Starting a blog is an excellent way to boost any small business—and it’s not just about SEO. There are many reasons to invest in blogging. Below, we discuss some of the most compelling reasons to start a blog for your business.
1. Blogging Is Fantastic for SEO
Yes, we started this article by saying that blogging isn’t just about SEO, but since SEO is perhaps the most universal benefit for all small businesses, it’s earned a spot at the top of this list.
The first way blogging helps improve your SEO is by creating a steady stream of new content. Google gives preference to websites that are fresh and current; if you haven’t posted anything new on your website in years, it appears to be stale in the eyes of search engines. Of course, the caveat here is that you shouldn’t just create content for the sake of creating content—it should be good content. That means relevant to your business, useful to your customers, and authoritative.
In addition, blogging is a fantastic opportunity to build internal links within your website and to create high-quality content that other sites may want to link to, thus also building valuable backlinks to your site.
2. Blogging Gives You Instant Content for Social Media
Do you struggle with ideas for what to post on social media? Blogging serves the dual purposes of creating content for your website and creating content for Facebook, Instagram, Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business), and any other social media platforms you might use. Sharing your content on social media can help increase your engagement, and also send more visitors to your website. Create great content and readers might even share it organically with their friends. This, too, results in important backlinks that tell Google your website has value.
Remember, though, that it might not make sense to share all of your blog content on social media—you want to share content that people will actually click through and read. It should be engaging and have a real purpose other than SEO. Ask yourself if you’d read the article if you stumbled across it on Facebook; if the answer is no, then don’t assume your audience would want to read it either. Don’t tank your engagement rate by sharing uninspired content on your social media platforms!
3. Blogging Lets You Highlight Your Best Work
Your blog is the perfect place to show the results of your work. While a portfolio might not make sense for every small business, it’s an excellent option for businesses that sell services to share past work or case studies. These posts aren’t always as effective when it comes to SEO unless they also give you the opportunity to focus on relevant keywords, but they are a great way to market yourself and your services.
To create portfolio posts (or case study posts), be sure to include photos that show the work you’re sharing, and also include a narrative that explains the problem you solved through your work. If possible, get a testimonial from your client, too.
4. Blogging Allows You to Engage With Your Audience
The best blogs entertain and engage your audience. This can sometimes feel at odds with writing for SEO, but it shouldn’t. While it’s ideal for your posts to be useful for SEO and for engaging your audience, there’s also a place for blog posts that are purely for engagement and building brand loyalty. A contest to name your company’s mascot by commenting on a blog post won’t have legs on search engines, but it will get engagement; similarly, sharing an upcoming sale won’t yield long-term results, but it can generate short-term interest from your customers.
Although this isn’t possible for every niche, some small businesses may be able to create content so useful and compelling to readers that they regularly visit to see the latest updates. A grocery store that shares recipes, a craft store that posts project ideas, or even a landscaper that shares yard care tips are some examples of how a business can create content that people get excited about reading.
5. Blogging and Email Marketing Go Hand-in-Hand
If you have a WordPress website, you can use a plugin that asks visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter. In this way, generating traffic for your blog can also build your email marketing list, especially if you offer a great incentive for signing up like a discount, free service, or ebook. These days, it takes a lot to get people to sign up for an email newsletter, so make it worth it for them!
Your blog will also help your email marketing efforts by increasing your open and click-through rates when you send email updates that include blog posts. Craft newsletter headlines that generate interest in what you’ve posted on your blog, rather than using the same generic subject line for every email you send. Are you more likely to click on “Main Street ROI Newsletter” or “13 SEO Tools Every Small Business Should Be Using”?
6. Blogging Helps You Demonstrate Authority
Establishing authority is important for SEO, but it’s also important for engendering trust with your current and potential customers. You don’t want people to view your business as one of many options—you want to position yourself as the best of the best. Sharing your knowledge on your blog is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and trustworthiness.
Demonstrating your authority in your niche also helps you be seen as a thought leader by industry peers. This is excellent for your SEO and the all-important E-A-T, and it may also lead to referrals, collaborations, and other business opportunities.
If you don’t have time to write blog posts yourself, that doesn’t mean you can’t establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Many small business owners outsource their blogging to external writers, but the key here is to make sure any content creation firm you hire is either familiar with your business or willing to put in the research so you can feel confident putting your name on their ghostwritten work. Before hiring anyone to write for you, make sure their content is produced in-house by professional writers, rather than being outsourced to the lowest bidder.
Need Help with SEO?
Here at Main Street ROI, we offer one-time SEO projects as well as monthly SEO management services.
