I always recommend new website clients add a blog to their website, and while most of them are keen, they feel they won’t be able to keep up with populating it with content.
While blogging can be cumbersome, it is an extremely effective marketing tool. Here are 5 reasons why your website needs a blog.
1. Attract new customers via Google
Where do you turn when you need information? Google, of course! Google has a plethora of information, and they want to share your information with its users. While it can be difficult and time consuming to rank on Google, if you have a niche topic that someone is looking for, and not many people have already written about it, you can quite easily show up.
In fact, 15% of all daily Google searches have never been seen before by Google. This means that there is so much untapped opportunity to write content for potential customers – just make sure you tailor it with the appropriate keywords.
2. Improve your SEO
You have a website, but nobody is visiting it. What to do?! SEO is a long-term game and you can’t expect results overnight, or heck, even in the first few months. While there are hundreds of factors that Google uses to rank websites, one of the most important is content.
Google is in the business of information. The reason Google is so popular is because their users can easily get information they need from the search engine. Therefore, they praise websites with lots of content.
Oftentimes I hear customers say “I only need a one or two-page website”. This is a bad idea. While it’s likely intuitive to think in this day and age that less is more, in the world of SEO, more is more.
One of the reasons it’s great to have multiple pages is because you can only target one keyword per page. Imagine you had a salon that did nails, hair, waxing and eyelash extensions. Now, most people are probably searching for one of those items at time. If you had just a one-page website that simply outlined you did all of those services, and I was searching for nails, it would be hard to compete with all of the nail salons out there.
But, if you had a dedicated page for nails, that would have the potential to rank, and you would be able to compete with all the other nail salons.
3. Build credibility
You are an expert in your industry – why not tell people? It’s one thing to have a website with a salesy message about why you’re the best. Everyone has that. A blog allows you to stand out from the competition by showcasing your expertise in detail.
Are you a plumber? There’s hundreds of plumbers in major cities – how would someone know you’re the best? Well, perhaps they’re googling their problem before calling a plumber. They search for how to unclog a toilet. Your blog comes up with 5 ways to unclog a toilet by yourself. They read it and decide it’s too much effort for them, so they call you to come help, because you clearly know what you’re talking about.
See how that works?
4. Stay relevant
I’ve already outlined that Google is in the business of information. But the most important thing to note is that it’s in the business of relevant information. Have you ever gone to a website or blog and seen that it hasn’t been updated in three years? That’s a red flag for me, showing that this company is either a) no longer in business or b) doesn’t care to keep their information up to date.
Google prefers to rank newer information over older information, because as we know with technology, sometimes an article from 2011 could be completely irrelevant now, despite it only being 8 years ago.
If Google sees that your website is constantly being updated with new information, they will reward you. Google hates out of date websites because they want to ensure their users are going to get relevant information from websites that are still in business. Adding content regularly is the best way to show Google you are still in business.
5. Sell your products
Perhaps this is obvious, but having a blog is a great way to sell more products! A blog allows you to create a story around a product, and expand on its features, use cases and purpose. It’s more than just a sales pitch (that’s what your homepage is for).
Maybe you sell t-shirts with fun slogans, but each of those slogans have a story behind them. The blog is the perfect place to talk about the story behind the product, or even to showcase how it’s made! People want to buy meaningful things these days, and your blog is a great place to tell people why your product stands out from the crowd.
While blogging is extremely important, it can be time consuming. Recommendations to post 1-2 blogs per week can just seem out of reach for most small businesses. Luckily, there are loads of content marketers you can hire (including us!) and many others. If you need a copywriter in Toronto or beyond, be sure to get in touch!
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