Care and Feeding

Why a Blog Is Still Vital to Growing Your Business - Even in 2021

Was blogging was one of your New Year's resolutions -- last year?

With a past year unlike any other, you may question whether blog-writing is a pre-pandemic marketing practice that is now obsolete. If you are asking in order to justify your poor blogging record, we have some bad news for you.  

Blogging-as-an-income-stream is a ship that has sailed for most people because of the fierce competition among huge numbers of people creating vast amounts content. But blogging on your business website is as important as ever because it has different goals, the biggest of which are customer experience and search engine optimization. 

More than ever, folks are going online to find what they need. Consistently refreshed content using appropriate search terms helps search engines guide customers to your website. Once there, informative and engaging content about your product or service will help people make that “buy” decision. 

To get you started on the right foot, we have a few tips to share:

• Remember this blog needs to be on your business website for SEO purposes, not on a third-party platform. Don’t compete with yourself.  
• People have no time and short attention spans so you don’t need to write a lot. But you do need to write smart. Know what search terms your customers use to find you and be sure to include those words in your headline and body text. 
• Plan to publish new content at least once a month, every month. Consistency is important, especially from the human point of view. Regular updates show that you are open for business and are a reliable company.  
• Businesses often find themselves writing for their colleagues rather than their customers. Be mindful with how you use jargon, industry news, and insider information.
• People ready to make a purchase want to visualize how they personally will use the product or service. Make it easy for them to do so.
• Writing is not nearly as hard when you know what you are writing about, so keep a list of topics to choose from and you’ll never have to face that blank page. When you read an interesting article about your industry or keep hearing the same questions from your customers, take notes so you can write about it later.
• Add a graphic element, but be sure it’s an image you can legally use. If you don’t take your own photos, look for images that are in the public domain. 

If you resolved to blog in other Januarys and then lost interest after a few months, you’re not alone. Which is exactly why you should start again – and keep at it after your competition has fallen behind! Look at your website analytics from last year and set a date now to look again soon so you can see the improvement once you start blogging again. 

We certainly know what it’s like when you’re too busy to blog, so consider enlisting someone else in your organization to do the writing. Or ask us. We offer a range of SEO services, which includes blog-writing and social media posting, so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Just give us a call to talk over the options!

This article is an update to “Lies We Tell Ourselves about Blogging” dated 7/8/2013. 

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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