Like other elements of digital marketing such as SEO, blogging changes with time - but it’s here to stay. And it makes a huge difference. The statistics are impressive: businesses that blog get twice the amount of e-mail traffic and 97% more links to their websites, 77% of Internet users read blogs, and websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages. Clearly, blogs are excellent for website optimisation and for driving traffic to your site.So why are blogs such powerful tools? How do you make yours stand out with so much content on the Internet? You may be wondering why your site even needs a blog in the first place, especially if you can explain what you do using a single webpage.
It turns out there are several reasons why blogging is an effective way to grow your audience and your business. Blogging has been around for a long time in one form or another. The first known weblogs emerged in the early 90s, and a few years later, websites like Open Diary and Blogger made the format more accessible. Now 91% of business-to-business marketers and 81% of business-to-consumer marketers use blogs or other forms of content marketing. WordPress, an open-source platform originally associated with blogging, now powers more than 43% of all websites on the Internet (two out of every five!).
There’s a lot that goes into a successful blog post: a compelling headline, top-notch search engine optimisation, keywords, links, meta descriptions, call-to-action prompts and pleasing images. These days, many blogs include videos as well, and “vlogging” (often hosted on platforms like YouTube) is a genre of content all of its own.
Like most business owners, however, you may be far too busy to even think about writing a regular blog. You may even be at a loss about which topics to write about, how regularly you should post, and how to measure the difference. What goes into a successful blog strategy? Anchor Digital can help with all of that. As experts in fields like graphic design, copywriting, and SEO, we know how to put our best foot forward in the digital space to increase your traffic and revenue.
So why should you blog? Because when it’s done right, it has the following benefits:
It builds trust and loyalty
Blogging allows you to prove your expertise in your field.There’s a concept in marketing called E.A.T, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. E.A.T is one of the guidelines Google uses to determine whether the content is valuable to its users. High E.A.T articles should contain well-researched and accurate information that helps users understand the topic.
Blogging boosts your reputation and the public perception of your credibility. You can be seen as a “thought leader” in your field by consistently sharing relevant information. The more people find out, read and share your content, the more they’ll turn to you for answers and value your deep knowledge of your industry.
Blogging increases visibility
With the right kind of search engine optimisation, blogging helps spread the word about your business to a larger audience. Every blog post is another indexed page on your website to potentially rank on the front page of Google. Companies with blogs receive up to 55% more site visits than companies without blogs.
Of course, it takes the right SEO practices to ensure that your blog stands out among all the other content on the Internet. The right keywords, quality linking, and eye-catching visuals are all ways to make a memorable impression on both search engines and web users.
It creates brand awareness
Brand awareness is about how familiar the public – specifically your target audience – is with your brand. Familiarity builds trust, and customers are likelier to buy from companies they know and recognise. Blogging is an effective way to get your business in front of a larger audience and reap the benefits of this familiarity. If a particular blog post goes viral or amasses a large number of shares, it gets the message out to even more people.
Guest blogging is also an effective strategy for increasing your brand awareness. By contributing a guest blog to a popular site, you can attract attention from the visitors already on that site to boost your traffic.
It generates new leads
If your content has quality SEO, readers will likely want to view more. This helps the public build familiarity with your brand and turn to your content for information and advice. Then when you ask them to enter their e-mail and subscribe to your list, they’ll be more likely to do so, knowing the value you bring. Offering value to your potential customers through a blog first and then giving them a chance to enter their contact details is more effective than just asking for the info right off the bat.
Blogging drives engagement
One solid advantage of blogs over other forms of content is that they attract more shares on social media. Sharing a ‘how-to’ or a list-based informative blog post gets more attention than sharing a simple landing or product page. You can write informative, fun-to-read articles that share information in a clear and concise way and lead back to your landing page. And with more than half the world now using social media and so many different platforms out there, there’s an avenue to publish just about any kind of content and spread it around.
Blogging allows you to understand your customer’s needs
Most of the time, customers aren’t reading blogs for the fun of it. They’re reading because there are questions they want to be answered or pieces of information they need to find out. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask, ‘what are they after? What kind of queries are leading them to my site?’ you can get a reliable grasp on what they’re actually looking for. And if necessary, change your approach to how you provide it.Blog posts attract comments both on the posts themselves and on social media, another source of feedback that can assist you with your business and website optimisation.
Start your SEO Blogging Journey with Anchor
You’ve got a business to run, so let the copywriters at Anchor Digital take care of your blogging for you. Our writers look at the bigger picture: not just the blog post at hand but the current campaign and what you aim to achieve with the business. They research and write strategically, factoring in important elements like keyword research and SEO for a well-rounded, practical approach.
Anchor Digital handles every aspect of online marketing: search engine optimisation, website optimisation, graphic design, web development, social media, and content marketing. We ensure we align our strategy with your vision as we work to get your brand in front of a wider audience. We don’t do lock-in contracts at Anchor Digital. We believe if we provide you with a high-quality standard, you’ll want to work with us again of your own accord.
Drop us a line to see how we can take your business to new heights using the benefits of blogging.
