The Best Reason To Blog (It's Not For SEO)

There is a huge misconception about the role of blogging in an online marketing strategy. Many businesses, and even some search engine optimization (SEO) consultants, believe blogging is an SEO tactic. But this is NOT true!

Yes, blogging does have a lot of benefits for an SEO campaign, but that’s not the purpose of a blog. The best reason to blog is to position yourself as an authority in your industry and establish your own thought leadership.

So if you’re considering blogging and the only reason is to try to improve your SEO, then stop! That’s right, I do not recommend you start blogging for the sole purpose of improving your SEO. Here’s why…

The Risks of Blogging for the Wrong Reasons

The most common result of blogging solely for SEO is a dead blog. In other words, a blog where the last article posted was several months to even years in the past.

As a consumer, that’s red flag to me. The first thought is whether or not the company is still in business if their last article posted was over a year ago. And if they are still in business, what does that say about their time management and follow through? Some prospects will not notice, but the ones that do may quietly go to a competitor instead of contacting you.

To overcome the “dead blog syndrome” some businesses opt to outsource article writing altogether. Better to have an active blog right?

Actually, in most cases this is the worse case. The problem with outsourcing content is that it tends to be lower quality, and almost always lacks thought leadership. The cost of hiring a real expert in your industry is simply too high. So businesses end up publishing mediocre articles on a consistent basis on their website. There’s no doubt you’re still in business, but if your prospects actually read those articles, they may think twice about contacting you.

See how blogging only for SEO can get you into trouble?

Blog to Position Yourself as the Authority In Your Industry

Again, the purpose of a blog on your website should be to publish thought leadership that positions you as an authority. Think of it like speaking at conferences. Ever notice at the end of a good presentation how everyone in the room looks up to the speaker as if he or she is a celebrity? Attendees swarm in for Q&A with the now obvious expert in the room, and the speaker ends up with plenty of hot leads to close in the coming weeks.

The same is true with high quality blogging. When prospects read a well-written article, they’ll be more likely to convert into paying customers because they will see you as the clear expert.