We are amazed at the blog-reluctance of many small enterprises. I hear things like “I don’t have time for you to blog”, “blogging doesn't make sense inside my industry”, or even the dreaded “what the heck is really a blog? ”
The reality is in case your company provides unique products or services, you need to be blogging. (And if your company doesn't, you should consider a career change. )
Naturally , the overall return on investment on a blog will be different from business to business. But you will find 6 fundamental benefits to corporate blogging that should not possible be overlooked:
Each thoughtful post on your blog is really a public demonstration of the thought leadership, personal integrity, humor, and professional ideas. You do not have to refute one of Einstein’s theories to obtain respect. For example, a long list of recent trends in your industry, or a a reaction to a recent news article can be extremely effective blogs.
If you blog utilizing a solid blogging engine, readers will have the choice to comment on each article. Folks who discuss your blog may be sales leads, or they might just challenge or support your views. In either case, comments beget comments, and you may soon be at the center of the industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.
The much-discussed “long tail” of search describes highly specialized, low-traffic search terms that represent a substantial amount of total searches. Translation: many of people are searching online for many of random things. You can’t realistically optimize your website for every long tail search term, you could certainly write blog posts targeting niche keyword phrases which are likely to draw highly qualified prospects. Like blog a reaction to a speaker within your vertical at a local tech conference. You might not draw much natural search traffic, but there exists a good chance your blog will rank well in the near future for searches like “vertical + conference + speaker & city”, and the ones visitors may be highly interested in your a reaction to the speech.
Very few websites or bloggers will url to the “products and services” page on the corporate website. People don’t url to corporate advertisements. On the other hand, a great blog article is an industry-specific insight or perhaps a thoughtful critique. Blog articles garner links as they are interesting, informative, and never overly corporate or sales-focused. The benefit to you is the fact that more links means better search engine rankings and much more site traffic, which translates into more prospects.
Blogs offer an opportunity for a company to provide its insightful, helpful, thoughtful side. Via a blog, prospects will get a sense of the company’s people, culture, and vision. Blogs is an opportunity to provide a less antiseptic view of the company that is more personal and fewer “corporate”. Blogs can humanize your brand name.
Despite these reasons why companies ought to be blogging, the same 2 objections surface again and again:
The truth is you do not have time *not* to blog. You most likely already write blog articles, you simply don’t call them that. Blogs would be the new email newsletters. Most anything that could will end up in your newsletter can go in your blog. You are able to still send the information out via email, and readers can subscribe to your site to obtain posts via email. Portions of white papers may also make excellent blog articles. But a blog is preferable to a newsletter or perhaps a white paper because readers can join the debate and become positioned to respond to other “calls to action” you might place adjacent to or within posts. Additionally , readers will be able to navigate your blog to see older articles that would otherwise maintain a deleted newsletter or white paper. On top of that, each blog article you post will give you lasting benefit because it is a web page which can be optimized, indexed, and drawing natural search traffic for you personally ad infinitum.
Additionally , quality blogging engines support multiple authors, so more than one leader within your organization can post articles. This takes stress off any one individual. And remember that the good blog post might just draw a parallel between 2 or 3 recent articles, or suggest an explanation for any puzzling industry phenomenon. A good article need not be a PhD thesis.
A final thought, get out there and blog!
by Jonah Lupin
The reality is in case your company provides unique products or services, you need to be blogging. (And if your company doesn't, you should consider a career change. )
Naturally , the overall return on investment on a blog will be different from business to business. But you will find 6 fundamental benefits to corporate blogging that should not possible be overlooked:
Reasons #1: Gain Visibility Like a Thought Leader
Each thoughtful post on your blog is really a public demonstration of the thought leadership, personal integrity, humor, and professional ideas. You do not have to refute one of Einstein’s theories to obtain respect. For example, a long list of recent trends in your industry, or a a reaction to a recent news article can be extremely effective blogs.
Reasons #2: Engage Customers in a Conversation
If you blog utilizing a solid blogging engine, readers will have the choice to comment on each article. Folks who discuss your blog may be sales leads, or they might just challenge or support your views. In either case, comments beget comments, and you may soon be at the center of the industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.
Reasons #3: Each and Every Blog Article is Definitely an SEO Opportunity
The much-discussed “long tail” of search describes highly specialized, low-traffic search terms that represent a substantial amount of total searches. Translation: many of people are searching online for many of random things. You can’t realistically optimize your website for every long tail search term, you could certainly write blog posts targeting niche keyword phrases which are likely to draw highly qualified prospects. Like blog a reaction to a speaker within your vertical at a local tech conference. You might not draw much natural search traffic, but there exists a good chance your blog will rank well in the near future for searches like “vertical + conference + speaker & city”, and the ones visitors may be highly interested in your a reaction to the speech.
Reasons #4: Blogs are Link Lure
Very few websites or bloggers will url to the “products and services” page on the corporate website. People don’t url to corporate advertisements. On the other hand, a great blog article is an industry-specific insight or perhaps a thoughtful critique. Blog articles garner links as they are interesting, informative, and never overly corporate or sales-focused. The benefit to you is the fact that more links means better search engine rankings and much more site traffic, which translates into more prospects.
Reasons #5: Humanize Your Brand Name
Blogs offer an opportunity for a company to provide its insightful, helpful, thoughtful side. Via a blog, prospects will get a sense of the company’s people, culture, and vision. Blogs is an opportunity to provide a less antiseptic view of the company that is more personal and fewer “corporate”. Blogs can humanize your brand name.
Reasons #6: Online, Fresher Content = Better Web Site
Google will periodically crawl websites searching for new and updated content. In general, it is advisable to have Google crawl your site as often as you can. Sites that get crawled more often convey more frequent updates and more authority. Blogging consistently ensures you will see fresh content on the site.Despite these reasons why companies ought to be blogging, the same 2 objections surface again and again:
Objections #1: I Don’t Have Time for You to Blog
The truth is you do not have time *not* to blog. You most likely already write blog articles, you simply don’t call them that. Blogs would be the new email newsletters. Most anything that could will end up in your newsletter can go in your blog. You are able to still send the information out via email, and readers can subscribe to your site to obtain posts via email. Portions of white papers may also make excellent blog articles. But a blog is preferable to a newsletter or perhaps a white paper because readers can join the debate and become positioned to respond to other “calls to action” you might place adjacent to or within posts. Additionally , readers will be able to navigate your blog to see older articles that would otherwise maintain a deleted newsletter or white paper. On top of that, each blog article you post will give you lasting benefit because it is a web page which can be optimized, indexed, and drawing natural search traffic for you personally ad infinitum.
Additionally , quality blogging engines support multiple authors, so more than one leader within your organization can post articles. This takes stress off any one individual. And remember that the good blog post might just draw a parallel between 2 or 3 recent articles, or suggest an explanation for any puzzling industry phenomenon. A good article need not be a PhD thesis.
Objections #2: Imagine If My Customers Get Out What I’m Thinking?
Some professionals don’t such as the idea of blogging since it means relinquishing control over some elements of the organization brand. A blog is less formal than a pr release or an official marketing message, and also the comments left by readers cannot be predicted. The idea here is… bad! In today’s world, consumers have access to a large number of opinions about your brand, and a large number of articles, commentaries, product reviews, etc. which will certainly impact the buying decision. The idea that you are able to control exactly how your brand is going to be perceived or keep consumers at nighttime is outdated. The truth is the best choice is to engage customers within an honest, open dialogue. Be confident that transparency is the greatest policy, and customers will reward your inocencia.A final thought, get out there and blog!
by Jonah Lupin
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