Does your business even need a blog?

This is a guest post from Kirsty Marrins

Whilst it may seem like yet another channel that needs resourcing, the benefits of having a blog far outweigh the effort. Trust me! In fact, according to a Hubspot survey, 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers. Still need convincing? Here’s 10 reasons why your business would benefit from a blog and why it should be part of your overall marketing strategy:

1. Content

If your business has a Twitter account and/or Facebook page then having a blog provides you with regular, relevant content for your audience. Your own content should always form around a third of the content you share on social media.

2. Increased traffic

By sharing blog posts through your social channels and having social media share icons on your blog posts so that your readers can share your posts to their own networks, you will find that traffic to your website will naturally increase.

3. Engagement

As with Twitter and Facebook, a blog allows you to engage with your audience. Make sure your blog allows for comments and encourage people to leave a comment on your post by asking for their tips, thoughts or opinions. Always ensure that you reply to any comments so that people are more likely to comment again on your next post.

4. SEO

Filling your blog posts with keywords related to your business will help improve your SEO and your Google ranking. Don’t just insert keywords for the sake of it, they must be relevant. If you are writing about your work or topics in your sector then keywords should come naturally and search engines will reward you for it.

5. Thought leadership

Having a blog offers you the opportunity to let your expertise shine. If you blog about hot topics, have an opinion and add value, you can establish your company as thought leaders in your sector.

6. Voice

Whilst your website should convey your tone of voice, a blog allows you to show your audience a bit more of your personality. It gives you the opportunity to showcase staff too through their individual posts and this can help your audience learn more about the people behind your business.

7. Free PR

If your blog posts are useful and interesting to people in your sector, they will share them on their own social channels. Not only does this open your business up to a new audience, you may also be approached by journalists when they are looking for quotes or interviews.

8. Insights

Learn what your audience is interested in by analysing your data. Which keywords are people using to find your blog posts? What are your top ten most read blog posts? Which posts get the most shares on social media? This is invaluable for understanding exactly what your customers are interested in.

9. Lead generation

Blog content should always be open, however you could create a report or toolkit that you introduce via a blog post but can only be downloaded by filling in a lead generation form. This allows you to build a database of potential customers.

10. Opportunities

Having a well written, useful and interesting blog can open up a whole host of potential opportunities from being invited to speak at sector events to being asked to contribute to a guide or report.

Kirsty Marrins is a freelance digital communications specialist, columnist for Third Sector and trustee for Small Charities Coalition as well as a travel & food blogger.