Having a blog on your website is becoming more and more important for SEO. Google gives preference to websites that have lots of content and not having one often results in inferior rankings to those websites that do publish regular blog posts.
Why you need a blog
There are many reasons to start a blog and many benefits of having one. People start blogs to create awareness on particular subjects, interact with their audience, or even as a hobby. Today, with their growing popularity, people and companies are generating income from their blogs. Here are some other benefits of having a blog:
1. Improves Search Engine Optimisation
Search engines are always looking for new and helpful content to provide to their users. Blog posts are a great way to provide regular content. When you blog, you provide fresh content for search engines such as Google to index. You also get the chance to insert strategic keywords to ramp up your visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
2. Keeps your website fresh
Google never wants to respond to its users with stale information. Regularly updating your website with new content shows Google that your site is active. It also gives the search engine algorithms more reason to rank your webpage highly. This helps keep your website on its radar for a more extended period.
3. Captures your visitors’ attention
If a user searches for something on Google, clicks a link, and returns to the search engine shortly after, Google notices it. To Google, this means that the information on that website was not helpful to the user. But, with a blog post on your website, users are more likely to stay on your website longer, unlike in a website with far less text or information. Google will also notice this and this could contribute to higher rankings.
4. Provides an opportunity to incorporate long-tail keywords
SEO is a highly competitive field. Long-tail keywords are crucial for every SEO strategy because most searches are for phrases that consist of four words or more. These phrases can be challenging to incorporate into your company website. Targeting these long-tail keywords in your blog posts improves your visibility on the SERPs.
5. Improves the user experience
User satisfaction is a crucial aspect of SEO because it plays a prominent role in how your website ranks on SERPs. Unlike regular website content, blog posts provide users with a unique user experience. Companies can become innovative with their blogs and the materials they create to improve this experience. For instance, making an infographic blog is one such way to be creative with your blog. These types of blogs are alluring to users and encourage revisits.
6. Allows you to answer your customers’ questions
Having a blog gives an edge to your website because of the aspect of interaction. In business, you rarely get the chance to discuss a prospective customer’s concerns. Most business websites provide customers with all the information they need, but they do it in a one-way fashion. There is usually no room to pose questions, make comments on content, or start a conversation. By creating a blog and responding to inquiries from your potential customers, you give them a chance to speak to you. This is an effective way to boost not only your sales but also your user engagement metrics.
7. You get many indexed pages
A website with a consistent blogging strategy can soon have better indexing on Google search engine results. Search engines always aim to provide truthful and trustworthy results to users. Larger website pages seem to meet this criterion, but a strategic blogging schedule comes in handy even with a smaller website.
8. It helps you grow your email database
Email marketing remains a viable marketing strategy. However, getting people to sign up is not always easy. This is where having a blog is very helpful. It keeps your company at the forefront of your audience’s minds and reinforces the importance of staying informed. People are more likely to trust your email newsletters if they perceive your blog to be educative, relevant, and engaging. Remember to include internal links both in your blog posts and newsletters to entice people to sign up. This improves your blog’s promotional activities, new products, as well as business updates.
9. Creates an opportunity for internal linking
Internal links are links that go from one page to another on the same domain. Their primary role is to help the users navigate through the website. They also assist in establishing an information hierarchy on a particular website. Unlike inbound linking, you have control over internal linking. This creates an opportunity for you to incorporate as many as possible into your blog posts as they assist in site navigation and directing visitors to the essential pages of your website.
10. It improves your brand online
In addition to learning more about a particular subject, writing a blog portrays your knowledge and expertise in your field. This makes you more recognisable by the online community, stamping your authority in your business niche, which in turn builds your brand.
11. It helps you in networking
Having a blog introduces you to a vast online community. Some of these blogging communities occasionally organize meet-ups and conferences where you can interact and form new networks. You can then use these new interactions to share each other’s content which will help in increasing your blog’s visibility.
12. Improves your social media visibility
We are in the era of social media, and online traffic is bigger than ever. This increased traffic has enormous potential, waiting to be tapped into. If you write original and valuable content, your audience is more likely to share it through social media platforms. This will market your website and generate new leads. Basically, your blog’s audience becomes your unpaid marketing team.
Parting shot: Why you need a blog
In the current digital marketing era, the value of blogging for business enterprises cannot be overstated. Despite the emergence of creative tools to promote brand visibility and endorse your services, the benefits a blog brings to your business are still immeasurable.