ARE YOU BLOGGING? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE

Every small business should have a blog on its website, as well as a website. (If you don’t have a website, you need to get into the 21st century, now.) If you’ve dismissed blogging as unnecessary or irrelevant for your business, there are many reasons that will change your mind.

For instance, did you know that a blog can increase website traffic and SEO? It’s a fact -- blogging is a proven and effective way to drive more traffic to your website. More visitors to your site equals more sales. The key, however, is to use carefully chosen keywords in your blog(s) that will show up in search engines, which are the top drivers of traffic to websites.

Posting high-quality content to your blog helps with SEO because Google’s algorithms will rank your site higher, and you have a 434% higher chance of being ranked highly on search engines if you feature a blog as part of your website. Furthermore, if you run out of ideas for blogs, let the experts help by crafting a professional press release about your business. After the media distributes your professionally written press release, you can use it as a blog on your website.

Another great reason to blog is to communicate with your clients. Blogging about your products and/or services enables you to connect with your clientele on an emotional level by conveying your unique and expert brand perspective. This leads to trust and customer loyalty, and helps your business stand out above the competition.

A small business blog can help build an online audience as well as one’s brand. Blogs are becoming an essential component of doing business in America. In fact, studies show that 81% of U.S. customers trust advice and information from blogs, companies that blog have 97% more inbound links and businesses that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that do not.