Blogs are without any doubt one of the most efficient ways for a business to engage, interact and reach existing customers and targeted potential customers.  Blog marketing is all about you educating your readers by sharing your business opinions, advice and your expertise.  With a blog it is important that you remember that you are not trying to sell directly  –  you are using it to build your online brand, establish / reinforce your credibility as an expert in your sector and as a vehicle to interact with your readers.  Blogs and websites should work hand in hand, with your blog being used to drive targeted traffic to the most appropriate page in your website.

What is the purpose of my business blog then?

Your business blog has one primary objective – to attract readers who are interested in your subject matter.  Blogs should also be natural linking magnets that can attract huge amounts of inbound links to your website – if you publish content that is engaging, original, relevant and interesting.  Other bloggers will see the good quality content you post and reference this on their own blogs to start the conversation process.  This is what you want to happen as the other bloggers usually link back to the original content of your blog post.

What it the difference between a website and a blog?

Websites are generally passive (minimal interaction) whilst good blogs are active.  With a blog your message is broadcast to the entire online world via RSS (Real Simple Syndication) each and every time you publish something new.  Because of this your ‘new’ blog content is likely to be indexed by the search engines within minutes as opposed  to new website content  which always has to wait to be discovered by the search engine bots and spiders. 

With a website it is usually a question of you stating the features and benefits of your products and services and often also proactively trying to sell them directly to the website visitor.  Your blog is about engaging with your customers and prospects and building your online reputation and credibility.

Driving more targeted traffic

It is a well known fact that businesses that blog tend to get more traffic and more inbound links to either their website or their other online profiles. Used correctly your business blog is a very powerful traffic building tool and a good blog can be an indicator of how successful a business is online. 

Other blog benefits

Blogs can establish and  build your brand authority and increase brand awareness exactly where you want it to happen – in your targeted market. 

Blogs can build a strong relationship with your audience as well as building trust in you, your business, your products and your services. This will also make you the natural person to contact when your audience has a problem that you can solve for them.

For more information about blogging and other internet marketing topics please leave a comment below or visit WSIIMS – WSI Digital marketing Consultants serving Surrey, Sussex and the South East of England.