When it comes to marketing your business, there are many ways to achieve success. Just as importantly, not all of these methods have to cost a lot of money. You may not have thought of a blog as being an integral element of your online business, but it represents a tremendous way for businesses to engage and interact with their customers, prospects, business partners, media, etc. With a blog, you get to set the agenda, and you can show that your business has a personality and style.
In this regard, it is important to ensure that your blog is located on your website. One of the biggest reasons for this relates to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Providing fresh and relevant content on your site will help to push it up the search engine rankings and will make it easier for people to find out what is on offer at your site. If you are keen to be found by as many people as possible, creating a blog is one of the most cost-effective ways of marketing your business.
When people think about their blogs, they can often get caught up on the length of each post. This can create the wrong mindset. It is not about creating the right length of the blog post; it is about the quality of a blog post. With an SEO focus, there is an argument about creating a blog post in excess of 400 words to please Google and search engines but if you don’t need 400 words to say what you have to say, then don’t.
Focus on the quality as opposed to quantity of your blog
Your blog posts should be effective and if you can be concise, do so. Think about how people are accessing the internet these days. More and more people access the internet through smartphones and tablets. They don’t want to scroll through page after page if they don’t need to. Blogs should be as short or as long as they have to be, but if what you are trying to say can be said efficiently, do so. You should also look to break up the blog with images, video content, and even bullet points. The format and layout of your blog can have a positive impact on how readable your blog is. Your blog is not just there for search engines – remember it is there for your customers, prospects, business partners, media, etc.
While your blog can (and indeed should) be used to promote your business and to direct customers to potential solutions to their problems, a business blog cannot be just about sales. If you are able to write about the industry or relevant topics and problems and then link deftly to your business, by all means, do so. However, you need to find a balance. This means that sometimes it’s ok to create a blog post that is just of interest as opposed to being a promotional tool; it is in your best interest to do so. Constantly bombarding readers with sales promotions can be off-putting, and it can often lead to people being bored or unimpressed with your brand. Your blog should be a good read which doesn’t solely focus on the promotional benefits.
However, most people would assume that a business blog would be linked to a business in some way. Hosting the blog on your site is not just great for SEO purposes; it provides relevancy. If you offer good content and make sure that there are links on the page, interested customers will go off and search on your own. Through the use of analytical tools, you can find out the ways people land on your blog, and you can track their progress through the site. If visitors end up heading to a particular product or part of your site after reading a blog post, perhaps think about creating a blog post that will direct more people in that direction. Conversely, if you would rather people visit another part of your site, write a blog piece pushing them in that direction.
Marketing your business can be a big task, but blogging can be a cost-effective and efficient way to do so.
Moxee Marketing is a London-based digital marketing agency. We help our clients, whether based in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the globe, meet and exceed their digital goals and objectives across various channels.
