The Benefits of Blogging for Small Businesses Success: How to Get Started
How Blogging Drives Traffic, Boosts Sales, and Grows Your Business: A Crucial Element in Your Marketing Strategy.
Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions:
How is blogging used for my business?
How important is blogging for SEO?
Do I even need a blog for my business?
How do I start a blog?
If so, you’ve landed on the right article.
This guide covers all you need to know about the benefits of blogging for your business. And then walks you through a simple plan for getting started.
What Is a Blog?
Benefits of Blogging for Your Small Business.
Why Blogging is Important for SEO?
How to Maximize the Value of a Single Blog Post for Your Content Marketing Strategy.
Hiring a Copywriter to Amplify Your Blogging Strategy.
As a professional copywriter and marketing strategist, I leverage the power of blogging to:
Build Brand Awareness and Improve Customer Relationships: Consistent blogging enhances your brand’s visibility and allows small businesses to connect with customers more effectively.
Boost SEO and Drive Traffic: A blog strategically written for search engines improves ranking and drives qualified leads to your website.
Establish Credibility and Authority: Blogging sets you up as an industry leader and creates opportunities for content repurposing across other platforms.
Stop content with no results. Schedule a FREE Strategy Call with me today. Walk away with effective strategies to improve your marketing efforts. Learn how a blog can grow your business and get you in front of your ideal customers.
Let’s begin by defining what a blog is.
What Is a Blog?
Blogging is creating articles with photos, graphs, or other relevant content and publishing it on a website.
Characteristics of a blog include:
Informal and conversational language
Laid-back tone
Regular posts and updates
How-to guides, tips, and lifehacks
Plenty of engagement with readers
There are many types of blogs people have. Let’s go over a few common categories.
1. Personal.
Personal blogs act as a journal or diary. They let you share your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and life online.
Advantages of personal blogging include:
Creates opportunities for public speaking, guest blogging, or writing a book
Connects you with other like-minded people
Builds a personal brand and community
Sharing your challenges and successes allows you to give support, advice, and inspiration to others.
2. Niche.
Niche blogs focus on a specific topic or genre to attract a target audience.
While personal blogs can cover several topics, niche blogs have a narrower focus. These blogs establish you as an expert in a field. Your content is tailored to your audience’s interests, behaviors, and preferences.
Advantages of niche blogging include:
Establishes yourself as an expert in your niche
Allows you to write content based on your audience’s needs and interests
Builds a following of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer
Niche blogs can be anything from food and travel to parenting and home organizing. They let you explore your favorite topic and connect with other enthusiasts.
3. Educational.
Educational blogs, aka edublogs, are used for teaching purposes.
Consider this type of blog as a digital classroom for online learners. Educators, researchers, or academic professionals write educational blogs to support continued learning for teachers and students.
Advantages of educational blogging include:
Provides instructional resources to help students learn
Creates a shared space for teachers and students to collaborate
Encourages students to think critically, problem-solve, and reflect on their learning
Edublogs can cover any subject and open the door for further learning to anyone with internet access.
4. Professional.
Think of a professional blog as the storefront for your business in the digital world.
It differs from personal and niche blogs because it’s a marketing strategy focused on getting more online traction for your business. A professional blog supports your bigger business growth and goals.
Advantages of professional blogging include:
Drives traffic to your website
Repurposes content for other marketing platforms
Converts website traffic into leads
A professional blog establishes your authority by creating high-value content that answers common readers' questions.
5. Business.
A business blog is similar to a professional blog. It acts as a storefront in a digital world and plays a role in a company’s digital marketing strategy.
It’s a place for a business to build customer relationships by publishing high-value articles, guides, outlines, and informational content.
Advantages of business blogging include:
Builds brand awareness and communicates its values
Showcases your business as an authority and expertise in a field
Scales your business by generating leads and increasing website traffic
Professional and business blogs often share similar characteristics but differ slightly.
Similarities between professional and business blogs.
Provide High-Quality Content: Both types of blogs prioritize valuable and informative content. They focus on connecting with an audience and building credibility.
Incorporate Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Using SEO strategies in a blog improves visibility and search engine rankings. Both blogs use these tactics to help attract qualified, organic traffic.
Rely on Consistency: Both blogs rely on consistently posting quality content to be successful. This keeps readers interested and helps improve search engine rankings.
Audience Engagement: Professional and business blogs create a shared community. This makes interacting with readers easy.
This table helps clarify how they differ.
For the remainder of this article, the focus is on business blogs.
Benefits of Blogging for Your Small Business.
As of 2023, an estimated 5.4 billion people worldwide use the internet. (1).
That’s a lot of potential customers waiting and wanting to find you. And blogging is a fantastic strategy to make that happen.
