Are Blogs the Answer?
Are blogs the answer?
The short answer is yes.
I love blogs.
I love the long-form content where it allows some in-depth conversation. Some deep exploration into a seemingly boring topic. A dive into the very nuanced abyss. Because things are never simply black and white.
But the answer to what? What are blogs a solution for? And when are they NOT the answer? Keep reading for tips on how and why it’s marketing best practice to write regular blogs.
Improve your SEO
There’s almost no loftier, more critical marketing goal than achieving a higher rank in Google. Most internet searchers don’t go beyond that first page of results, so if you’re not ranking there, then how will people find you? The truth is that blogs, which are really just a glorified accumulation of relevant industry advice, knowledge, and popular keywords, are one of the easiest ways to continue to build your website. A decrepit old website that’s stale or out-of-date will eventually cease to appear in most searches. As far as Google’s concerned, if you don’t maintain your website, your content is irrelevant, perhaps only useful to the dinosaurs.
Increased visibility
It’s hard to get attention if you’re not even out there. Be present in the digital space. A blog is a great way to be present. Give people something to land on when they type in your name or type in keywords that are relevant to you and your industry. For example, if someone types in “copywriter in Kansas City, ” I sure as heck hope I come up on that first page of results! If I don’t, I better start building my website out, plugging in keywords, and—isn’t it obvious?—blogging.
Plug in some keywords
Keywords are absolutely critical to SEO, but I say that with a caveat. (Again, this is why blogging is so fun for me! It gives you and me the chance to hash out all the nuanced advice and information.) Because while keywords are important, keyword-stuffing is a big no-no.
What’s that, you ask? Well, great question. It’s actually the overuse of keywords. Like when there are so many, that the blog or website copy doesn’t even read smoothly. It’s choppy. Disjointed. Awkward. Forced.
Imagine if I inserted the phrase “copywriter in Kansas City” into every sentence, or even every other sentence, of my blog.
“I’m a copywriter in Kansas City. And as a copywriter in Kansas City, I know what it takes to be a great copywriter in Kansas City…”
It’s like trying to cheat the SEO system, hoping that no other website in the whole universe has the phrase “copywriter in Kansas City” more than I do, and thus my website ranks #1, numero uno, in Google.
Instead, by mistakenly flooding my blog with the right words, I’ve made my readers dizzy, nauseous, and repulsed, so Google punishes me for it. They recognize my keyword stuffing habit and lower my ranking. They can see that my website is just fluff and filler and not something informative and useful to customers.
Thus, the whole keyword thing is a fine line to walk. A good copywriter has that technique down. They know what percent of the word count needs to be key words and how much is too much. Everything in moderation. Even moderation.
More indexed pages
The more indexed pages, the better. It makes your website seem more credible and legitimate, which is good for SEO. Actually great for SEO. A larger website is generally a better, more dependable source of information, so search engines are happy to divert people in that direction. So regular blogging is a good way to establish page after page of reliable of wisdom and advice. Then, allow users to search your blogs for keywords and titles and make it really user-friendly.
A chance for backlinks and internal linking
Use your blogs for backlinks and internal links. You can link through newsletters and sales emails or even link back to older blog posts whose information and advice might overlap a tad. The more links and clicks, the more legitimate your website is.
Show off your expertise
A blog is your time to shine! Show off what you know. Demonstrate precisely why your company is a unique authority in your industry. Why should customers trust you above anyone else? What makes you better than the competition? And guess what. The more specific and in-depth each blog is, the better. It also gives you a huge range of topics to choose from. Instead of “why are we the best plumbers in Kansas City,” which is a great landing page topic btw, write something very precise, like “what not to put down your kitchen garbage disposal.” Then you can tack on some tips for unclogging it, which is authentically valuable content, adding credibility and authority to your website.
Increase web traffic
All of this makes you more visible to potential customers. An enhanced SEO puts you in front of people, makes you clickable. Suddenly you go from an unknown to a familiar household name. The more your name is out there, the more likely a customer is to go to you when they need your goods and services. Hence, increased sales and revenue. And isn’t that what we’re all yearning for these days?
Update your content
A regular blog—weekly, bi-weekly, monthly—gives you the opportunity to freshen up your content. It’s easy to craft some stellar website copy that blows away your competition, but no matter what industry you’re in, it’s likely to get out of date fast. You know you have to adapt to trends and technology to stay relevant, so shouldn’t your digital presence? A blog is a good way to reflect those trends, show how you’re growing and maturing… Heck, you could even address current events that may or may not be relevant to your business. Think: inflation, supply chain issues, a government shut-down, or even new local legislation that could impact your customers.
Add it to the social media repertoire
If nothing else, a regular blog gives you something to share on social media. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, even Snapchat. And don’t forget that social media is friendly and interactive! Which means your customers and potential customers can DM you, like your posts, and give you other feedback about their needs and opinions. In other words, it’s a great way to collect valuable data about your market. By keeping engaged with them, you continue to nurture that ever so important relationship.
Provide a valuable service
Add valuable information through your blog. If you have a plumbing company, for example—why do I always seem to go back to plumbing?—share some useful tips for unclogging a toilet or fixing a stalled garbage disposal. Maybe they’ll still require you to come out for a service call or maybe they’ll be able to fix the issue themselves, who knows? But either way, you’re establishing your company as a go-to resource. A trusted professional who really knows their stuff.
Nurture that relationship
With your customers, that is. Just keep getting in front of them. Use the right keywords and in your blogs and your website will pop up consistently in their search engine results. Send the blog out in your newsletters and sales emails and by continuing to appear in their email inboxes and establish that relationship as a dependable, knowledgeable professional.
Make your website more credible
Add more meat to your website and it’ll be more credible, more legitimate. Not just to Google and other search engines, but also to your typical consumer. Visitors to your website are more likely to return if they know that there are layers of information and usefulness. If your website is just a simple “about” page or a list of contact information, there’s not much reason for them to return or spend much time there. But if they’re jumping around, examining your bios, your landing page, and clicking on a few blogs, they’re learning more about you and establishing trust.
So, here’s that nuanced answer again. Yes, blogs are great for SEO, but depending what your marketing goals are, they are definitely not the ENTIRE answer. And if your marketing budget is only so big and you’re just getting started in the process, you might not want to start with blogs. You may want to start with website copy, ads, or sales emails. You know, because as your revenue grows, your marketing budget will also grow.
Let’s chat more about your marketing goals and figure out a strategy that’s right for your company.