The Internet has opened up many opportunities for small businesses, however, it's still a competition and adding a blog section to your site can help you gain an advantage and increase your bottom line.
In previous articles, we’ve looked at why it’s vital to keep the content on your website fresh and how content marketing helps you gain visibility, trust and authority. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why a simple news/blog section will help.
Gain Visibility
It can be difficult to increase visibility when you have a limited number of products/services especially when their descriptions are small. Having a blog section will assist search engines and ultimately increase traffic to your site; just ensure each blog contains relevant topics and keywords. This will lead people to the products and services that you are selling.
Increase Authority
Unless you’re very fortunate, you will be competing with other businesses both small and large. For this reason, you should be seen as an authority in your area and establish customer trust more quickly than your competitors. Having a blog can do just that.
Having an "About Us" page isn't enough to convince potential customers to buy from you. You need to show that you have in depth knowledge and trust in your products or services. You should also demonstrate this knowledge regularly and consistently. Through a blog, you can show both humans and search engines that, not only are you knowledgeable, but you demonstrate an understanding of problems and provide solutions.
Marketing
Aim to inform customers with your blog and they will appreciate that you took the time to help rather than just push sales. For example, you could publish how-to guides on your site. You could also consider publishing videos that give useful information or show buyers how to use your products or services.
Establishes Personality
People like to associate themselves with the places they buy things from but it can be challenging to really stand out and put some personality behind your business.
Social media is a popular platform for creating interaction, but a blog can be totally unique. Social media pages can look very similar to your competitors, but your blog doesn't have to. Using your blog section, you can establish a personality behind the business. Linking your blogs to your social media is a great way to get your content shared and increase visibility. Just be sure that you provide useful and valuable information that others want to read and share.
Have a plan
Start off by thinking about the topics for your blogs, gather information and get writing. Then, post them on a regular schedule and monitor your traffic to see where it's coming from. If you are providing interesting content, you will see an increase in traffic, your site being higher in the search engines and ultimately more sales.
Warran Bolton
OwlTree Web Solutions Ltd
