cameronbarke.com http://www.cameronbarke.com/why-does-your-website-need-a-blog/

CameronBarke

Why Does Your Website Need a Blog?

The True Value of Blogging For Business

So, you’ve created a website for yourself, you have some awesome content, and you’ve heard this buzz aroundstarting something called a “blog?” You’ve heard that this “blog” thing is a great concept of getting your websiteexposed to the right kind of viewers, and also a great way to build an audience, but you may not be exactly sure howall the metrics come together to benefit you.

Is it even worth it?

Do people even read these “blog” things?

Will my bottom line increase from creating a blog?

Well, with the help of some other blogs I personally follow, and through SocialMediaToday, I have gathered somestats that will help you answer those questions:

77% of internet users read blogs.

81% of US consumers trust advice and information from blogs.

(have you ever been sick, google’d your symptoms, ended up on some blog, and then it boils down to you believingyou have the black plague)? – yeah I’ve been there too… hahaha

Keeping those statistics in mind, it does turn out that if you really want your company to be visible online to the right

viewership, great content has to be produced, and the easiest/most efficient means of doing so is through this littlething we call a blog!

First Things First, What Is a Blog?

A blog is an extremely simple concept! Essentially, a blog is a page/resource on your website that containsarticles/entries/posts that educate/entertain/engage your visitors about your specific industry. Depending on thebusiness/website you are running, you literally can blog about anything and everything!The posts you create normally will run in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent posts will be shownfirst.It is an excellent opportunity to create a relationship to your target audience through content that provides solutionsto problems, answers questions, and possibly, (depending on the business), entertains.

There are a numerous benefits to having a blog, I am just going to go through a few of those myself, and those thatmany other industry experts deem will have the most positive impact for your company:

The Benefits of Blogging

According to this stat, 70% of consumers learn about a company through articles rather thanads, therefore a blog will establish your company as an industry leader, if correctly presented of course.That goes without saying, would you rather fall to the wayside and have your customers go to the competition,or would you rather establish yourself as a leader in your niche. I think you would chose the latter.

An extreme amount more opportunities to convert sales through influx of leads – small businesses that bloggenerate 126% more leads

It goes without saying that businesses are built on relationships. What better way to create thoseconnections/relationships through providing valuable content that users can provide feedback to via commentsections, and other avenues of relationship building interactions. The deeper and strongly the relationship tothe customer, the deeper and stronger your business will be!Look at customers of Apple for example, theyhave such a connection to that brand, they would rather walk into oncoming traffic, than use a PC.Relationships are VITAL!

Increased customer acquisition & retention: If you provide new and dynamic content 2-3 times weekly,your existing customers will have a reason to return to your website, and it will give potentially new customersa reason to follow.

Increased social shares: When you provide value via blogging, people naturally will want to share it withtheir social circles. It goes without saying, social sharing is great free exposure for your brand.

Increase in organic traffic: Who doesn’t want more “free” traffic coming to their website? Companies thathave a blog can experience up to 55% more visitors to their website.

Increased visibility in search engine results: Having more indexed pages, especially those with differentkeywords and back-links, will help your website in the rankings. Actually, if you check out this link here, youwill see a study that shows websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages than websites without.

SEO Purposes: Back-linking on your blog, for many reasons, is a powerhouse when it comes to SEO. It willgive your website increased authority quicker. Once you have a higher authority, your rankings in searchengines will rise, with that rise naturally will come more direct traffic. Companies that blog have 97% moreinbound links.

Creating A Name For Your Company

It all boils down to providing value first: By providing valuable content through a blog to your target audience,

potential clients/customers/partners will view you as a credible source of industry knowledge. With this new foundcredibility, you will have the upper-hand on the companies in your niche who do not blog.

Put yourself in the mind of the consumer. Company ‘A’ has a static website that does not change, and they do notblog, while Company ‘B’ provides you with valuable tips/info/solutions to your problems weekly – Who would youwant to buy from?

Blogging will help solidify you as an authority in your niche, and therefore will be a great piece to the puzzle ofgarnering your brand marketplace.A blog is no guarantee of anything, there are no guarantees of anything, but it may just be that difference that edgesout the competition.

Take it, and run with it.