Why You Need to Blog and Tips for Doing It Right
To blog or not to blog, that is the question. In this age of rampant social media, is a blog still relevant?
Blogs have been around since the 1990s, and with the ever-changing internet, how on earth can they still be relevant? As a small business, do you really need to take the time to create blogs?
If you want to drive visitors to your website and nurture your current customers—YES, you should be blogging.
It’s true that blogs now have to fight for attention in the growing arena of consumer information and entertainment. The digital landscape has changed a lot in the past 30 years. A fair amount of the online population wouldn’t take the time to read through an entire blog post. They’d rather skim short snippets of concise information from a video or bulleted list. Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook have done a great job facilitating this. Yet, even with all the new kids on the block, blogs are, in fact, staying strong.
Here are a few powerful statistics regarding blogs:
Blog posts are still the most used content format - used by 9 out of 10 marketers. In fact, the trend now is to lighten up on social media (there is serious burnout among many small businesses) and focus on quality blog content. Smart.
Websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages and 97% more inbound links (source?) Crawlers love blogs. But they have to be structured in a specific way.
Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors than those that don’t
A Blog can help your small business in many ways.
Blogs can showcase your unique talents and abilities, provide opportunities for you to help potential clients solve a problem or see an issue in a new way, and share trends and insights. Blogs can help in every phase of the sales cycle: build awareness, generate leads, and foster a strong customer relationship. When you write about a topic or issue that is important to your ideal client, you provide them with helpful information and that gets their attention. They might start to follow you or sign up for a newsletter. Blogging helps build trust and positions you as an expert who is trustworthy. This can lead to sales or a consultation—and repeat business.
Blogs do the heavy lifting when you have a limited marketing budget
Businesses run by a single person (solopreneurs) are escalating. They currently make up 80% of all businesses in the United States. I don’t think this represents a lack of large businesses but rather an overwhelming number of entrepreneurs. Let’s face it: most solopreneurs and small businesses do not have massive marketing funds. We are always looking for the most cost-effective way to grow our business, and blogs fit the bill. But you have to do it right, or you will just be throwing words into the void.
The smart way to write a high-performing blog
Know your audience and write about what interests them.
You need to know your target audience—what interests them and what is important to them. What do they have questions about? What are their challenges or pain points? Write content that addresses their needs, helps them solve a problem, or gives them insight into a new trend or tool and how it can benefit them.
Craft captivating headlines.
You have just a few seconds to motivate your reader to read your blog. Make sure your headline grabs their attention and clearly communicates what your blog post is about. Trying to be too clever with a headline can leave potential readers confused, and more often than not, they won’t click to read more.
Provide value.
Offer your readers quality content that is informative, helpful, and actionable. Provide information that can make their lives better in some way—more successful, less stressful, more productive, more joyful. Make it entertaining and allow your unique personality to shine through.
Create a clear structure.
Do not write walls of text. This isn’t a novel. Your blog post should have a clear structure with a strong, attention-grabbing headline, a brief introductory paragraph, subheadings, and bullet points where appropriate. Your blog should be scannable and easy to digest. Solopreneurs and small business owners are very busy people, so don’t make them work for your wisdom. Keep paragraphs on the shorter side. Remember, 50- 60 percent of the population read content on their phones.
Use of relevant visuals.
Incorporate eye-catching images, infographics, or videos to enhance your content and break up text. Visual content can improve reader engagement. Canva is a terrific program for creating graphics and sourcing images. Plus, it is free!
Tips for SEO Optimization.
Use keywords strategically. Include your keywords in the title of your blog post and the subtitles (H1 and H2). Ideally, it should appear near the beginning of the title. Learn more about why SEO is important for your website in one of my other blogs.
Include your primary keyword in the meta descriptions. Use variations of your keyword naturally throughout your blog. Avoid keyword stuffing; it can negatively impact readability and SEO.
Use headings. I am always surprised how many of my clients don’t do this when first writing blogs. You want to organize your content into sections with headings (H1, H2, H3) to create a logical structure for your content. Your main title should be in H1, and use H2 and H3 for subheadings where appropriate.
Use internal and external links. Whenever possible or appropriate, use links to other relevant content on your blog (internal linking) and authoritative external sources (external linking) to provide additional value and improve SEO.
Optimize for mobile. Ensure your blog post is mobile-friendly—it should look good, be easy to read, and load quickly on all devices. Google considers mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor.
Include social buttons. Include social sharing buttons to encourage readers to share your content on social media platforms. Increased social sharing can indirectly impact your SEO by driving more traffic and engagement.
Grab my SEO Checklist HERE.
I hope this was helpful in learning a little more about why blogging is a good idea and some of the best practices for getting started. Share your ideas to help others and make connections, and in doing so, you will help grow your business. You might be surprised with how much you know and what a difference you can make!