In a word, yes. Small businesses do need to worry about blogging. But it can be a burden, which is why a lot of business owners don't do it. These are the same business owners who have prominent Facebook pages that get a significant amount of traffic. Don't get me wrong; Facebook marketing is very important. But companies that don't have an active blog are missing out on a lot of website traffic (visitors and customers) that they might not have had otherwise.
What could a blog do for your business? Let's talk about it!
Blogging Gives You Content to Use for Social Media Marketing
Everyone knows that if you're going to have a successful business, you'd better be on Facebook. You may not realize it, but Facebook is a search engine, just like Google and Bing. As of the writing of this post, Facebook has around 1.62 billion users. You're right to have a presence there.
But what are you doing with that presence? If you're like most people, you probably share promotional posts with the occasional funny meme that relates to what you do. You may run Facebook ads and use Messenger as a way to communicate with your customers. How much more reach and credibility could you have if you were able to share expert blog posts directly from your website?
Your customers chose your business because they see you as experts in your particular field. Having a blog gives you a chance to share that expertise with the world. It gives you something to share on social media and you can even boost your posts and use them as ads. Best of all, when people read them, they'll already be on your website. Great content will easily convert those visitors into paying customers.
Blogging is Still Good for Your Search Engine Rank
A lot of business owners get frustrated when they notice their competitors ranking higher than them on search engines. That frustration is understandable, but this is a problem that can be easily corrected by adding a blog to the website.
Google ranks webpages based on a number of different factors. They're looking for content that is enjoyable and informative for people to read. They're looking for the right keywords used appropriately in the content. And they're also looking for a website that is periodically changing.
Many business owners keep the same website up for years without making any changes to it at all. Google sees the lack of activity and as a result, ranks it lower than competitor sites that meet all of their criteria. Best of all, it doesn't take long for regular blogging to make a difference. Many businesses are able to make it to page 1 in a few weeks, and to the top 5 search results in as little as a few months*.
Should You Hire a Professional Blogger?
If you're having trouble getting started with your blog, it might be time to consider talking with a professional. It makes sense to hire a blogger because as a business owner, you probably have a lot of other things on your plate. Your online presence is important, so you want to make sure it's done right.
At Colwell Creative Content, blogging is one of the things we do best! We have created tens of thousands of pieces of content for businesses in the Elmira/Horseheads area as well as for businesses in Canada, Australia and all over the United States.
Blogging is important no matter how big or small your business is. We can help you set yourself apart from your competitors with content that attracts new customers and retrains current ones. Please contact us to learn more!
*Please note that this varies by businesses and competitors. Your results may vary.