In the early 2000’s, having a blog was all the rage. People were opening up their hearts to total strangers online and looking to connect with like-minded souls. That quickly changed when businesses and search engines took the lead and started advertising through their very own blogs. The shift in blogging strategy has been immense. Blogs are now marketing tools resembling online billboards and small businesses often underestimate their power. Maybe because there is a loud rumor that this advertising form is dead or because small businesses have to juggle so many priorities every day that they can’t fathom putting together blog posts on top of everything else. Either way, we will explore 5 reasons why your small business needs a blog, and why you should start sooner rather than later.

1. Boosts Website Traffic

Having a blog on your website helps to increase your website's search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you online. By publishing fresh and relevant content on a regular basis, you can attract more visitors to your site, which can lead to increased sales and revenue. You can also link to your blog articles throughout your website to increase your internal linking ranking, you can pack your headlines and content with the keywords you would like to rank for and finally, you get to increase your website traffic and keep your readers coming back for more.

2. Establishes You as an Expert

By sharing your industry knowledge and expertise on your blog, you can position yourself as a thought leader in your field. This can help to establish credibility with your audience and make your business more attractive to potential customers. Google has recently changed its search ranking guidelines. The model now consists mainly of four categories you should try and get your website up-to-date on: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (read more about the EEAT model here). I am sure that you, as an individual, have found yourself in conflict with a loved one and Googled the answer. Well, the reason why I encourage you as a business owner or employee to create a small business blog, is because you want to help your customers win these arguments. You want to help them by sharing knowledge and making them trust your word. So, reason number 2 is a good one and it will provide your small business with more trustworthiness than you care for.

3. Builds Relationships with Customers

A blog can also serve as a platform for engaging with your customers and building relationships with them. By providing valuable information and responding to comments and questions, you can create a sense of community around your brand. Whether it is the way you write, the way you present your ideas in a visual manner or whether the information you share has a fair bit of thought leadership to it, creating a small business blog for your business will help you interact with your readers in a different way. It will help you understand which content resonates with them, what they like to read about, what kind of questions they ask themselves, and finally, you can make sure that you make them feel welcome and embraced. Helping your community building efforts is one of the many perks of putting in the work to grow your small business.

4. Increases Brand Awareness

In addition to attracting new customers, a blog can also help to increase awareness of your brand. By sharing your blog posts on social media and other online platforms, you can reach a wider audience and increase your brand's visibility. Not only will sharing your blog content on social media help increase your website traffic, but it will also help build the authority of your content, bit by bit. The more recognisable your blog content is, the better people will recognise that you are willing to share information with them and connect with them on a deeper level, not just through 6 second videos. Your tone of voice, the visuals you use, the topics you want to talk about… All of these aspects are easy to put in place in longer formats such as blog posts, so seize this chance and start your small business blog today.

5. Cost-Effective Marketing Tool

Finally, a blog is a cost-effective marketing tool that can deliver long-term benefits for your business. Unlike traditional advertising, which requires ongoing investment, a blog can continue to drive traffic and generate leads for your business over time, making it a valuable asset for your marketing strategy. As a small business, budgets are always at the heart of marketing efforts and it can provoke anger or frustration when money is spent without a good return-on-investment result. The blogging budget won’t be huge. With tools like ChatGPT to create your own content, or even by hiring a blogger/copywriter for a few hours a week, you will be able to keep your expenses to a minimum with a maximum result over time.

Conclusion

I hope these reasons have convinced you of the value of having a business blog on your website. Not only is blogging a great FREE marketing tool, but it also helps you build a community for your small business and show that you are trustworthy through the sharing of knowledge. If you have any questions or would like to hire Digitally LC to take care of your blog, feel free to send me a message!