Every company should absolutely have a blog. Your customers will ask you questions about what you do, what they could be doing better themselves, and what’s happening in your industry – and a blog is the best way to address all of these questions.
In this article, the Maxweb team explain why you should have a company blog, what you should write about, and which topics you should definitely leave out.
Why your company should have a blog
Not only can blogs inform and keep up-to-date your existing customers but blogs are also a great draw for potential customers to become aware of your brand. What is the commercial advantage to you in that heightened awareness?
Generates traffic to your website
Blogs are SEO magnets. If you create relevant content that your customers enjoy and look forward to, your website traffic will, over time, increase significantly. Google see this activity as relevant and of interest to searchers and they’ll raise your Search Engine Ranking as a result. This is an exponential curve and the starting point is a well-made, regularly-updated blog.
Traffic leads to sales
The more traffic that comes to your website, the more eyes are on your brand. It is likely that somebody who is interested in reading a blog about what you do will be interested in purchasing a product or service from you – especially if your blog is convincing and helpful to them.
You become an authority in your industry
If your company page just details your opening times and how much your products and services cost, you’re not going to be considered an authority by Google. An authority is someone or a company which people in your industry and who rely on your industry turn to when they are looking for the latest information or resources that they can use and put into action.
A blog can help your brand become recognised in competitive markets and more attention will come your way if you do it properly.
What you should blog about
Relevant topics
This is an obvious statement but surprisingly many companies fall into the trap about blogging about anything they can think of.
The reason for this is simple. Blogs find their origins in people telling the world about their personal lives and hobbies – that’s where it all started. Nowadays, of course, this is not so much the case. You can find blogs about everything from fitness to DIY but they’re particularly powerful for businesses.
Make sure that your content is centred around the services that you provide and the industry that you operate in. This way, your readers are more likely to convert into paying customers.
How-to blogs
One of the most searched terms on Google is “How to…”. Since this is your profession, you could share your wealth of knowledge with the world and answer some of their most burning questions all in one post.
A how-to blog post ticks all of these boxes. Your audience are searching for answers, and you can use this as an opportunity to become an authority on your chosen topic.
Industry news
Tell people what is going on behind-the-scenes in your industry. More importantly, tell people why it matters to them.
If there is a new law that could be passed, tell your customers what that will mean to them. If there has been a major lift in the sales across the industry, explain why that’s a good thing for everybody.
This has the added benefit of forcing your company to keep its ear to the ground. Stay connected with the goings on of your industry and inform your customers about what you’ve found out.
Long form answers to questions
Many businesses use their blogs to answer questions that they are frequently asked. But why not just have an FAQ section on your website?
Well, some questions require a full explanation behind them for people to understand and accept the answer. This is where a blog comes into its own. It is the perfect way for customers to find the answer to their questions themselves – without needing to take time out of your day for a phone call.
Another perk of this is that the topics write themselves. The more frequently you get asked a question, the sooner you should write a relevant blog post about it.
What not to blog about
There are two sides to every coin and some blogs do more damage to their company’s reputation than good. Try to steer clear of when coming up with topics for your blog:
Your personal lives
As we mentioned previously, people are not interested in what you had for your tea last night. They want answers to their questions and they are visiting your website to benefit and learn from industry expertise. Having a personal blog is fine, but keep it separate from your company’s online presence.
Other companies
If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Even if you have something nice to say, you should probably still avoid it.
Creating negative posts about another company in your industry will tarnish the integrity of your brand and turn customers away from you. On the flip side, if you are continuously praising another company in your industry for their work, then you run the risk of sending them all of your customers.
It is your company blog and you should focus on your own company.
Topics that add no value to your customers
Keep your topics relevant and close to what your customers want to know. If your blog doesn’t add value, then nobody will read it and you won’t receive any of the benefits of a blog that we mentioned earlier.
To ensure that you’re adding value to your customers, ask them what they would like to know more about. Go online and see what other companies are blogging about – and pay close attention to what they’re leaving out.
Add a blog to your website with Maxweb
Adding a blog to your website can be a great move for your business. The added traffic and increased SEO can boost your sales and make your company a true authority in your industry.
If you need help in adding a blog to your existing website, contact the Maxweb team. We can help you implement a blog and show you how to measure how well you’re doing. For more information, call us on: 0151 652 4777.
Posted on Monday, November 26th, 2018 in Digital Marketing.
