Are you a small business owner who’s on the fence about the benefits of blogging for your business? Or maybe you’re toying with the idea of boosting your online presence through your business blog because social media marketing and churning out content feel like a chore.
Why start blogging for your business?
In this blog post, I’m going to share the biggest benefits of blogging, how it can help you grow your business and why it’s a worthwhile online marketing activity.
But I don’t want you to just take my word for it when it comes to the advantages of blogging…let’s look at the stats:
Businesses that blog regularly achieve 126% better lead growth
77% of internet users regularly read blogs
Source: Hubspot
Did that pique your interest? Business blogging can increase traffic to your website, boost your online visibility, promote your products and services to your target audience and so much more.
If you are interested in getting the RIGHT type of traffic to your website, want to establish yourself as an expert and would prefer to spend your time and energy creating content that has long-term benefits and can help you to build a successful business, then I suggest you read on.
SUSTAINABLE CONTENT MARKETING
Warning – before we go any further, you need to know that this post has been written by someone who often feels like she’s not “shiny” enough for social media, gets overwhelmed by the “noise” on a lot of those platforms and feels like fanning herself and lying down on the couch at the prospect of having to constantly churn out Reels…
(I like watching them, but it’s too overwhelming for me to create them).
However, in the interests of balance, I’ve also included the perspectives of some industry thought leaders who almost certainly have different personality traits and may even enjoy consistently showing up on social media. If you relate more to those people, you can skip my thoughts on the benefits of blogging and head straight to that section. I won’t mind (much).
You might have heard that blogging can help to grow your business, but you’re questioning the benefits of blogging in 2024 – maybe you’ve missed the boat and should have gotten cracking 10 years ago when all the cool kids were doing it.
Perhaps you’re doubting your writing skills or not sure if blogging is a marketing strategy that could work for you.
If you are an introvert who has reservations about the energy involved in constantly having to show up on social media, haven’t time for batching and just don’t want to faff about churning out Reels or TikTok videos (like me!), I invite you to keep reading.
10 benefits of blogging for business
- Grow brand awareness
- Share valuable content that can help you build an email list full of your target audience
- Help you get your product or service in front of the right eyes
- Blogging can help you control your online identity /help with reputation management
- The longevity of writing a blog post beats social media posts hands down
- You own your website – social media accounts can be shut down overnight with no warning
- Social networks are noisy, people are passively scrolling, and blog readers are more engaged and more likely to be interested in what your business offers
- Blogging is a great way to share company news with your existing audience and to build your personal brand
- One of the major benefits of having a blog for your business website is that it stands a much higher chance of showing up on the search engine results page (SERP) when a user searches a query
- Simply put, creating a blog can help you make money online
What is one tip you have on the benefits of blogging for small business owners?
Here is what 10 thought-leaders had to say:
- Content Amplification
- Build Relationships by Linking to Other Blogs
- Establishing Your Brand
- Use Your Blog to Build Backlinks
- Sharing Your Company’s Story
- Grow Your SEO Skills
- Use Blog Posts to Organically & Naturally Nurture Leads
- Blogging Improves Your SEO Rankings
- Build Your Reputation as An Expert in Your Field
- Topical Content Captures Your Audience
Content Amplification
Blogging helps small business owners share and amplify unique and helpful content for their prospects and customers.
By amplifying this content, small business owners can reach their audience in many ways by sharing it. This can include email marketing, social media, and organic search. By leveraging your blog across your website, social, and email channels, you give your prospects and customers many ways to find, read, and share this content, which helps drive website traffic and qualified leads back to your website.
Elyse Flynn Meyer, Owner & Founder, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
More Relationships by Linking to Other Blogs
If you want to maximize your blog, you need to link to other blogs that are relevant to your industry and content. This will not only help drive traffic to your own blog, but it will also help build your reputation as a thought leader. When you link to other blogs, you’re showing that you’re willing to share other people’s insights and expertise. This is a great way to build goodwill and rapport with your readers.
When you link to other blogs, you’re also opening the door for other bloggers to return the favour. Your blog may end up on the homepage of another blog, which will drive even more traffic to your site. This is a great way to build relationships and leverage the power of your network. So don’t be afraid to link to other blogs—it can be a great way to build your brand and drive traffic to your site.
Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely
Establishing Your Brand
Use your blog to show off your business knowledge and create authority for your brand. Your posts should be both fun and informative for your readers.
If possible, try to create content based on evergreen topics, as in topics with particular long shelf life. This can allow your blog to act as a repository of knowledge for any dedicated readers to reference.
Topics with this sort of information will be much more valuable in establishing your brand, as they can draw viewers even when other topics would long since have died. These topics can also be recycled, allowing you to revamp and reuse them and make it easier to maintain activity in your blog.
