Mackenzie | April 07, 2020 | Content Marketing
I write blogs for businesses every day. It's like, my job, man.
But I can't even begin to count the number of times people have asked me what the purpose of business blogging is.
Inbound marketing has been around for years now, but it's still a question for many people: why do we do it? What is the purpose of business blogging?
Someone asked me about it the other day, and I thought, "Oh sure, let me just point them to the NUMBER of blogs I've written about business blogging."
Only to find that well, I haven't written any blogs about this. I've talked about blogging in the context of lead generation, website design, inbound marketing, lead nurturing, and so much more. But I've never actually written about why business blogging is so important in its own right, and why it's a service we provide to nearly every single one of our clients.
My bad, guys. Big hole in the content there. But I'm here to make it right.
Let's talk about what business blogging is, why we do it, and why for heaven's sake I just need you to believe me when I say it's worth it.
Business blogging is the process of blogging for your business. It's an inbound marketing tactic that works to get your website more visibility. Just like social media, email marketing, and even digital ads, business blogging is another tactic used to get your company in front of the eyes of qualified leads.
The purpose of business blogging is to get you and your company in front of the right leads. In the words of our fearless leader here at Evenbound:
"Content publishing is the lifeblood of SEO. Regular content updates (written around your target keywords) build topical relevance and authority. If you're not writing blogs and your competition is, you're gonna get smoked in SERPs."
John Heritage — President, Evenbound
So you want to get found on the internet?
You want to show up first when someone googles something you do or a product you provide?
You want to beat the competition?
Well then, business blogging is the tool for you.
Okay, so business blogging helps you get in front of the competition. But how?
Don't worry, I wasn't just going to tell you something and not back it up.
Like I said earlier, business blogging is a key marketing tactic. It does more than just help you rank well. When you do business blogging right, it can help you convert more leads through every stage of the buyer's journey.
If you're familiar with the inbound marketing flywheel, business blogging is one of those tactics you can use to optimize every point on that flywheel, helping you draw in more traffic, nurture those new leads, close on new prospects, and continue to delight your promoters and existing customers.
Here's a look at three of the key benefits of business blogging.
First and foremost, business blogging helps you get eyeballs on your website. How else are people going to find you? Let's think here:
No one is going to type in your website URL and go directly to your site. It doesn't happen. When have you actually typed in "www.evenbound.com/blog" to see what's new on our blog? Imma say never. I don't even do that, and I live on our blog.
Paid ads are expensive. Sure, you can get in front of the right people using paid advertising. We encourage it. But, it shouldn't be your only tactic to drive traffic. Mostly because it's expensive. You should be using marketing strategies tactically. That means only spend where you're going to see big returns. For everything else, business blogging is your golden ticket to more, better traffic.
Buying email lists is illegal. Just don't do it. Aside from being illegal, cold-emailing random people doesn't return great results. Again, we're talking about tactical solutions. You can spend a whole lot on an email list that might return a few leads.
Business blogging, done properly, can turn in a whole bunch of leads at the expense of two or three hours of total effort spent on each blog.
The key to business blogging that drives qualified traffic is keyword research.
Since this isn't a blog about keyword research, I'm not going to go all the way into it, but I will leave you with a few keyword research resources here (Evenbound blog) and here (Moz.com)
Essentially, it should be your goal to write blogs that:
That's the sweet spot for a blog that will rank well, and that will pull in the leads you actually want. Once you do your keyword research, the real challenge is putting out quality content that's in-depth, and that answers those questions your target buyers are asking.
But, if you can do all of this, and regularly, you'll start drawing in serious qualified traffic. The more you blog, and the more consistently, the better results you'll see.
That said, I know how hard it is to stick to a regular schedule. If you can work to put out a quality blog even once every two weeks, you should start to see your organic traffic start to rise.
Okay, stick with me. Authority and topical relevance are both big industry terms, and if your eyes are starting to glaze over, I get it.
