Blogging — to some that means an online journal; to others it's an informational website on either a specific topic or various topics. To define it officially, a blog is a website where individual(s) provide entries of any type of content from video and podcasts to traditional text and photos in order to inform or create discussions.
Typically blogs are presented in reverse chronological order.
Content Marketing & Blogging
Today, the relevance and importance of blogging is becoming more apparent than ever. Content marketing, marketing that involves creating and sharing media and publishing content in order to acquire customers, is becoming a common trend in business. Marketers are realizing that to connect with customers and obtain leads it's important to provide them with relevant and educational information they'll find valuable. This new approach to marketing is what makes blogging crucial today.
Along with social media, a content marketing component, blogging is about informing people; keeping people up to date with industry news, trends, company information and more. With a blog, marketers can communicate a company's persona; who they are, their focus, and what makes them different from the competition. By engaging clients and prospects with content as opposed to promotions and marketing text, valuable relationships can form. It hold true as 67% of companies that blog generate more leads than those that do not (Hubspot 2010). Blogging is no longer a platform in which teens share their feelings to the world; blogging is for business and it makes a difference.
Blogging Makes a Business Difference
Now that we know what blogging is and how it's relevant for business, it's time to discuss the benefits. Why bother blogging? Blogging, as mentioned above, is quickly becoming relevant and that is for particularly two reasons. One was already mentioned above, content marketing, but there is more to it, and the other is about getting found online. Blogging creates benefits for businesses through two objectives:
- Content Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
Blogging for Content Marketing
As mentioned before, content marketing is becoming a common trend in business and blogs support it. Blogging is all about content. Unlike social media platforms that either requires, or is accustomed to, brief posts, blogging allows for more information and more sharing. An informative and compelling blog is one where the writer(s) are passionate and wholeheartedly interested in the topics at hand. Blog posts should be informative, interesting, and relevant to the target audience. The benefit this creates is thought leadership.
Companies want to be considered experts in their industries and fields. They want their customers and prospects to view them as credible and trustworthy. Writing blogs on your expertise, sharing industry knowledge and opinions, and getting your company's point of view out there can help create an image of your company and brand as an industry thought leader. Becoming a thought leader makes your company the point of reference for clients and prospects to find out what's what in the industry and also helps your company build a respectable brand and reputation. What company wouldn't want that?
Blogging for Search Engine Optimization
Today, getting found online is crucial. Companies are turning to search engine optimization to do just that. Search engine optimization is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or webpage in a search engine's organic or natural search. Over the years, the competition to remain relevant to the search engines has become fierce.
A common approach businesses have taken to getting found online is to buy ad space on Google and/or other search engines, and in the process securing keywords related to their ads. When a search occurs with the keyword secured, the purchased ad may appear above organic search results, otherwise known as "Sponsored Search Results." This approach has become increasingly competitive over the years as more and more companies are securing the same types of keywords, also known as head keywords (keywords with a high search volume). As they are keywords of high volume and value, purchasing them can be expensive and difficult for companies to appear on the first page of sponsored search results. Companies spend tons of money securing head keywords with the hopes that it will help bring traffic to their website, but when that's not the case these companies lose out and are nowhere to be found on the search engines. Blogging remedies that by supporting a search engine optimization best practice.
A search engine optimization best practice is to focus on long-tail keywords (phrases of 3-5 words moderately searched for) as opposed to head keywords. To carry out this best practice successfully, blogging is recommended. In writing blog entries, companies can make specific long-tail keywords and its variations the focus, making it easier for search engines to pick up the usage of those words when they crawl your site. As an example, a long tail keyword for Thomas could be custom industrial website design services among many others. In writing a blog focusing on this long-tail keyword and including its variations, we will increase our chances of ranking higher on search engines at no extra cost. The only cost is time to write the blog but that pays for itself as blogs have an infinite lifespan. That is really the beauty and convenience of blogs; they never stop working for you.
Why You Shouldn't Wait to Blog
Trends suggest that blogging will grow exponentially. More companies will catch on that blogging is extremely beneficial for their business. As a component of the social media program, we at Thomas have created blogging services that make it easy for your company to start ranking on search engines, become industry thought leaders, and increase lead generation.
Making your company accessible and easy to find online is more important than ever; waiting doesn't make it happen.
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