Writing content - especially blog content - can be extremely time-consuming. But how much does blogging matter? And, with so much existing content on the internet, does blog content really bring in new leads and grow your business?
Approximately 409 million people view more than 20 billion written blog pages each month, and 43% of people admit to skimming blog posts.
Blogs remain one of the most effective forms of digital marketing for both B2B and B2C companies and can have a tremendous impact on growing your business and gaining online visibility.
In this post, we'll cover why it's important to a blog, how it affects organic traffic and search engine rankings, and why consistency helps draw traffic and build a business, as well as how often you should update your site if you want maximum benefits from consistent blogging.
How blogs make your website appear in more search results
Blogging is an excellent way to reach people searching online to learn more about a topic or to find answers to their questions. A well-written blog post optimized for SEO not only demonstrates your expertise and willingness to provide answers but is also what search engines look for when ranking a website.
Search engines use the content of your blog to determine the relevance of your website and how authoritative it is. The more quality content you have on your site, the higher it will rank in search results. Better yet, Google’s algorithm prioritizes long-form content (blogs).
The average first position in Google's search engine results page (SERP) has 1,890 words. The second position average is 1,828 words. That's a difference of just over 60 words between the top spot and second place!
Why it’s important to blog consistently
How often you generate a blog post depends on what’s best for your company - and your available time. But consistency matters.
Blogging consistently is an important and strategic marketing tool. It helps keep your audience engaged as you share relevant, helpful content. Consistency is a necessary aspect of building trust and authority with your audience. The more you blog, the more people will learn about your business. By regularly adding content optimized for SEO over time, you’ll build organic traffic to your site, increase your online presence, and ultimately generate more leads.
If you're not blogging regularly, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some tips for getting started with your first blog post:
- What problem are you trying to solve? Write about something that addresses a common customer question or pain point. Or that’s helpful and educational. You can write about topics related directly to your business or provide useful information for readers who may not know about the subject matter before reading it. Make sure the information you provide is relevant and interesting for your target audience.
- Make a plan! Create a simple editorial calendar that lists your topics and outlines what you want to write about and where it should be published. This will help you keep track of what you’ve written about and plan for future content.
- Get Started! Begin with shorter articles, and don't worry about your writing skills, there are plenty of effective, low -ost artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools available that can significantly improve your content. Many people begin their blogs with a "test" post before diving in headfirst. This can help you get comfortable with the process, but don't let it hold you back from posting regularly once you've started!
- Include a call to action. This can be as simple as asking people to leave comments or share their thoughts with you. It's important that you have some mechanisms in place to collect leads and get in touch with prospects.
You should aim for quality over quantity when it comes to how many blog posts or articles you publish per month. Popular topics drive the most traffic, but you'll want to focus on original ideas and avoid being redundant. You don't want to overwhelm potential clients with too much information about yourself or your business at once. Instead, offer them an opportunity for discovery through thoughtfully written articles, rather than bombard them with promotional material from multiple channels.
How to leverage blog content once created
Now that you know why you should blog and plan your posts, what can you do with all this great content? Once you have your blog content, there are simple and effective ways to leverage it across multiple channels. You can use it to drive traffic to your website, attract leads, or build trust with existing customers!
The key to leveraging your content is to do it in a way that doesn’t feel “salesy.”
This means you want to avoid using the word “buy” or any of its synonyms unless you directly mention a product or service you sell in a call-to-action toward the end of your blog.
One of the easiest ways to leverage your blog content is through social media. Or, if you have a large contact list, sending emails will be one of the most effective ways to reach your customers and increase revenue. You can include a link to a specific blog in the email, or you can simply send people to your website to view your blog page.
If you’re just starting out with blogging and don’t have an email list yet asking for subscribers on your blogs will help build one! Once you’ve created your first newsletter (and sent it out), keep track of how many people open each issue and how many clicks you get on each piece of content. This will help you determine which types of content are most effective at generating engagement with your audience. It’s important to always test new strategies so that you can improve your performance over time.
Watch this short video from the SEO Umbrella Series as HLM digital marketing expert Jake Evans provides a “real world” use case for blogging and outlines the 3 reasons why you should blog for your business:
- How blogging makes your website appear in more search results
- Why it's important to blog consistently
- Creative ways to leverage your blog content
Ready for better results from your blog?
Blogging is an essential part of your content marketing strategy for any business. They are an ideal way to attract potential clients, build engagement with existing customers, and drive qualified leads through your website.
HLM's dedicated content creation team works hand-in-hand with our expert SEO team to help build out your blog strategy, editorial calendar and optimize your content.
Don't go it alone!
Book your complimentary digital marketing consultation with Jake:
