Does my small business need a blog? Why blogging is good for growth and how to do it well.

Does your small business website have a blog page or has it been on the to do list that never ends?

If you run a business, you’ve probably heard someone say ‘you need a blog’. Your business buds tell you to ‘go write a blog post’…but you’re kinda wondering…why? And how?

Let’s bring some clarity to blogging, specifically the why and the how…

Why blogging is important for small business growth

A high-quality blog is a key member of your website support team. When done well a blog is an integral piece of your digital marketing puzzle.

Consistent, fresh and engaging content builds your connection with your audience and Google.

A high-quality, regularly updated blog allows you to:

Build brand awareness

Establish your know-how with your audience

Offer value-packed content that turns readers into subscribers

Give Google important information for SEO wins

Share helpful and conversation-starting information with your community

Encourage your community to subscribe, share and interact with your content

Have a link building strategy that supports SEO and domain authority

Build a strong community who deeply understand and love what you do. And, who will keep you in mind when they need a product or service like yours.

BONUS: Blogging is inexpensive, offering a free-to-low-cost pathway to market your business.

Oh, and if it aligns with your values and goals, you can even monetise your blog (making it a passive income source).

Quick summary – why blog?

Through consistent and quality content, your blog becomes an organic way to build trust, visibility and loyal customers.

And, let’s not forget Google (and other search engines). Blog posts that are at least 1000 words and include your keywords, are wonderful for SEO. To get real SEO benefit, write your posts with SEO in mind.

Plan your keywords but most importantly, write for your audience. In other words, use your researched keywords in optimal places throughout your post but don’t ‘keyword stuff’.

With all that a blog can bring to your marketing strategy, it’s important that your content is well thought out and appropriately structured. Otherwise it can end up being a hit and miss with humans and Google.

How to set yourself up for blogging success

Have a strong heading – 80% of people will only read your heading…so it has to do a lot of the heavy lifting to get clicks into your content.

Map out your post with clear subheadings – can you tell what your blog post is about from across the room? Use your subheadings to keep you on track when writing. They also help your reader understand your post.

Consider SEO – what are the important keywords for your business? What are people searching for when they have the problem that you solve (what questions are they typing into Google)?

Respond directly to comments left on your blog – don’t post and ghost – you’ll miss valuable opportunities to build relationships and connection with potential customers

Use a CTA (call to action) – to encourage people to share, follow, subscribe or comment – depending on your current marketing goals and strategy (don’t use all these at once – pick one clear next action you want them to take)

Repurpose your blog content into multiple social media posts – share your useful knowledge widely by creating content for your social platforms whether this is Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn….or a combo of all and more

Pick blog topics that answer common questions from your audience – this will make sure your blog content is relevant, valuable and therefore supports your community (and in turn your business) to thrive

Outsource – if blogging does not bring you joy and is taking you away from other important business priorities, find a quality blog writer and leave the research, drafting, editing and maybe even posting…to them.

On repurposing blog posts into other content

As mentioned above, blog posts are a great source of additional content pieces.

If you feel like you’re always trying to come up with new and original content for your marketing platforms…imagine having a super read-worthy blog post that could then become 3 Instagram and FB posts, 10 Pinterest pins, an email, a podcast episode…you get my drift…