Do I really need a blog?
We almost always recommend that our SEO clients maintain an active blog on their websites. Often they are concerned about the time and attention that requires, and ask how important it is. “Do I need a blog?”
More to the point, do you need a blog?
It’s true that a blog requires a certain level of dedication to write new blog posts on a regular basis. While opinions differ on how often you should write a new blog post, we typically recommend a minimum of one blog post per month. That level of blogging should be pretty easy to maintain, right?
Well, we’ve seen several instances of clients (and non-clients) starting a blog, and posting very frequently for the first month or two, and then forgetting about it for a year or more.
That doesn’t work.
Search engines, seeing regular activity in the way of new content on your blog, consider your website to be alive and active. That’s a positive ranking factor for SEO. But if you start a blog and then forget about it for months on end search engines are likely to consider your website to be like a vacant lot: uninteresting and unworthy of visitors.
So the question arises again: do I really need a blog? And the answer is almost always:
Yes, you need a blog.
Here are 3 reasons why:
- Fresh content is good for your search engine rankings.
- Your blog opens up some great marketing opportunities.
- Your blog will help conversions – converting visitors into paying customers.
Let’s address those in a little more depth.
Fresh content on your blog
- We’ve already touched on the benefit that it shows search engines your site is healthy, alive, and active.
- Blog posts about your business will naturally address existing keyword phrases, cementing the relevance of your site for those terms for search engines.
- Blog posts naturally focus on long-tail keyword phrases. Those are the search terms with four, five or more words that are narrowly focused. There is less competition for these and you’re likely to rank very highly for them as a result.
- Regularly posted content on your blog gives visitors a reason to return frequently.
Leverage your blog for better marketing
- Blog posts provide great fodder for your email marketing campaign or newsletter. In fact, that was the main reason I started this blog way back in 2005.
- Every blog post gives you at least one new opportunity to post a link to it on all of your social media accounts spreading your message further on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and maybe more.
- For our clients, we typically promote each blog post on a dozen of the top social sites, expanding visibility beyond their own social circles.
If you’re still wondering, “Do I really need a blog”, consider this:
Your blog can increase your conversion rate.
Conversion rate is the proportion of visitors who become paying customers, clients or patients. The higher the better.
- You can use blog posts to promote special offers and promotions.
- Every blog post gives you multiple opportunities for calls to action to encourage readers to contact you.
- Blog posts about relevant and important aspects of your business establish your authority and expertise. That helps visitors trust you.
- Especially if you deal with your customer base on a face-to-face basis, your blog can help to convey your personality as helpful, approachable, and a person or company that visitors will want to do business with.
An additional side benefit of a blog
We often have the opportunity to explain things to clients and others. Very often part of what we’re explaining has been dealt with in a blog post, so we can refer them to an old blog post for additional information. I would say I have the opportunity at least once a week to send someone to a past blog post to help answer their question or explain a concept. Will that be helpful for you? Only you can tell.