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WHERE BUSINESSES GO TO GROW

How Important Is It to Have a Blog?

BY Peg McDermott on Apr 04, 2012 / IN blogging, marketing strategy

You’ve probably seen plenty of business sites with blogs, but maybe you’ve been hesitant to get one going yourself. After all, it takes time and effort to make sure that you’re putting out content for your audience – wouldn’t it be a better idea to focus your efforts on techniques that will actually help get customers to your doorstep?

 

The thing is, a blog will help bring in customers, and the positive effects of having a blog are significant. The content you include on your blog not only supplements the information on the rest of your site, but it can help you connect with your audience in a more conversational way. The comments feature allows people to add in their own thoughts or ask questions, creating greater personal interaction.

 

But that doesn’t mean that your blog should be solely about your business. In fact, most blogs tend to cover a range of topics related to the company’s focus, providing extra value for people who are looking for information on those topics. In addition, a blog is a perfect platform for you to showcase your areas of expertise, which in turn will help your readers recognize you as someone who is knowledgeable in your field.

 

Having a blog with a variety of blog posts also provides content that others can link to. These inbound links will drive more visitors to your site, as well as boosting your SEO.

 

Good blog posts will also get people talking and sharing, and these days, sharing usually means social media. This is also good for your SEO because Google now ranks sites higher if they have a high number of shares on social networks. So if you can create blog content that gets a conversation going, you’re more likely to been seen again and again around the social media circuit.

 

Of course, what was said above about time and effort remains true – you do have to create content that people will find both unique and interesting. Many business, however, avoid starting a blog because they’ve underestimated the value of putting in that effort. For a relatively small time investment, you can start seeing tremendous increases in site traffic, as well as improvements in your search engine rankings. You can also start building a community of readers who will come to your site again and again, to see what new content you have to offer. Certainly that alone would be worth quite a deal to you.

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