs have so much value for you and your business, well beyond the mommy blogger… trust me!
The benefit of blogs for your business
There are many benefits but I want to impress upon you the THREE important reasons to blog:
- provide value to the consumer
- search engine value – provide more content for search engines to index
- drive traffic to your website (and list)
Sounds easy enough, right? Well… then why in the heck don’t more business owners blog? I network/market in several local networking groups and of the many business owners I run into, maybe a small handful are actually blogging- WHY??!! We aren’t talking about just the MLM type businesses, but also the labor businesses, lawyers, personal trainers, financial planners and all sorts of businesses. Maybe we can discuss the why in another post, yea, great idea.
Provide value to the consumer
One of the reasons to blog is to provide value to the consumer. This is a multifaceted concept in itself because as you are providing value to the consumer you are putting yourself in a position of expertise. As your followers begin to read your blogs, they see you have the knowledge and want to continue to follow you. Then… get this… this puts you in a relationship building process with this person as they engage with you which is giving you the know-like-trust factor. Score!
Search engine value
You want the search engines to crawl all of your pages/blogs as this provides more opportunity to come up in search for your keywords.
Consider you and your competitor. Your competitor blogs weekly and you, do not. Womp Womp. The search engines index all of your pages, you have 10 and he has 10 but after a year, you still have 10 and he has 62 now. What are the odds for showing up in search for the same keywords? This is a simplified example, but hopefully you get the point.
As you are writing your weekly or monthly blogs, continuing to provide value to your consumer, the search engines see that you are getting noticed by people commenting on your blog, blogs are being shared, people are linking to you and you get a little extra authority. SEO Score! Plus, at the same time, you are writing more things that the consumer wants to read, providing more value and getting more folks to check out your website.
Blogging = value to consumer & search engines = Super Score! Click To TweetDrive traffic to your website (and list)
You put your blogs on your website. Hopefully you will be sharing this awesome valuable content on your social media, and not just other people’s awesome articles.
You can likely tell when someone has a crappy website or doesn’t blog because they are always sharing someone else’s blogs about their industry or always reposting other people’s graphics. It’s huge when you can not only create your own graphics (with your url or logo branded on it) but also create your own content to share.
When you drive folks to your website for a specific blog about a particular item, you are opening them up to more content and to find out more information about you, your products and/or services. Many people don’t just offer one product/service and without ‘ME BLASTING’ people all about you (and totally losing them), they can’t possibly know every product/service you have to offer. So, this is a gentle way for them to get to know you better and to explore your business on their terms. Pretty cool, right?
Then to ‘The List’
Further, when you have those cool opt-in offers on your site, they can join in your email list (which is GOLD) so you can land in their inbox on a regular basis versus you hoping to land in their social media feeds when they are looking. And forget about them coming to your website every week or month to see if you are offering anything new!
Hopefully this has gotten you off your non-blogging butt. Should you need a swift kick in the pants, I’m your girl. Seriously, contact me and I can give you some great ideas to blog about or even blog for you, WHAT?! I know! Otherwise, let me know how I can help you and your business grow!
So, do you blog? If not, why not? What’s holding you back? (I’m going to touch on that next week!)
~Kristen
Great post, Kristen! I totally agree. I encourage all my clients to blog especially my clients that are new to their industry. It’s does help.
Thanks Sabrina! yeeeesss, everyone really needs to have a blog!
Nice article, Kristen. I don’t think many people realize how beneficial blogging is in keeping search engines happy. Search engines love new content and blog posts provide that beautifully. Also, we want to drive traffic to our websites and posting links to blog posts does a good job of that.
Yes Beth, so true.. folks don’t always get it. Glad you do and thanks!
I just starting blogging for my business a few months ago and am really enjoying it and meeting so many like minded people, and growing my business 🙂 Thank you for the article.
That is awesome Krista! Welcome to blogville! lol
Thanks for the great reminders. I am always open to motivation, insights and reminders to get my blog done!
You are welcome Teresa.. glad that you are open. Hoping blogging is on your to do!
