Blog your way to business success – here’s how

Blog your way to business success – here’s how!

The online space is ALL important for business success.

Why?

Here are some stats from Australia to help paint the picture for you:

• 81% of people research online before making a purchase.
• 50% of Australians log on to Facebook every day and 15 million Aussies are active on Facebook each month.
• Almost 6 million Australians use WordPress each month.

Why a static website isn’t enough

Most businesses understand they need a website. They pay the dollars and get one … but your website needs to be found, otherwise, it is close to useless.  It needs to appear on the first page of Google; preferably in one of the top six positions, ideally in the top three.

Most people are unsure how to improve their position on Google. That’s where business blogging has plenty of answers.

Fast Fact: Every time you write a blog post, it’s one more indexed page on your website, which means it’s one more opportunity for you to show up in search engines and drive traffic to your website in organic search. (HubSpot, 2015)

Regular, quality blogging will:

1. Get you found on Google

One of the BEST ways to achieve a top spot on Google is by regular blogging.

The reason is simple: Google wants to provide the most relevant information to every search. Google’s algorithms work hard to track up-to-date, relevant content for its users. By blogging regularly and using relevant keywords, you are sending a clear message to Google. Google will reward your efforts with a better position on the page.

Fast Fact: Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning your website as a relevant answer to your customers’ questions. (HubSpot, 2018)

2. Increase your reach

Blogging also helps you get discovered via social media.

Fast Fact: Every time you blog, you are creating content for people to share on their social networks – which helps get you in front of an audience you have never even met. (HubSpot,2015)

If you provide regular, highly engaging and informative blogs you will gain an audience. People will read your blogs and share them with their network. Good blogs are shared far and wide.

That’s how social media magic happens.

The sharing begins and over time you gain an ever-increasing audience. An audience that will click on the links on your blog and go to your website!

3. Drive traffic to your website

You will absolutely get more traffic to your website as a result of consistent, quality blogs.

Sharing blogs to social media strengthens your reach. People will visit your website from your blog if persuaded with interesting information or offers.

Fast Fact: Social media is now the #1 driver of all website referral traffic. As of December 2014, 31.24% of all referral traffic was from social media; compare this to the 22.71% from the same period in the previous year (Forbes, 2015).

4. Help you make sales

Whatever product/s you are selling, or whatever service you are offering, relationships and trust will increase your hit rate. Blogging builds both.

Your regular readers will come to feel like they know you. As you continue to serve them up helpful information, they will learn that they can trust you and rely on your knowledge.

Fast Fact: According to the Content Marketing Institute, this is “…a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Providing great blogs is a gift to your readers and they will sometimes reward you by purchasing from you.

5. Position you as an expert

A well-written, informative blog will build trust in you and your services. Information-rich blogs help position you as an authority in your industry.

As your audience begins to experience you providing solutions to their problems, you may become their go-to person when they need answers.

Fast Fact: Having a blog enables you to share valuable content, whether in written or video format, on a regular basis. As you publish and promote your content online, you will gradually begin to position yourself as an expert on the topics that you focus on. (Basu, Lifestyle Business, 2018)

In a nutshell

It works like this: your blog sits on your website (providing SEO). Your blog can be shared on social media increasing your reach and driving your audience to your website. Your blog gains your trust from your audience leading to sales and helping to position you as an authority in your field.

Fast Fact: Blogging businesses experience 126% higher lead growth than non-blogging businesses. (HubSpot, 2017)

Now you understand why blogging is so important, let’s look at how to get started.

Tips to get you started – 9 steps to success

1. Begin. This may sound obvious but this is the most important step. Set a time, sit yourself down, and begin.

2. Choose a topic. Think about your business and what it offers. Think about the problems you solve every day for your clients.  Choose a topic related to your business and make it something that your readers will find helpful. If you sell shoes, for instance, write an article about how to get a correct shoe fitting, or how to care for leather, or the latest design trends, or the best shoe styles for leg support or …

3. Do some research. Check out what’s online to see what content is out there. This will help give you an idea of what is popular and what people are wanting to know. It will also give you some ‘meat’ to add to your blogs. Find facts and figures and professional advice. Remember, always acknowledge the source of information you use.

4. Write. Sit down and write. Aim for 300 plus words – this is the number of words recommended by WordPress for good SEO outcomes. Don’t edit while you are writing. Just let it flow. Don’ t question yourself, no second-guessing. Just write until you are finished.

5. Edit. This is where you finetune what you have written. Check spelling, grammar, sentence flow, length of paragraphs (paras should be short for blogs). Cut out anything that doesn’t need to be there. People have limited time so keep your blog succinct and to the point. Get someone else to look over it if you can.

6. Add keywords. Choose keywords for your blog. Keywords are terms that will help your blog get found. You should use your keywords in headings – at least one – and also in the first paragraph of your blog. Adding relevant keywords will help your SEO. Don’t stuff the blog with keywords or you may be penalised by Google. Instead, use the words in a way that flows naturally.

7. Add images. Images create interest and help break up blocks of text. Add captions too.

8. Add categories and tags. Your blog template will have a space for these. The category should be the main subject and tags can be any sub-topics covered by your blog. These help your blog get found.

9. Publish and share your blog on your social media.

Consistency is the key – how to stay motivated

Keep going. Mark your calendar with blog days and make sure you create a blog on those days. Set realistic goals.

In between times, collect ideas from magazines, online articles, questions from your clients etc.

Think about blogging as your way of contributing, of helping make someone’s life easier. If your blog post helps one person, then it’s worth publishing. Concentrate on giving rather than getting and offer your best, most passionate advice on your blog.

Be yourself. Develop your own voice. Stay true to your values and the values of your business. Be authentic.

Remember, you definitely have a message, some knowledge that, when shared, will help make the world a better place.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about blogging, I’d love to hear from you. Please post any questions or thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll get right back to you. Please feel free to share a link to your blog too.

Bottom line: blogging works.