Blogging: when you should do it, and what you should say
Whatever line of business you’re in, having something to say about what you do communicates a lot about you and your attitude to your work. But all-too-often, website owners start a blog simply because they think they should. While this is all very well, and may even (if you’re lucky) make a difference to your bottom line, without proper planning and consideration, you could actually do your business more harm than good. Not to mention waste a lot of time you could be putting to far better use.
Surely any blogging is better than no blogging?
Actually, no. It’s a commonly-held belief that regular blogging is good for your SEO effort because it increases the incidence of keywords when built onsite, and creates inbound links when built offsite. There’s no disputing that this is true, but it’s not as simple as that. For a link or keyword to really make a difference, it needs to be clicked or read in context. In other words, fit for human consumption. As search engines mature, they’re learning to discern quality content from link and keyword bait, and they’re creating results based on this observation.
But there’s an even bigger reason why your blog should have a strategy…
There’s more to blogging than SEO
Have you ever asked yourself why you have a blog on your site, or why your blog doesn’t seem to do anything to grow your bottom line? Think about it. Why? For your blog to perform well, you must first assign it some goals. This could be to generate traffic, either by increased SERPS rankings or by directly marketing your blog. A word of warning to those who see blogging from a purely SEO angle: having keyword-rich content alone is not enough. There are better ways to use your blog.
In the quest for higher search rankings, so many businesses forget that the reason people visit the web is to read. They want to know why you’re the right choice for their needs, and why you’ll do a better job than your nearest competitor. A poor quality blog may help to generate traffic, but what happens when someone actually reads it? Keyword-stuffing, poor grammar and spelling mistakes all rapidly evaporate trust among your prospects. Wide readership of a single badly-written article among your customers could be devastating.
Write to your prospects
In keeping with the rest of your website, your blog should be aimed at your existing and potential customers. Why settle for poor quality articles for the sake of SEO when you can have well written and informative content that also has a strong eye on SEO? It’s the best of both worlds. If a prospect is reading it, they’re far more likely to click through to your offers or services if they find the article valuable and trustworthy.
Sell your expertise
Whatever your status among other businesses in your field, in the eyes of your customers you’re an expert. And this is where your blog can really start to work hard for your long-term business goals. By creating valuable content on your blog for free, you’re not only giving prospects a reason to stick around on your website, you’re setting yourself up as a trustworthy expert. Someone who’s self-assured and open enough to share their expertise for their customers’ benefits. Don’t worry about giving away ‘trade secrets’ – in reality you’re unlikely to offer anything your prospects can’t find elsewhere on the web, be it in a slightly different form. Sharing tips and information says you’re worth working with, and shows that you know your stuff. It reinforces your position as the expert. And for those who decide they’d rather hire a professional once they know what’s involved, it puts you in the frame.
Valuable content is worth sharing
And here’s the clincher. If you do a good job, your customers and readers will do the rest for you. Create an article worth sharing, and soon enough your blog will be all over your prospects’ facebook, twitter and email accounts.
So if you’re thinking of using blogging to promote your business, don’t be tempted by stories of cheap SEO success. Blogging is like everything else you do to make your business work: hard work to do well, but if done well enough, well worth the effort.
About seoblogger:
Our SEO blogger is an expert in Web Marketing, Usability and Interface Design. He has been a vital part of The Blue Cube Communications since 2003. As the West Midlands fastest growing web marketing agency, we always strive to maximise return on investment for our customers.
