As an outspoken enthusiast of digital marketing, I’ve witnessed the leaps and bounds it's taken to level the playing field for small businesses versus major corporations. Because of this, I inevitably mention the power of blogs more than most people think is reasonable.
When discussing amongst my clients or friends who run small businesses I often hear the same alibis from the “blogless”:
- But I’m a small business, what do I need a blog for?
- I’m a florist, or a dentist, or a yoga instructor. My clientele is local and I’m not trying to become an influencer in my niche, why should I invest my time or money in creating a blog?
- Who is going to read it anyway, I’m not famous!
Well, it turns out that the answers to those questions are:
- It will help your SEO, Social Media, and Sales
- It is going to drive more leads/ customers to your business
And,
- With the right strategy you’d be surprised how many people will end up reading your blogs.
So to answer these questions in more detail I’ve prepared this list of 3 very important reasons why every small business needs - or at the very least could greatly benefit from having - a blog (Source).
1. Google Search Exposure
In the age of video and social media, blogging often gets discarded as old news even though it remains one of the most important tools for small businesses for one major reason. When done well Blogging speaks to buyers' intent in ways that video and social media cannot.
A well-written, targeted blog post can quickly find itself in Google’s Search engine results. As an example consider the small businesses mentioned above, and an article titled “the best [your niche ] services in [your location]” Or if you’re in a big city change “in [your location]” to “within a 10-minute walk of [some major landmark in your part of the city]”
As an incredibly Toronto centric example consider “The best Doggy Daycare services within 10 minutes of Trinity Bellwoods Park”
This long-tail keyword is likely not getting much competition on Google searches. Although it’s not likely to be searched very often - when it is, you’ll come up as an EXACT MATCH to the intent of the searcher.
We work with numerous small business clients who receive 30-100 hits to their websites each month from single blog posts written years ago. When blogging is done well, it drives traffic to your website and is a relatively stable long-term investment.
2. Content and Social Media Tie-In
Probably the most common complaint I hear from small businesses is that they feel pressure to “handle” their social media, but they don’t have the resources to get someone else to do it for them, or the time, patience, and creativity to do it themselves.
And while a blog won’t completely fix this problem, it is a rich source of content for the boot-strapping social media person. On top of creating posts announcing your Blog, you can also make numerous posts highlighting sections or ideas talked about in your blog posts. Effectively stretching twice-monthly written blogs into 6-10+ social media check-ins with your audience.
3. Deepening Your Customer Relationship
When people get to a website they want the sparks notes about your business, what you do, what you stand for, and why they should pick you for XYZ product or service. It works closer to a dating profile where people want to very quickly decide if you’re right for them or to throw you into a discard pile.
But when someone clicks on your blogs or is doing their research, they are expecting to read longer-form content. And this is the perfect place to develop a real connection with your audience.
At the bottom of the sales and marketing funnel is the “Loyalty and Advocacy” section, where customers become habitual repeat customers and/or evangelists of your business. A blog is an excellent way to nurture this behavior in customers, give them more ways to talk about your business to others, and a place to feed their own curiosity about your business.
Conclusion
I know that for many business owners, I had you at free long-term search engine traffic to your website via blogs.
But there is a lot of value for businesses today (especially the little ones) in building solid relationships with their customers. I hope you take from this more than just the SEO benefits and realize that a blogging strategy can open up new opportunities with your customers that you won’t get from other channels.
And as always, if you have any questions or concerns about blogging for your business or are ready to have our team of expert content writers get to work crafting some blogs for you, feel free to reach out to our team!
