Create A Business Blog To Get More Customers Online
Anyone who has started or contemplated starting a business in the last twenty years should know how vitally important it is to have robust marketing strategies in place to grow the business. A central piece of that marketing strategy should be an emphasis on creating a healthy online presence to generate and attract customers. One of the most effective ways to develop and attract customers and retain a loyal customer following is through blogging.
Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon regarding its use to market and brand products and services, but businesses must not underestimate its importance. The blogs of yesteryear evolved from online diaries, where people posted their views on life, their strong opinions about political and social views, and even shared tips on daily living and lifestyle trends.
Those inclined to write soon found quite accidentally that including their musings, advice, tips and hints as part of their website drew more attention than the site by itself. Do you know who else noticed? Google.
Sharing personal insights and stories seemed to improve the (UX) users experience, and because Google, is wholly focused on the UX, they adjusted their rank rewarding search return as such. Sites with blogs started being returned for search more than websites without a blog.
"Stories sell while facts tell." - Mark Skovron, PhD
Entrepreneurs seized opportunities to use this increased web traffic to their advantage, and the creation of business blogging was born. Business blogging is a marketing strategy that increases visibility to your potential customers and creates natural business growth through increased internet traffic.
"Through creating connections with your customers by sharing personal stories, your passions about your company and its products and services, and by asking what areas of need are, you are creating additional traffic and revenue for your business," explains Jeff Peltin, Chief Marketing & Training Officer for MaxGroup Business Solutions.
With the internet and social media revolutionizing the way people conduct business, it is essential that business owners stay not only aware of but on top of ideas that customers search for products and services online. Over 450 billion internet transactions per day scream to us that we must do something engaging to direct customers to us, despite the scores of competitors that are also vying for attention and loyal business.
What Is Business Blogging?
We know that “blogging” is the act of creating short-form content, and a post is designed becoming a post on your blog; a part of your website where you keep all of your creations. When you create a business blog, you are explicitly dedicating most, if not all, of your posts to communicating with your customers, promoting your products and services, and asking for sales and continued loyal business. You may also dedicate content related to your company’s mission, your passion for your business, and other topics related to your personal history as an entrepreneur. Many people find this type of content endearing and exciting, and it is easier for them to connect with you as an individual, which in turn makes you more appealing when it comes to generating sales and customer loyalty.
A business blog has become one of the most important marketing strategies to make you more relatable to your customers. Besides, it is a way of generating increased traffic to your website. The more quality content you have online, the more likely you are to increase your SEO rankings with major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. As most online customers are expected to perform searches and choose websites generated on page one or two of search engines, you will want to be near the top to increase your visibility. More visibility equals more visits, and with more visits, comes more business. Put yourself out there!
Why Do I Need To Blog To Expand My Business? You are living in the age where everything is digital, everything is instant, and everything is accessible to everyone, provided they are not living under a rock with no internet service. A whopping 80 percent of all business transactions formed start with an online search for products and services. You want to be suggested and found when customers are searching! Here are some solid reasons why blogging is essential to a healthy online presence for your business:
It will increase your web traffic. The name of the game is blogging, social media, and search engine rankings. The more visible you are, the more likely it is that potential customers will find you. The more quality web content you have on the internet, the higher your search engine rankings will be. Every time you create a new post, major search engines sit up and take notice of the new activity on your website.
Your blog differentiates you from the inactive and obsolete websites sitting out there in cyberspace, waiting for someone to take notice of them. Search engine algorithms compute your visibility according to the number of active pages you have on your site, as well as how frequently your content is added to or updated. This action will drive you closer and closer to page one on Google, which is the place to be.
Blogging will bring about social media discovering you and having your message including your branding shared. Have you seen how fast these “share me” pages have been spreading via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Providing excellent customer service on transactions as well as writing engaging and exciting content for your blog will inspire satisfied customers to share their experiences with you via social media. Creating an online presence for yourself via social media and then connecting that to your blog content is a way for you to reach an audience of millions of surfers daily.
