Why Blog?

In the last few years, the social media field has exploded. From Facebook to Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Quora, Pinterest, and Tumblr, companies have access to a range of platform for reaching consumers.

Social needs content and content needs social – that interplay is essential to success. That’s where blogging can really move the needle for you and your company. Businesses now understand the importance of SEO, and Blogging is at the top to impact SEO in a dramatic way.

Websites with a blog have 55% more traffic.
B2B companies that blog receive 67% more leads per month than those who do not.
B2C companies that blog receive 88% more leads per month that those who do not. (Source Hubspot)

Quality content, combined with a strategy and executed properly are a winning combination.

Are you interested in better search results for your business?
Do you want broader exposure?
Do you want more B2B leads? B2C leads?
Would you like to gain new clients? Raise more funds?

If you answered yes to anyone of those questions, it’s time to explore blogging.

1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization.

Google is replacing the yellow pages. How often do we go to Google, Bing or Yahoo to do search? Everyone wants to show up on page 1 in Google, whether you are branding yourself for a job, or branding your company for business. Blogs help with your search visibility. Every blog post is a new web page, which creates another opportunity for you or your company to rank well in search.

2. Keywords

It’s a word or string of words you put into the search bar that returns your results. The better you are at defining the right word or string of words to use, the better results you will achieve with Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Choosing the right keywords is foundational.

3. Platform

There is WordPress, Blogger (Owner by Google), Joomla, Tumblr and a host of others. Choose wisely as it will have an impact on search. The top three platforms for this are, WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr. You will need to own your own domain if you go the paid route.

4. Free vs. Paid

Free will get you up and running quicker, however the links back to your blog will be going to the provider of the platform. So, if you want to take control of those important links which impact your SEO, then paid is the way to go. There are hundreds of templates available today to choose from, and remember when you go the paid route; you will need a hosting service just like you do for your website. However, if you currently have a website, you can just add Blog to the navigation bar at the top along with Home, About, etc.

5. Commitment

Current research shows that one blog post a week gets you better results, than once a month. Some people blog daily which increases their SEO rank even higher. It’s up to you. Get in the game and your chances of winning dramatically improve.

6. Consistency

If you do commit to your blog, then be consistent. While we all recognize that life happens, it’s the one’s that are consistent that are seeing the results.

7. Titles

Who is the best at writing good titles? Newspapers…not all, but the leading ones. Lead with a great title, sprinkled with a keyword or two. Make the reader want to engage and read more.