Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big fan of blogging. Not only do I think it’s fun, I also believe blogging is good for my business. Now, I didn’t just make that up to give me an excuse to keep blogging. I’ve actually identified three solid reasons why blogging is good for my business, and for yours too.
Statistics
I know statistics is a scary word. However, a lot of serious people have researched the benefits of blogging and come up with some interesting statistics. I’d like to share a few of them.
- Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages. Think about that for a moment. Your website can only be found if it is indexed. Give Google more pages to index (a blog post is a page), and your website is easier to find.
- 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content (or blog posts) before starting a sale. Most people go online to research before they buy anything. Isn’t that what you do? Give them something to read about you or your business while they’re researching.
- Business sites with a blog receive 97% more links to their websites from other sites. Having links to your website improves its SEO with Google. The links indicate to Google that your site is a trusted resource.
- B2B marketers who use blogs get 67% more leads than those marketers who do not. Let this one sink in if you are marketing to other businesses. A blog sounds like a great way to increase the number of leads you get.
- 94% of people who share posts do so because they think the post might be helpful to others. I think this might be the most important statistic of all. Your business gets noticed when people share your posts. So, make sure your posts have helpful information people will want to share.
Original Content
Google loves something new. Seriously, Google rewards websites with fresh and unique content. Google will rank those sites higher in search result pages, and this is important to know. In fact, Google’s own help page indicates original content is one of the best ways to improve search ranking. Google is the number one search engine out there, and it works hard to ensure its search results are relevant to the user. If you write a blog with original content, you’re giving Google what it wants.
I know it’s tempting to sign up for content syndication to get a quickly populated blog. I strongly encourage you not to do this. In fact, Google even warns against this practice. Google penalizes sites for a lot of duplicate content. I’m not talking about re-posting a great blog a few different places, but rather having content on your site that appears on a lot of different sites with no relationship to you. Isn’t that what canned blog posts are, or even a template-based site that provides you with all your content? Why would Google rank your site when there are hundreds of others with the same content?
Your readers also do not like canned content. Trust me, I can tell when I’m reading something canned, and it turns me off. I’m sure many of you feel the same way. We go online to find helpful and useful information or something interesting to read. If I land on a site that’s feeding me a bunch of stuff I can read anywhere else or something I’ve just read, I’m going to move on quickly. However, if I spot an interesting post, with something new to say, I’ll stick around and may even bookmark the site for future reference. Give your readers the original content they want, and they will reward you with repeat visits to your site.
Trust & Connection
I believe the true value of a blog is the trust and connection it builds with your readers. Your blog is where you share your story. You talk about what you know, what you think and who you are. People like that. A lot of us are looking for a deeper or personal connection with the people around us. We want to learn something unique about you and how we can relate to you. In a way, reading your blog helps us get to know you in a new way.
A blog can also create trust. When you speak in your own voice and with your own personal style, we begin to trust in your honesty. When you share what you know, we begin to trust in your expertise. When you share what you think, we admire your courage and we may even agree with you. A blog, written in your own words, creates a type of bond with your reader. This bond is good for your business.
Blogging is Good for My Business
It’s well known that people do business with those whom they like and trust. Well, a blog helps your readers get to know you and to trust you. I believe it is this connection and trust that are the bases for the powerful statistics I mentioned earlier. I know I have built some great relationships through writing my blogs. Clearly, my blogging habit serves me well. If I only did one thing to grow my business, I would write a blog.