Blogging converts traffic to leads. Every entry is an opportunity to generate new leads. Providing a “free” teaser to viewers in exchange for their personal contact information will allow you to start creating a base of potential customers that you can market to with your social media outreach, your additional posts, and other marketing strategies that you employ. Note that not every viewer will become a lead, nor will they become a customer. The law of averages works very well in this situation, however. The more content that you put out there, the more potential business you will acquire through your ever-changing content.
Blogging is an inbound marketing strategy that truly works. You can generate more site visitors and qualified leads through blogging. Google’s own statistics reveal that marketers who blog consistently will gain 125% more traffic than those who do not.
Blogging establishes you as a product or industry authority. If you are regularly creating content for your customers that is engaging and helpful, you will build yourself as an authority. If prospective customers are finding answers to their questions on your blog, they are more likely to purchase from you. If you have done your part to educate them on what types of products and services they need and are then able to offer that unique product or service, you have just made a sale.
Also, if you are willing to take questions from prospective customers and clients and then answer them personally, you have just offered a level of personal service that is second to none. You have just created a loyal customer for life.
Blogging creates long-term results. A post that you sit down and write today has compound consequences as people view it, share it with others, and it generates leads time and time again. Do you see how quickly this can multiply when you consider that a typical blog has dozens of posts from which to choose? Your efforts today will produce residual results tomorrow, and residual income is income that works FOR you.
Time To Create: Now What?
Brainstorm a list of ideas that about which you wish to write. Convey your passions, your mission, and your zest for developing quality products and services to your audience. Include calls to action to generate leads for new business. Set up notifications on your blog to address conversations as they happen around your content, and give “freebies” away in exchange for qualified lead information. Focus on keywords to increase your search engine rankings, and lastly, get excited!
Your authentic and useful content is the new way to do business--connecting to your customer base and focusing on creating relationships that create customer loyalty and client satisfaction. Practice makes perfect; the more you blog, the more you sit down and play with ideas, the better you will become at creating sizzling content that will set you apart from your competition.
Time Is Money, Baby! As a new business owner, managing your time is of utmost importance. Between filling client orders, generating new business, developing marketing campaigns, and balancing the books, who has time for additional chores such as running an epic blog? The very thought might be overwhelming you right now. Fortunately, for you, there is the option of hiring a talented writer to write a professional blog for you.
Why You Want a Professional to Write Your Blog You can focus your time and energy on more important matters. Sure, a blog following is vitally essential to the health and growth of your business, but other things must be in place as well. Focus on the tasks that showcase your talents, and hire someone with the ability to write your web content for you.
Your credibility will soar. Professional bloggers know how to create content that sells itself, and they also know how to pull in compelling research, convincing statistics, and content that will drive your rankings higher and higher. After all, their livelihood depends on their ability to improve your business through their posts. They aim to please!
Great Pro-bloggers have access to additional social media outlets. Part of blogging promotional packages include posting across all kinds of social media outlets, including third party promotional websites that will introduce you to a much broader audience. The more people that see your content, the more likely you are to generate more leads and therefore, more sales.
Bloggers can protect you from legal copyright issues. Many a business owner has found himself in hot water over a copyright protected picture that used on a business blog, and Google is vigilant about penalizing sites containing plagiarized content. If you are running your blog without knowledge of copyright do’s and don’ts, you might find yourself with a little bit of explaining to do. Hiring a professional blogger to navigate legal waters for you will pay for itself many times over, as you won’t find yourself with legal fees and penalties for slipping up.
“Much better to pay a writer on the front-end than an attorney on the back-end.” - Mark Skovron, PhD
Have we convinced you yet? Business blogging is the lifeblood of your online business, and the professionals at MaxGroup Business Solutions can create results through their innovative marketing strategies and product offerings. Through our integrated approach to business growth, we employ experts in technology, marketing, research, and content creation to ensure that your business soars in the rankings. Visit us today at www.MaxGroupBusiness.com for more information. A partnership with MaxGroup will set you apart from your competition; get ready to take your business to the next level of success!