One of the key ways Google ranks websites is according to their authority.
You build authority in a few ways, but content publishing and link building are the two biggies. (Here's some info on link building and authority. Here's some info from MOZ on link building and relevance. And here's some info on link building itself.)
Content publishing, aka business blogging, is the other key factor that search engines use to determine your authority. And the more authority you have on a given topic, the higher you're likely to rank.
Let's think of it this way:
You're cooking a steak, and you want tips on the best way to do it. Which YouTube video do you choose?
If you're like me, you're probably going to refer to the Gordon Ramsay video. Why?
That brings me right to topical relevance, which is similar to authority.
The more quality content you have on a topic, the more topical relevance you have.
Sticking with our Gordon Ramsay reference, let's say the topic is cooking steak.
Then you have serious topical relevance.
Google will always rank the website with the most topical relevance highest on its results pages. That's why business blogging is so important.
Though you can't build authority or topical relevance overnight, steady, consistent posting of strategic content centered around one topic is one of the best ways to get there.
When you have more authority and topical relevance than your competition, you're going to be the one clients look to first for answers to their questions.
And that spells serious business growth for you.
Okay. So far we've learned that business blogging can help you pull in qualified traffic and beat your competition in rankings (drawing in even more traffic). Business blogging still has one exceptional benefit left.
Your business blog is a lead generation machine that's always on.
You heard me. Your blog is up on the internet 24/7.
When your sales team has gone home, when your marketing team is on vacation, and while you're breaking for the holidays, your blog is still working for you.
If you develop it right and optimize it with lead capturing tools like calls-to-action and content offers, your business blog can capture leads every single day of the week, at any hour.
Once you publish a blog, it goes out into the world. You might (read: absolutely definitely should) promote that blog on your social media and through your email marketing campaigns. But after the newness wears off, that blog is still working for you (given that you've written a quality blog).
The key to this benefit is making sure that you have content on your blog that addresses every stage of the buyer's journey.
When someone starts their journey, and queries your topic on Google, they're met with your blog. They come on over for answers to whatever question they typed into Google. But, if you've got content for every stage of the buyer's journey, and you make it easy for that new visitor to find, you're not just generating leads, you're also nurturing them.
An optimized blog can nurture a new lead all the way through their buyer's journey, providing them with the right information, at the right time. If that lead keeps coming back for information on your site when they're finally ready to buy, guess who they're going to call?
Yep, you.
You've not only built authority on search engines, but you've built trust with the leads who read your business blog. By delivering them quality content that answers their questions, consistently, you've earned their trust and now you're their first point of contact when they get ready to make a decision.
And I think the best part of all of this is that you didn't have to lift a finger. Since you've developed a solid business blog where all of this content already exists, your blog is the one doing the work 24/7, anytime a day.
If I had to sum up the purpose of business blogging in one sentence, I'd say it gets you the online visibility you need.
Let's be real. If you're not on the internet these days, it's going to be tough to get any kind of lead that's not a referral. And even the ones that are referrals. If you're not on the internet, you don't exist.
A business blog provides you with the opportunity to build that online visibility in the spaces that matter most to you, and to your target buyers.
Blogging is one of those tactics that's easier said than done. Trust me, I get it. If you're having trouble coming up with topics, sticking to a consistent schedule, or converting leads from your blog, the Evenbound team is here to help. We'd be happy to set up a quick consultation to help you figure out what you're doing right, and where you might be able to improve.
If you're still skeptical about the benefits of business blogging, may I direct your attention to the case study below? This is a great example of how consistent blogging with helped one of our clients make first page of Google and continue growing their business, even four years into our partnership.
At Evenbound, we're all about helping our clients grow. We use inbound and outbound marketing strategies to deliver you the qualified traffic and leads you need for serious growth. And we have a lot of fun doing it.
hello@evenbound.com
(616) 215-0626
12 Washington Ave. #280
Grand Haven, MI 49417
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