Such great info, Kristen. It is all about exposure. Offering value first is definitely the best way to attract people to you. It never really is about what we sell, but about the value we offer & the solutions we provide. Way to go!
Thanks DeVerne, welcome and glad you get it… as it appears you do!
Great post! It succinctly explains why your business must have a blog. Still amazes me when I meet people that say, “no, not right now, maybe later.” And of course, later never comes!
Girl… you know it. I SMH all the time at folks who just don’t see the value in blogs. Thanks Steph!
I do blog weekly. Only when something horrible happens do I miss publishing a blog. All of your points are excellent ones, and yes, it amazes me, too, that more business people don’t blog. What a great way to establish their authority in their field, share valuable information and yes, get prospects in the sales funnel. Speaking of blogs: I had a first today — a completely unexpected comment from INDIA on a recent blog. I felt pretty good about that!
I know you do Jack. Awesome and I am sure your ladies appreciate it and the value you provide. I know I do! I did too… who was it? lmao
I’m off my non-blogging butt. 🙂 Nine posts in, but it’s a start. I am doing one per week very consistently. Thanks for the reminder of all the benefits! Some weeks I am tempted to return to my non-blogging self. Good motivation to keep on keeping on!
YAY Brenda.. so glad you are off the non-blog rumpus. It IS a start and keep it up.. weekly or every other, that’s great. You’ve got this
When my coach told me I had to blog weekly I was not a happy camper. Writing is not my first choice for self-expression, but I knew the value and so I started. It took awhile to discover topics that provided value and I enjoyed writing about. This past year I wrote 51 blogs and I see the improvement in them as I reviewed looking for my top 5 in each theme. Blogging takes a lot of time and I need to consistently plan for it.
I’m so glad Roz.. you DO provide value in a world where many would likely just SELL. Great job!
Great information Kristen! I love the info you share! Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks so much my smoothie making diva sista! 🙂 Glad to motivate! 😉
Well said Kristen. Blogging is the live blood of your business. How else are people going to know what you’re about? You have access to a world-wide audience through a platform that costs peanuts compared to what big companies pay to promote themselves.
You nailed it Joyce.. how will folks EVER know your value if you don’t share it?
That’s really informative. Blogging has a lot of benefits, definitely. It’s one of the ways to reach out to your audience.
Thanks Elizabeth! So true and a vital one at that!
Hi Kristen, thanks for reaffirming what I already knew. I’m still kind of new to this, so I haven’t written nearly as many blog posts as I should. Still working on it, though!
Progress Jeanne and as long as you keep it up, you will be GOLDEN!
As a writer, you don’t have to convince me of the power of blogging. It is the best way to start online conversations with people, as you never know for sure where those conversations will lead. Bringing value to your readers differs of course, depending on whether you are offering a product or service, or for someone like me, who strives to bring new ways of looking at the world through my lifestyle blogs. For anyone who isn’t comfortable writing their posts themselves, there are lots of people whose style you enjoy reading, (hint, hint), who are available to help. Another very clear and concise post on the power of blogging! Thanks Kristen.
I knew you would understand Bev! Thank you!
Blogging and email marketing have proved to be the two most important strategies since starting in this biz, Kristen.
It’s the reason I can recommend them to my clients.
And why I’m glad you continue to flog the blog.
Oh yes Sharon, you’ve got that right… and a website… but you need that for blogging and email to really work! lol
The search engine value alone is a great reason to blog for your business. I wish more business owners would realize the value!
Yes Stacey.. it is so misunderstood!
Very valid reasons! My business gets huge traffic from my blog, best decision I ever made was to put the two together. Great tips, thanks for sharing.
I bet Molly. I hope you don’t have a ton of ads that cause it to be unreader friendly!
I think one of the best benefits is the relationship with your customer. Companies that open up (both good and bad) develop a bond with their customer that could last a lifetime.
So true Scott, the relationship is key.
Well said Blogging has Lot of Benefits for every business.Thank you for sharing.
You are so right, blogging is so vital!