Okay so hear me out, I know we’re not in the booming blog era of the early 2000s, but blogging still plays a vital role in attracting leads to your business. Obviously I’m a writer, so you could say I’m a little biased. But no matter what business you’re in you should absolutely consider adding a blog to your website.
Here’s why:
1. It’s not as complex as you might think.
You don’t need to be spending hours and hours on every blog you write. In fact, shorter blogs perform better anyway! No one wants to scroll through pages of your life story just to read a recipe, am I right?
Chances are, you’re already answering frequently asked questions about your business all the time.
You probably answer them so often that you have a little spiel you recite by heart, or an email template that you can tweak and send out as needed. Now imagine if you turned those common Qs & As into short blogs. I’m talking super short, like one page of writing tops. Now when incoming leads find your website, they have all the information they need to buy in. You’ll repeat yourself less, and you’ll convert more leads with less time spent overall.
2. Blogs are a prime SEO opportunity. (Search Engine Optimization.)
Take a moment to envision your ideal client or customer. What pain points do they have that you can help solve with your business? What common questions or phrases are they already typing into google? Now imagine they find your blog, answering those inquiries. You’ve just gained their trust because you solved their problem. Now they’re on your website and realize your business solves ALL the problems they’ve been having regarding that pain point. Not only that, but you seem to “just get it.” You get them, their problems, and can educate them in a way that doesn’t make them feel silly for asking questions.
Those are the customers you’re missing if you aren’t using strong keywords on your website. (AKA utilizing Search Engine Optimization.) With a blog, you can pack loads of relevant key words, questions, and phrases into your website in a way that feels natural and doesn’t make the almighty Google flag you for keyword stuffing.
3. You’ll increase traffic to your website from social media and emails.
Blogs can bring leads to your website from more than just a search engine like Google. They can also be used to direct your social media followers and email subscribers to your website—one click closer to buying in. When you have interesting and thoughtful content that speaks to your audience, they’re more likely to want to learn more from you. If you play things right and use backlinks from one blog to another, or from your blog to other pages of your website, then you’ll REALLY have your leads on the hook. The more time they spend on your site, the more invested they will feel. This will lead to more opportunities to close the deal too as you’ll have to convince them why they need your product/service.
4. Blogs leverage you as a thought leader in your field.
How do you stand out compared to your competitors? What do you know that they don’t?
When you use blogs to share information about your field of business, you show off your expertise. And not in a smarty-pants way, but in a way that makes you a thought leader.
Converting leads is all about proving your worth. Proving that you know what you’re talking about and you can be trusted to get the job done. If you’re an authority figure in your field, you gain credibility and (you guessed it) more leads in the door.
This is true no matter if you’re selling a product or a service. For example: say you’re an author just trying to promote your new book. You can showcase your authority within your genre of choice. You can review other books within the genre, talk about local writing news, or be a resource for aspiring writers that look up to you.
Sharing your knowledge in blogs doesn’t mean you have to give away all your trade secrets either. It just means writing enough to show you know what you’re talking about.
5. It’s a great opportunity to practice/perfect your brand voice.
As you might already know, brand voice development is my specialty as a creative copywriter. The top question I get from small business owners looking to create a brand voice for themselves is where they can start. And the answer is simple: with practice. I usually recommend my clients sit down and start journaling as their first step. You don’t need to be journaling every morning or start any kind of strict writing regimen, but you do need to get comfortable writing for your desired audience.
Journal writing is a great way to take the pressure off yourself and write without an end product in mind. After you’ve practiced a bit and feel more comfortable writing in your natural voice, blogging is the next logical step.
Blogs don’t need to be super formal to be successful. You can blog about your opinions, or just answer FAQs like you normally would when speaking to someone in person. The key to great blog writing is practice, and the same can be said about brand voice development.
TL;DR:
If you’ve read this far, you are living proof that blogs totally work! You probably came here from my social media, email newsletter, or *gasp* straight from Google. 🤯
I promise starting a blog for your business isn’t terribly difficult, but I will admit that it can take some time if you aren’t used to that style of writing. Especially if your business already keeps you super busy. But hey, that’s what you have me for!
If you’re looking to produce blogs for your business, want to harness the power of your own personal brand voice, or just want to bounce blog ideas off me, please don’t hesitate to reach out. At the end of the day for me, it’s all about helping creatives, authors, and entrepreneurs stand out more, gain more trust from their audience, and feel more confident in how to market themselves.
