7 Benefits to Starting a Blog on Your Business Website
Have you ever wondered why businesses have blogs? From Purina dog food to Colgate toothpaste, brands of any industry will include blogs and articles on their business websites. The simple answer? They do it because it’s good for business.
Blogging is a wonderful way to control your brand and improve the success of your business website. Want specifics? Here are 7 reasons starting a business blog is a great idea.
1. Improves your SEO
The better your SEO (search engine optimization), the higher up you’ll appear in search engine results. The higher up you appear in search results, the more you’re growing your customer base. Blogging is a great way to improve your SEO; it’s an organic way to generate a lot of webpages, it keeps your website up to date, and it encourages website visitors to spend longer amounts of time on your site. It’s also a wonderful place to share photos, videos, and links to external resources. Check out our blog post on other ways Leia users can improve their SEO.
2. Encourages website visits from social media
It can be tricky to convince social media users to navigate off of their social media app or tab and onto your small business website. People are much more likely to stay within the platform they’re currently using than they are to switch to another unless they are sufficiently enticed. A picture of your product might not always do the trick; the user knows what your product is and what it looks like, so there isn’t much left to discover. An interesting blog post, though, may be just the thing you need. A unique and captivating blog subject can peak a user’s curiosity and better incentivize them to move to your website. Make sure your blog post lives up to its interesting title to ensure repeat website visits.
3. Keeps you on the minds of potential customers
Not everyone is going to make a purchase the first time that they visit your website. Many customers need to be exposed to your products multiple times before they’re willing to make their first purchase. Regular blogging gives potential customers a reason to visit your website again and again after their first peek without being bombarded by ads or emails that may be unwelcome. By providing engaging content that website visitors want to read, you’re encouraging them to check back again in the future, creating another opportunity for them to make a purchase.
4. Lets you provide more information about your product
When faced with extremely long, detailed product descriptions, the average customer will simply skim the description, looking for the basic, specific information they want to know. Customers do not open an e-commerce page with the intention of spending a lot of time reading; they do, however, open blog posts with this intention. If your product is complicated, unfamiliar, or otherwise calls for extended information, a blog post is a wonderful option. You can put just the crucial, basic need-to-knows in your product description and then create a blog celebrating your product and providing the more in-depth information or history that you would like to share. Maybe this includes a video tutorial on how to use it or a description of how it was made. Creating blog posts about specific products also gives you more space and creative freedom to really sell a customer on a product if they may be on the fence about purchasing. A customer who is vaguely interested but not ready to commit to a purchase may be swayed by some extra information or some additional photo and video content.
5. Allows for customer interaction
Providing customers with engaging content that keeps them coming back is awesome — what’s even more awesome is giving them an opportunity to reciprocate that engagement. Turning comments on for your blog posts allows customers to ask questions about your products, share their thoughts about the content discussed in your blog, or provide valuable feedback on your products or branding. When a customer is able to directly interact with a business, they’re much more likely to feel valued, trust that business, and make a purchase.
6. Creates a personal connection
Blogging gives your customers a chance to see your business as more than just another in a sea of similar businesses; it allows you to show your customers who you are, how your business has come to be, and what makes your products special. When your customers understand how their purchase was created and the journey that you’ve been on to deliver it to them, their relationship with you becomes much more personal. Customers who feel a connection to your business are significantly more likely to stick around and to recommend you to others. As a bonus, it will feel much more special to deliver a product to a customer who you know understands and appreciates just how much blood, sweat, and tears went into its creation.
7. Gives you control over your brand’s personality
Whether it’s set intentionally or not, your business has a tone of voice. This is set by the type of product you’re selling, the way you interact with your customers, the colors and style of images you use for your branding, and much, much more. Blogging is an effective way to deliberately take control of that tone. Companies like Spirit Airlines have developed a comedic, casual tone of voice in their customer interactions; their website clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously, and their stewards and stewardesses tell jokes during their pre-flight safety presentation. Companies like Dove, on the other hand, have developed a tone centered around empowerment and body positivity. Blogging gives you a clear, direct opportunity to set a deliberate personality for your business. Is your brand whimsical and fun? Is it traditional and professional? Is it relatable and warm? If you’re in the early stages of your small business and haven’t quite found its voice yet, blogging is a great way to start exploring what feels right. Stay tuned for a blog on how to set the right tone for your business.