B2C companies that blog get 88% more leads/month than those who don’t.
Internet business blogging has become serious business for amateurs and professionals alike; proof that content marketing is one of the the hottest trends in marketing (and will only continue to grow). Simply put, many businesses see high ROI from blogging and it creates traffic, leads, and keeps your business front and center with customers.
Active Business Blogging Draws in 6.9 Times More Organic Search Traffic.
Source: Hubspot, Feb 01, 2010
Why Blog? Does it Work?
Business blogging helps you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The more blog posts you publish, the more pages you create for search engines to display in their results. So, business blogging helps you rank in search engines and get found when people search for industry-specific products or services. In summary, the blog enables you to attract organic traffic and familiarize people with your business.
Nearly 40% of US companies use blogs for marketing purposes.
Let’s look at Starbucks, for example. They have a very solid (and influential) social media campaign, which includes a highly engaged blog which helps build customer relationships and get instant feedback when they release new products.
Other examples are General Electric and Southwest Airlines. These companies have strong internet business blogs which engage their customers, earn trust, and provide relevant and helpful information to readers (and their posts are entertaining).
The bottom line for blogging is: Make sure you are offering value to your reader with your opinion and insight.
Frequency Matters
Most businesses these days do have a blog, and even some posts published, but most of them aren’t truly harnessing the potential of their blog because they aren’t blogging weekly (or sometimes even monthly).
Regular, weekly blogging shows a greater ROI, much better than publishing every other month. It is time to ramp up your business blog and start seeing some serious results by blogging weekly–and it doesn’t have to be a strain of time or resources, either!
Businesses who blog often are seeing 55% more visitors to their website. Businesses who blog weekly also see 1.12 times more referrals.
Businesses who blog regularly—as in, five posts within seven days—are seeing over 6.9 times more organic search traffic.
Keyword Focused Blogging
Blogging is affordable and relatively easy to add to your marketing mix. is the best way to drive search engine traffic. Researching industry specific keywords and creating a keyword focused blogging schedule are essential ways to attract more traffic.
Create Contextual Calls to Action in Your Posts
Placing calls-to-action (CTAs) in the sidebar of your blog and at the top and/or bottom of posts is a great way to generate leads. Read more about creating effective calls to action here.
Finding Content to Blog About
One of the boggest challenges businesses face is finding content to write about. Here are some popular starting points for a blog:
- Answer popular customer questions
- Discuss industry trends
- Compare services or products in your industry
- Interview experts (from your organization or your industry)
- Repackage / update content you have already created
- Create a Keyword list and brainstorm blog post titles
It’s more than just setting up a blog and calling it a day, a business blog must be managed just like any other marketing. Blogging needs the attention and budget that in the past was given to print ad campaigns or TV spots.Your blogging schedule needs to be planned, implemented, and reviewed regularly; tweaking any “weak spots” in the campaign and adjusting as needed is key.
If your business needs website traffic, leads, and new customers and you are not already actively blogging weekly, it’s time to start!
