While business blogging has been around for decades and has been extensively used to improve revenues, not all business owners have yet understood the power of high-quality blog posts in helping a business grow and thrive.
If you are still wondering whether your online store should have a blog, here are six excellent reasons that will convince you to take the plunge.
Blogging improves your search engine ranking
Blogging is a great tool to have in your SEO kit. Publishing a new blog post once a week that provides your audience with useful information, or simply entertains them, is a great way to engage your customers and thereby improve the search engine ranking of your business website.
The topics published on your blog, however, should be relevant to your business and should have keywords related to your products or services. This way, you’ll be able to attract a niche audience that’s interested in reading articles and blog posts that provide insight into your specialization.
Blogging brings brand recall and customer retention
When your e-store has a blog where you publish fresh content every week, it gives your customers something to look forward to and also establishes your expertise in the services you offer. For instance, a natural skin- and hair-care brand would benefit greatly from publishing informative posts about DIY skin care, benefits of natural ingredients over chemicals, and so forth.
Offering interesting and useful content to your target audience without hard-selling your product will build their trust in your brand and make them want to come back.
Blogging increases your social media outreach
There’s no greater way to reach your potential consumers today than through various social media platforms. While having a business page on Facebook and Instagram is the order of the day, you can only achieve so much by posting memes, product photos or other posts on your social media handles.
Blogging, on the other hand, not only has greater value for your audience, it also brings them over to your website. Also, if your content is interesting and useful, your readers will be compelled to share the blog post among their followers, thus multiplying the impact of your content marketing efforts.
Blogging can help you get quality leads
If you publish posts that are relevant and valuable to your readers, they will visit your website, which gives you a chance to build greater engagement with your brand by asking visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, join your mailing list, share the content they just read, explore similar content on the site, explore a product line, download an ebook, participate in an upcoming contest or event, and so forth.
There are numerous ways to engage your readers, but it all starts with publishing high-quality content that will encourage them to spend some time on your e-store.
Blogging establishes your brand as a leader among the wannabes
Imagine three different boutique bakeries offering a wide range of baked goodies online. Now imagine one of them publishing regular blog posts about the art of baking, baking at home, how to save when ordering a cake, and so on. These are just examples, but they should give you an idea of the power of blogging in helping a business become a cut above the rest.
Inarguably, today’s savvy consumers are driven toward brands that offer more than just a great product or service. Often subconsciously, customers are looking for added value and a certain connection when they choose one brand over another. Through blogging, you can create a positive and relatable image of your brand and help customers perceive your business as one they can rely on and recommend to friends and family.
Blogging can be an independent revenue source for your business
According to this insightful article at http://www.all-shops-directory.com/2018/08/24/5-ways-to-make-money-on-the-side/, blogging is a great way to generate additional income, as you can partner with other brands, feature guest posts, and establish an alternative revenue source through advertisements and affiliate marketing.
While your business blog must indeed feature content that’s relevant to the type of work you do, you can even float another independent blog that offers readers greater variety and yet supports your business through backlinks, guest posting and tiered blogging.
To summarize, publishing quality blog posts and articles has several advantages for a business regardless of its size, age or scale. Whether you have a B2B business or sell directly to consumers, blogging places your brand high among a host of others vying for your customer’s attention.
