7 ways blogging can help your business to grow

1. Business blogs increase website traffic and help generate leads 

Blogs are a proven way of drawing customers in to a website. They allow you to reach new audiences and customers that might not otherwise engage with your website. According to HubSpot, companies that blog receive on average 55% more visitors. Successful blogs offer something of value to customers such as answering a question, providing a valuable insight, or showcasing an interesting idea or content. The same is true of leads. Companies that blog produce an average of 67% more leads monthly.

2. Having a blog can improve your SEO 

Having a blog can help you rank higher in search listings. Search engines like Google favour regularly updated websites. Blogs are also a great way to include keyword-rich content on your website. As an example, here’s a blog post we wrote about why Exeter is a great place to relocate or start a business. Blogging in this way helps establish local SEO – by writing about (and including keywords related to) the area our business operates in.

3. A blog is a great way to establish backlinks to your website

Another way in which a blog can help improve your search engine rankings is through establishing backlinks. HubSpot found that companies that blog receive 97% more inbound links to their website. Creating content that people want to reference and link to is a great strategy for gaining web authority and ranking more highly as a result. That’s why we feature blogging in our list of 12 creative strategies to gain backlinks for SEO.

4. You can use your blog to grow your email-marketing list 

Business owners are often looking for new ways to grow their email subscriber lists. Email marketing is a proven method for driving sales and growing your subscriber list is a key step in that process. By writing a blog that customers want to read regularly, you can work on capturing email addresses by encouraging users to subscribe for regular content. 

5. Blog posts that showcase industry expertise establish authority and build credibility

New customers want to know that the businesses they purchase from are reliable and provide a quality service or product. A blog is a great way of improving consumer confidence by displaying industry expertise. If customers are faced with two newly discovered businesses online and one of them has blogged extensively about their industry and products then this business is going to appear the more knowledgeable. The Demand Gen Report (2019) supports this and found that blogs play an important role in the purchase process, with 60% of buyers seeing the value of blog posts at the start of their purchase journey.

6. Blog posts are a quality source of content for social media 

Static web content such as ‘about’ or ‘product’ pages rarely generate debate or spark conversations. Even the most well-written websites are unlikely to be shared or discussed publicly by customers or competitors. Blog posts, however, are far more likely to capture public interest. They not only provide great content for businesses to share on their own social media but also to be shared, liked and commented on by others. All those conversations about your business help increase brand awareness and also drive traffic to your website.

7. User reactions to blog posts are a valuable form of market research

Google Analytics is a valuable tool for any website owner and is particularly relevant for those with a blog. It can tell you which of your blog posts are generating the most interest, how long users spend on blog pages and the demographics of who is reading your blog. It’s valuable data that you can use to inform product development, direct marketing campaigns and to more effectively segment your audience. 

Get help with your blog from experienced copywriters

The value of blogging is clear – it helps drive traffic to websites, establishes credibility and authority and can help you learn more about your customers. 

However, there are two main challenges to businesses presented by blogging. Firstly it takes time. To be effective, blogs need to be updated regularly and well-written and researched posts aren’t quick to create. Which leads us to the second challenge – expertise. Your experience and knowledge of your industry won’t necessarily translate to being able to write about it in an engaging and interesting way. Blogging effectively is a creative practice that can take years to master. 

If you’re struggling to find time to blog or aren’t sure how to go about creating engaging content we can help. Our copywriters are experienced in writing creatively about a broad range of businesses and industries. We can create content that your customers will want to read and help you to reach new audiences. To find out more, contact us to discuss your business.