If you aren’t already blogging, these benefits will motivate you to start today.
1. Drives Traffic to Your Website.
Isn’t that the whole point of a website – to bring in the people?
How can people find you if they don’t know about you? One way is through a blog optimized for search engines (like Google).
Showing up at the top of search results depends on how well your website ranks for specific keywords. Writing content around highly searched keywords lets search engines rank your pages more accurately.
Google has bots that crawl and index a website to understand what it’s about and rank it. The keywords and the number of pages on your website impact ranking. The more pages with valuable keywords, the more opportunities for ranking..
And when more people find your website on search engines, the more organic traffic it gets.
2. Builds Your Email List.
77% of internet users read blogs(2). Using your blog to capture email addresses is a great way to build a subscriber list
Your business blog should be engaging and provide high-value content. But most of all, have a clear call to action, such as “Join Our Weekly Email for More Tips.”
A well-written blog helps potential customers get to know your brand and builds trust. This makes readers more likely to join your email list. Once they’re on your list, you can nurture the relationship through consistent emails.
Eventually, this turns that lead into a customer.
3. Provide Content for Repurposing.
Creating fresh content for social media marketing is time-consuming, exhausting, and challenging.
That’s where blogging is a lifesaver.
Every new blog can be reused on each of your social media channels. This helps increase your social media presence and drives new visitors to your website.
A single blog can be reused as infographics and posted to Instagram or Pinterest. Take key points and create visually appealing infographics summarizing your article. Or create an engaging video script from your blog and post it on Facebook and YouTube.
People share content from brands they deem trustworthy. Blogging is a powerful way to create shareable and credible content.
Each time your content is shared, your brand’s trustworthiness increases. Since 81% of people say they buy from businesses with trustworthy brands (3), investing in high-quality blog content is worth the expense.
4. Establishes Your Authority.
A well-thought-out blog establishes you as an authority in your industry. It sets you apart from competitors by positioning you as the go-to resource provider.
It’s not enough to just post random thoughts and ideas. Each blog should provide valuable information and expertise.
Strategically using your blog to answer common customer questions positions you as the solution to their problems. Well-organized, targeted content ensures your business appears on search results at the exact time and place when your potential customers are searching for your product or service.
How-to guides, product reviews, FAQs, case studies, and industry trends make fantastic blog posts to establish your authority.
Know your audience’s needs, questions, obstacles, and pain points. Then create relevant content that speaks to those.
Consistently posting well-researched, high-value content puts you in a position with your audience as a source they can trust.
5. Sets the Stage For Long-Term Success.
Your website should be your hardest-working employee. And it can be when you use blogging as a marketing strategy.
A single blog can snowball and gain traction over time.
Let’s break that down a little.
Consistently writing and publishing new blogs grows your content library. With each new blog, the depth of your website’s content expands.
As a result, your website becomes more valuable to visitors and search engines.
Writing and publishing new articles consistently grows your content library. With more blogs published the depth of your website’s content grows.
As a result, your website becomes more valuable for visitors and search engines.
Producing blogs that include highly searched-for keywords lets you cover a wider range of topics relevant to your audience. Each blog published increases the chance of your website ranking for these popular keywords. This results in more visitors to your website.
Over time, a single blog post builds on itself, creating cumulative traffic growth. This builds your authority and boosts your website’s visibility on search engine results pages.
This brings us to a crucial topic in the world of blogging – SEO.
Blogging and SEO: Why It’s Important and How to Do It.
Search engine optimization (SEO) uses several strategies to improve how well a website ranks on search engine result pages (SERPs).
The objective of SEO is to improve a website’s ranking in search engines.
You do this by creating content that applies to queries people type into search engines like Google and Bing. A higher ranking on SERPs means a website is more visible. When it’s visible, more people see it and click on it.
There are two ways to drive traffic to a website.
This first is through organic website traffic. Organic traffic is any traffic on your website that isn’t paid for. It is earned organically (free) by using SEO strategies.
The second kind is paid traffic.
This is when a company pays for people to visit their website. A visitor lands on your website because they clicked on an advertisement you paid for.
While paid traffic might get you quicker results, organic traffic provides sustainable results.
That’s because organic traffic doesn’t depend on you spending money on ads to get visitors. Organic traffic focuses on creating high-value content relevant to what people are looking for in search engines.
And since organic traffic accounts for over 53% of website traffic (3), incorporating SEO techniques into your marketing strategy is worth the time and effort.
Here are a few things to consider as you turn your blog into a sales-driven powerhouse with SEO.
Keyword Research.
These are phrases or topics that outline what your blog content is about. For SEO purposes, keywords are the common words and phrases people type into search engines.
Keyword research can be overwhelming, but tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest help find keywords related to your industry and audience.