If you make your blog posts valuable to your readers, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of their attention.
Max Schwartzapfel, CMO, Schwartzapfel Lawyers
Use Your Blog to Build Backlinks
A blog can be a backlink goldmine if you use it strategically. Blogs give other websites something to link to, especially if your articles contain valuable insights worth sharing with their audiences.
Earning backlinks helps you grow your Domain Authority, which makes your website look more credible. Google takes your backlink profile into account in search rankings, so having backlinks may help you rank higher in organic search. The free traffic that comes to you from other sites can help you grow your brand exposure and create even more opportunities to earn backlinks.
To earn backlinks, I contribute to other blogs and round-up-style articles. I also accept guest posts on my blog so that the writers can share them with their audiences and link to the content. It’s truly a win/win!
Alli Hill, Founder & Director, Fleurish Freelance
Sharing Your Company’s Story
One tip on the benefits of blogging for small business owners is documenting and then sharing your company’s story. Your company’s story sets you apart from the competition and is what makes your company unique. By sharing your company’s story on your blog, you will help potential customers understand what your company is all about and what makes you the best choice for them.
In addition, by sharing your company’s story, you will also be able to build credibility and trust with your audience. When people can read about your company and see that you are an expert in your industry, they are more likely to do business with you.
Benjamin Basic, Content Writer, Fast Food Menu Prices
Growing Your SEO Skills
Blogging is an excellent tool for companies that want to expand or enrich their search engine optimization. When small business owners begin blogging, they will understand all the factors that go into SEO with writing.
This gives two benefits: the first is understanding how crucial SEO is for keyword rankings, and how to optimize content based on keywords. The second benefit is that if they ever hire a writer or content manager, they will better understand the position and what the writer is actually crafting with informative but keyword-rich articles.
Seth Newman, Director, SportingSmiles
Use Blog Posts to Organically & Naturally Nurture Leads
Your blog can be a great place to answer frequently asked questions, address common concerns, show customers you understand and can solve their pain points, and build your reputation as an authority in your niche.
Oftentimes, visitors will come to your site while they are still in the research phase. They are looking to be reassured that your company will be able to help solve their struggles and, ultimately, make their lives better.
By understanding your customers’ typical buyers’ journey, you can use your blog to naturally move them down the funnel with confidence and draw in people from different phases of that journey for years to come.
Kim Burdman, Director of Digital Marketing , ZoeMazing Creatives
Blogging Improves Your SEO Rankings
Small business owners need all the help they can get to show up in search engine results. One way to show up is by blogging consistently around target keywords and key phrases.
Think of what words or phrases you want to be connected with online, then create blog content around those words. Small business owners have an advantage because of their closer personal interactions with their customers.
What are the common questions your customers have? Usually, the keywords and keyphrases you would like to rank for are the same questions that you receive from customers on a daily basis.
Write blog content answering those questions! Instead of a FAQ style though, elaborate more and position yourself as an expert. Make sure you are writing in a simpler style with language that your customers can understand.
Share your blog on your social media platforms and with your email subscribers. The clicks gained will help the post show up in search engine results more quickly.
Beth Gillem, SEO Specialist, Dogwood Media Solutions
Build Your Reputation as An Expert in Your Field
One of the best benefits of blogging is that it gives you a chance to show off your expertise and build your reputation as an expert in your field.
When people read your blog, they will know that they can trust what you say because they see you as someone who knows what they are doing. They’ll also come back, again and again, to see what else you have to say.
That’s why I recommend starting a blog even if you’re just starting out; it’s a great way to build your credibility in the industry and establish yourself as a thought leader. It’s also a great medium for you to get feedback from your audience, which can help you decide how you want to market yourself and your business.
Vishakha Somani, Assistant Marketing Manager, WFX
Topical Content Captures Your Audience
When you’re thinking about your content strategy, you limit yourself when you’re creating service pages or content only for people who already know that your product/service solves their problem.
Not everyone is ready to buy RIGHT NOW. You should think through the common areas of “friction” that keep people from your particular solution. They need perhaps a higher-level overview of the general industry or technology to draw people down the funnel, closer to making a sales decision.
You should be in conversation with your current users/customers, your sales team, and your customer support department. Use these talks to uncover all the reasons why people are making a purchase.
You can craft more helpful, in-depth content when you focus on providing a solution to people’s “problem” that caused their search, even if your answer isn’t always a direct sales pitch! Jeremy Rivera, Founder, SEO Arcade
Check out this post if you’re new to blogging for business and not quite sure where to start for helpful tips to get your website working in a way that helps to grow your business.
