6 August 2018 - Richard Shire
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the things you are told your business needs and for many people, the concept of blogging is a bit of an enigma, what is it, why do I need it and how will it help my business? In this post, we hope to answer these questions in simple terms, free from marketing jargon and geek speak.
Having a professional website is only half the story if your website then remains untouched it slowly becomes stagnant, unused and irrelevant to Google (other search engines are available). By adding new regular content you demonstrate to these search engines that your website is active therefore boosting your ranking (this is what we call SEO- search engine optimised).
A blog gives you the opportunity to answer the burning questions your ideal clients are asking. So when they search on Google for answers relevant to your industry it’s your website that appears.
You will also have new, regular content to share with the world using your social media channels and email marketing campaigns. All of this contributes to driving traffic to your website. Once there, visitors have the opportunity to learn more about you and your business. If the site is well designed you will engage them and keep them there longer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
For someone to buy from you they need to feel confident in what you deliver. They need to know you are trustworthy and you know your industry. They are coming to you for a product or service they can’t replicate themselves so they have to feel comfortable to put your trust in them.
A blog is a platform for you to show your extensive knowledge, for you to position yourself as an expert in your field. You can also talk about a variety of subjects that are related to your business to show your broad range of services/products.
When you provide support, tips, advice and inspiration, your blog can actually be a practical help to your potential ideal clients. When you have served and supported them in this way regardless of how big or small the value is, they appreciate it and when they need more information or guidance they come to you.
Sometimes people worry about giving too much away and there is definitely a balance to this issue but we believe that the more you give, the more impact you make and this affects how people see and interact your business. A blog is a powerful tool but it’s not a replacement for working with you or buying your products. If you make a big enough impression people will still want more.
Blogging isn’t something you do annually, the most successful blogs are consistent. It doesn’t have to be every day (in fact if you did attempt to blog this much your content wouldn’t have high value and you would probably run out of steam quite quickly), instead what you need is a schedule that works for you.
When you show up regularly and consistently, people remember you more. You constantly stay in the forefront of people’s mind and so when they need your service or product they don’t question it, they know who to call. We recommend you blog weekly, biweekly or monthly for maximum effect.
If your customer is going to buy from a big faceless company, they will but what you want to demonstrate is that you provide a better and more bespoke service. Your blog is a great place to do this because your potential customers get the opportunity to get to know you a little more and to understand your motivations. You can show more of the personality behind the business and break down boundaries. When they start to build a real authentic relationship with you some will naturally will want to take this relationship further and start paying to get more.
We would like to finish by reminding you that you are reading a blog now and we hope just by doing so we have demonstrated all of the above to be true
As with a lot of good blog posts, the last point will be a call to action, an instruction to help the reader know what to do next. Here we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to book a completely free consultation with us, as designers and marketers we can make sure that when people land on your site to read your blog they have the best chance of converting into paying clients. Contact us to book your free consultation today.