A strong keyword shares a few attributes, including:
Relevancy: They match the intent and needs of your target audience
Search Volume: High search volume means lots of people are searching for this phrase
Competition: Low to moderate competition keywords are easier to rank for
Intention: Take into consideration commercial, local, and user intent when searching for keywords
Evergreen Potential: Trends or seasonal interest keywords are good, but don’t forget ones that aren’t tied to a specific time of year
Focus on long-tail keywords – longer, more specific phrases. These are easier to rank for and match closely with what users search for.
For example, a keyword might be “meditation” and the long tail keyword is “mental health benefits of daily meditation.”
Optimize Blog Post Titles.
How important is your blog post title in connection with SEO?
Super important. And here’s why:
When Google bots crawl and index your website pages, the words in your title carry more weight compared to the rest of the post. SEO titles tell search engines what your page is about. They also confirm your content is relevant to what people are searching for.
A few ways to optimize your blog post title include:
Use numbers, lists, and how-to
Know your audience
A/B test
Incorporate vivid and descriptive language
Ask a question or make a promise
For best results, include your main keyword in your title and keep it under 60 characters. A well-optimized title is engaging and gives the reader a clear idea of what the blog is about.
Publish High-Quality Content.
Quality over quantity wins when it comes to writing blogs.
High-quality, educational, useful, and engaging content will likely be shared and earn backlinks. Both help improve your website's ranking in search engine results pages.
High quality can be vague. Some tips and guidelines to follow when creating valuable content include:
Ask for Audience Feedback: Comments, surveys, or direct messages from your audience provide insights into the quality of your content.
Content Depth: Ensure your content is comprehensive and delivers in-depth info and answers.
Consistency and Cohesiveness: Keep a consistent tone of voice and style throughout your blog pieces so your brand is recognizable to readers.
The most valuable content is well-researched, targeted to your audience, easy to read, and provides an original thought or perspective.
Format Using Headings and Subheadings.
Formatting your blog is structuring your content to highlight the main points and enhance readability.
A well-formatted blog improves the user experience. If users find your blog easy to read and understand, they’ll spend more time on your page. This positions you as a credible source to search engines.
Proper formatting also helps with SEO.
Use H1 for your main title, H2 for section titles, and H3 for subheading titles. This makes your content organized and easy to read. Include your keywords where appropriate in your headings and subheadings.
Other ways to format your blog for SEO purposes include:
Make it easy to read for the skimmer
Add a table of contents
Make your CTA easy to spot
Bold or italicize important info
Go easy with exclamation points
Proper formatting makes it easier for users and search engine bots to understand your content.
Optimize Meta Descriptions.
A meta description is an HTML tag that summarizes what your webpage is about.
Think of it as a small sneak peek of what someone can expect to find on your page. They’re typically around 160 characters long and appear in SERPs under the page title.
Because meta descriptions are one of the first things users see when searching for something, optimizing them for SEO is important. Make sure to include your focus keyword.
Other tips for writing successful meta descriptions include:
Avoid using the same meta description on multiple pages
Take into consideration why the user should click on your link
Use action-oriented language and an active voice
Make sure it matches the content on your webpage
Include a call to action
The best meta description appeals to users and encourages them to click on your link and read your content.
Use Internal and External Links.
Internal links connect various pages within your website. External links connect your web pages externally to other websites.
Internal linking is important for SEO because it helps search engines find, index, and understand the pages on your website. They create an infrastructure with your content. Linking to other relevant posts on your website is a way to keep users engaged and make them more likely to become customers.
External links, also called outbound links, are hyperlinks that take readers from your website to another.
External linking is important for SEO because it gives your content credibility, improves user experience, and helps search engines understand your content. It also drives referral traffic back to your website.
Incorporating internal and external linking takes time and effort, but it’s a great SEO strategy for improving your website’s ranking power.
Regularly Update Your Content.
Continue to improve your search engine rankings by updating your content often.
Search engines like Google love new content that’s relevant to the reader. Regularly updating older blogs with keywords, new information, or a better user experience increases your chances of ranking higher in SERPs.
A few ways to update your content include:
Add new industry insights, trends, or statistics that have emerged
Break up long paragraphs into smaller, easier-to-digest sections
Incorporate internal and external links
Check to make sure you don’t have any broken links
Update your calls-to-action to include current offers, services,
Make sure your blogs are optimized for mobile use
Even I, a professional copywriter, take time to update my content. I regularly breathe new life into old blogs to improve their SEO performance and drive more traffic to my website.
How to Maximize the Value of a Single Blog Post for Your Content Marketing Strategy.
As previously mentioned, the greatest benefit of consistent blogging is the ability to repurpose it across all social media platforms.
