10 Benefits of Blogging for Long Term Business Growth
*Disclosure - this post contains some affiliate links. This means that if you click on my link and then go on to make a purchase, I will receive a small amount of commission at no additional cost to you.
Blogging is the act of creating content in the form of writing, photographs, or other media and publishing it online. Small businesses can use blogging as a digital marketing strategy to be found organically by their target audience. When done correctly, blogging brings long term results to a business. There are so many advantages to blogging, but in order for it to be successful as a marketing strategy, new content must be published regularly.
10 Benefits of Blogging for Service Providers
Increase traffic to your website
A typical service provider’s website consists of the same handful of pages (Homepage, About, Services, Contact), which gives their audience the information they need in order to decide if the service is for them and how to make a booking. However, it doesn’t provide much opportunity to be found organically. There is nothing on those standard web pages that stands out to search engines more than the competition.
Adding a blog to your website allows you to publish additional content to your website which will generate more traffic over time. Blogging about topics that your ideal customer is likely to be searching for on Google gives you a higher chance of being found organically.
Providing quality content and answering questions that your ideal customers are already asking will bring your ideal customers to your website.
2. Build authority in your industry
Blogging allows you to showcase your expertise in your industry and build trust with your audience. It’s difficult to convey all your knowledge and skills on a standard 4 page website, but every blog post is a new opportunity to go in depth on a very specific topic in your industry. If your target customer finds the answer to their question in your blog, they will likely be back to your blog when they have more questions, and your blog will become the go-to resource. They are also more likely to pay for your services in the future if they trust that you are the expert in your field.
3. Build an engaged audience
Adding a blog to your website also adds the opportunity for conversation to be brought to your website. By allowing your audience to leave comments on your blog posts and share your blog posts on their social media channels, you are encouraging them to engage with your content. Building a community around your business in this way is invaluable. If you have an audience of people who want to interact with you and your content, they will be much more receptive when you launch a new service or offer.
4. Educate your audience and answer common questions
A blog allows you to educate your audience about best practices, industry trends and other relevant topics. Educating your audience empowers them to make informed decisions which will lead to better satisfaction and loyalty to your brand.
A blog can also serve as a platform to answer common questions or concerns that your audience may have. By publishing posts such as FAQs or “How to…” posts, your blog will be a valuable support resource that you can refer your paying customers to, which will in turn reduce the time you spend on customer service.
5. Helps you repurpose content for other marketing channels
As an online service provider, you need to promote your business online. Sharing the link to a website that doesn’t have any fresh content published on it isn’t going to keep people interested. However, if you publish a blog post on your website regularly, you can repurpose the content from that blog post and create up to date content for your other marketing channels. Here are some ways you can do this:
Share the link to your blog post on social media
Share the link to your blog post in your email marketing newsletter
Make a YouTube video based on the blog post content
Record a podcast based on the blog post content
Make several pieces on short form content, e.g TikTok videos and Instagram carousels by taking chunks from your blog post for each piece.
6. Build additional revenue streams
Blogging will allow you to not only promote your own services or products, but also bring in additional revenue. By using blogging as a platform for affiliate marketing, you can promote other people’s products and services and include a link which will earn you commission if a member of your audience buys using that link. To maximise your earnings through affiliate marketing, find products or services that your audience are interested in and write reviews or tutorials for products you are affiliated with.
Christy Price’s course Make Money With Your Blog* is a great starting point if you want to start monetising your blog but don’t know where to start.
7. Improves your website SEO
A static website with the standard 4-5 pages is limiting for SEO. You are confined to just a handful of keywords, which are going to be competitive as other businesses in your industry are likely to be using the same keywords on their websites.
Each new blog post provides an opportunity to add in a new keyword that your target audience is likely to be searching for. This means that each new blog post is an opportunity to rank high on search engine results and be found by your ideal customer. When blog posts are published on a regular basis, over time you will have multiple posts that not only educate your audience, display your expertise, but also bring in your ideal clients to you organically without you having to actively search for them.
Search engines also give preference to websites that are updated regularly, and publishing new blog posts is a great way to update your website with fresh content.
8. Unlocks opportunities for partnerships
An active blog can attract the attention of other businesses or individuals who are looking for opportunities that could be beneficial to you both. For example, if you were a wedding planner, you may attract the attention of a wedding photographer who asks you to write a blog post for their website. When that blog post goes live the wedding photographer’s audience will be made aware of your brand. Likewise, your audience will be made aware of the wedding photographer’s brand. A wedding planner and wedding photographer share similar ideal customers so this opportunity benefits you both.
The possibilities for partnerships are endless, and an active blog can help you network in this way.
9. You own the content
Creating content for a blog is creating content for a space on the internet that YOU own. Most spaces on the internet are similar to renting. Although it may seem easier to create an Instagram post than to write a 1500-3000 word blog, the reality is that you do not own that Instagram post. If Instagram decides to shut down your account, or if Instagram is down for a few hours (it has happened!) your Instagram post is not likely to be seen by anybody.
However, YOU are in control of your own website. You decide which keywords you are targeting, rather than social media deciding who they will show it to. You own the content for life, and as your blog grows it will help you build your brand for years and years to come.
10. Blogging compounds over time
The more content you publish, the more authority you build in your industry. A blog may not bring back much return in the first year. But a couple of years in, it could be responsible for a significant percentage of your sales. The longer you stay consistent with blogging, the easier it becomes to keep compounding over time.
Benefits of Blogging - The Bottom Line
Blogging consistently is one of the best strategies for long term, sustainable growth. There are so many benefits of blogging, from educating your audience, to positioning yourself as the authority in your field, to creating content that will serve you for years to come.
You can also earn money directly from your blog. I took the Make Money With Your Blog* course by Christy Price before I got started with blogging. It is tailored to Squarespace users and walks you through how to set up a blog in Squarespace, how to search for keywords and how to keep going long term.
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