To Blog Or Not To Blog?
The first blog dates back to the mid-90’s and blogging hit the mainstream by the mid-2000’s. It seems that everyone has a blog these days. Or do they? So what is everyone blogging about? If you’re not blogging, you’re probably asking yourself, should I be? And you may even be thinking, I don’t even really know what a blog is… And that’s alright too! We’ve got you covered.
Let’s start off with what a Blog is and then take a deeper dive to understand why you should have one and what benefits a blog can provide, like helping drive traffic to your website.
What is a Blog?
A blog is a shortened version of “weblog,” which is a term used to describe websites that have ongoing discussions focusing on a particular topic, such as food, finances or real estate for example. They often include 3rd party information and links to other websites.
For individuals, it’s more of a diary style and used as a platform to journal. For most businesses though, it is used to provide information that is helpful, educational and informative.
At RSC Marketing, we use our blog to share industry knowledge, giving us an opportunity to showcase our expertise and educate our audience. As experts in the fields of marketing and advertising, our blog topics cover everything from best practices in social media, developing a multi-touchpoint marketing strategy, understanding your target audience, and more. By sharing relevant information about topics we live and breathe each day, it has been a great way to connect with our audience. Plus, it drives traffic to our website and improves our SEO. More on this!
It’s 2021, Why Do I Need a Blog?
Blogs are still rocking it! As long as people are still reading, then blogs will remain relevant. Companies have dedicated content marketing teams that run blogs and create juicy content on a regular basis.
Additionally, there are many benefits to having a blog on your website. The greatest benefit though, is by creating good content you are giving people a reason to visit your website more than once. Repeat visitors help grow your company’s brand awareness and the main objective of a website is to attract and convert. We are talking about sales!
How to Use it as an Engagement Tool
One of the exciting features of having a blog is engaging with your audience by allowing people to comment. Comments create an interaction between you and your audience. By allowing comments, you are starting a conversation, receiving feedback, perhaps getting tips and answering questions.
Within your blog you can also create ways to engage further with your audience. Let’s use one of RSCs recent blog posts as an example. Say you are blogging about how to create a successful marketing and advertising campaign. Within that content you can provide something valuable for your users to engage with. We provided a free checklist for them to download and use within their own organization. Check it out here!
Also good for engagement, if you are producing amazing content, people will want to share it and tell the world! Sharing your blog post exponentially increases awareness and brings visits back to your website. Psst… sales!
So How Can You Encourage People to Engage with You?
One important factor is how frequent you are posting blog articles. You don’t want to post too often and if you’re not posting enough, your users drop off, hence your comments drop off. How lengthy your blog article is can also be a factor. You don’t want to write so much that it takes your reader too much time to read. Find the balance between the two. (About 500-600 words.)
Another factor is using your social media platforms to encourage even more engagement. Publishing your blog (on your website) is just a start. Next you need to tell people about it. Let people know about your blog content on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and via email with ongoing posts that promote your blog topic and again, bring traffic back to your website. Content is King!
There are other simple things you can do to encourage engagement such as offering readers something helpful for free, asking a question and responding to comments.
Overall, the formula is pretty straight forward, in order to get more engagement you need to grow your audience!
Blogging is Good for SEO!
People search the internet every day for solutions to a specific problem. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, improves your chances of showing up in these results. Websites and blogs that provide consistently, reliable information will rank higher in search engine results. It’s hard to show up in search results but you can increase your visibility simply by starting a blog.
Blogging is good for SEO for a number of reasons. Here are a few to mention:
It Updates Your Website. By adding new content to your website on a regular basis, like a blog, it shows the Google algorithm that your website isn’t outdated and you remain current.
Keywords. Search engines are constantly scanning the content of your website, which is called Search Engine Crawling. Your blog is a great way to provide strategic keywords that people use to search for different services.
Keep People on Your Website. Blogs require reading and can keep people on your website for up to 7 minutes. The longer you can keep people on your website, the better your SEO will be.
Lastly, think of a blog as custom content and your owned-media! How cool is that?! Use it how you want to use it. It doesn’t matter how big or small your audience is. You have complete control. Start with creating a schedule with planned blog topics that focus on your brand and keep your sales strategy in mind. The key is to make sure that you stick with it and post consistently!
We’re curious… Do you have a blog? Or have you thought about starting one? Tell us your experience with Blogging. Please leave your comments below.
RSC Marketing & Advertising provides small and medium size business owners with affordable and creative marketing services designed to increase sales.
We would love to speak with you about your business! Call us today at (888) 728-0703 or email us at info@rscmarketing.com. For a complete list of services, visit our website at rscmarketing.com
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