Repurposing blogs for your content marketing strategy saves you time as well as:
Increases Your Reach: You reach more people across more platforms when you have content readily available.
Improves Your SEO: Repurposed content creates multiple points of entry for search engines to crawl and index your content, which improves your SEO.
Saves You Money: Whether you hire a professional copywriter or write the blog yourself, get the most bang for your buck by repurposing it effectively.
65% of marketers agree it’s more cost-effective to repurpose content than constantly creating new blogs (4).
So how do you do that?
Here’s an easy-to-follow outline taking you from writing the blog publishing it, and then repurposing it across other channels.
Step One: Find Your Keywords
Identify your blog’s main topic and keep it relevant to your niche, industry, and audience
Use keyword research tools to find the right keywords
Select a primary keyword, such as “Sleep Training”
Select a long-tail keyword, such as “No cry it out sleep training tips”
Step Two: Create an Outline
Include a title with the primary keyword
Use headings and subheadings that incorporate the keywords
Organize your main points under each heading
Add a CTA in the intro and conclusion
Find reputable resources, statistics, and external links for research and credibility
Step Three: Write the Blog Post
Write detailed paragraphs for each main point
Add keywords naturally into the text
Ensure every sentence adds value
Keep sentence structure clear and concise
Optimize for SEO
Step Four: Repurpose the Blog on Social Media
Facebook: Pull a quote or tip from the blog, add an image, and include the link to the full article
X (previously Twitter): Break down the blog into a few tweets, use images and hashtags, and include a link to the full article in the final tweet
Instagram Post: Share an image or infographic connected to the blog, write a concise caption with key takeaways, include relevant hashtags, and link to the full article in your bio
Step Five: Incorporate the Blog into the Newsletter or Email Campaigns
Make your readers feel more connected by providing some context about your blog
Highlight one key takeaway from the article
Invite subscribers to click on a link to read the rest of the article
Ask your email list to share your blog, follow you on social media, or reply to the email
Step Six: Create a Video Script for YouTube or TikTok
Break the blog into smaller pieces so you have multiple videos to post
Have a strong hook that asks a question or entices your audience to learn more
Record the video using visuals and examples to illustrate the main points
Include a call to action directing viewers back to the entire blog post
Step Seven: Make an Infographic Representing the Blog’s Information or Data
Summarize the key points and tips from the blog
Create a visually appealing infographic with tools such as Canva or Piktochart
Post the infographic to your social media channels with a link to the entire blog
Include the infographic in the blog post to enhance its visual appeal
These tips will simplify your blogging efforts but won’t necessarily save you time.
If you want to maximize your time and escalate your blogging strategy, there’s an easier and more effective way.
Hiring a Copywriter to Amplify Your Blogging Strategy.
Finding the right keywords, creating a comprehensive blog, and then going the extra mile and repurposing that piece across multiple platforms to maximize your marketing efforts is a time-consuming project.
You might save money short term by DIYing your blog content, but the hidden costs can quickly outweigh the benefits in the long run.
Take a minute to think about the following hidden costs:
Time Investment: High-quality content is time-consuming. You could spend countless hours researching, drafting, and optimizing a blog. This is valuable time that takes you away from your core business responsibilities.
Quality and Expertise: Without having professional copywriting skills, your content may lack the focus needed to engage your readers effectively to drive conversions. Poorly written content can do more harm than good. And then, of course, there’s the wasted time spent writing it in the first place.
SEO Knowledge: SEO best practices are complex and ever-changing. Struggling to find the right keywords, failing to incorporate on-page SEO, and not staying up to date with algorithm changes can impact your search engine rankings. And not in a good way.
Consistency: Consistency is critical for creating a strong online presence. It’s easy to put your blog on the back burner when you have many other immediate demands. Inconsistent content updates decrease audience engagement and negatively impact your search engine visibility.
Missed Opportunities: Without professional insight, you may miss valuable opportunities to create content that aligns with current industry trends, your customer’s needs, and other strategic business goals. All of these reduce the overall effectiveness of your content marketing efforts. And potentially could end up costing you money.
But there’s a solution.
Partner with a professional copywriter and marketing strategist like myself. I have the experience, knowledge, and unique skill set in writing strategic, engaging, and SEO-optimized content.
Schedule a FREE Strategy Call with me.
Walk away with:
A professional analysis of your current content and strategies for improvement
Simple ways to improve your on-page SEO and backlink strategies
Suggestions for repurposing content across different social media platforms and marketing channels
As a business owner, you have more important things to spend your resources on than writing blog posts.
If you’re ready to amplify your blogging strategy and make the most of your content marketing efforts, schedule a call with me today. Let me elevate your blog, enhance your online presence, and grow your business.
And all you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy a few well-deserved minutes of rest while I handle the hard work.
