7 Ways Blogging Grows Your Business
Did you know that content marketing generates 3x more leads than traditional marketing, while costing 52% less?
You may be wondering - is blogging still relevant today?
The answer is a resounding yes! In fact, 77% of internet users read blogs, which means that blogging is a brilliant way to grow your business.
If you’ve been reading my Squarespace SEO tips, you’ll also know that blogging helps you build your authority online as well as boosting your organic search traffic. This is because fresh content is one of the signals Google uses to ensure your website is both relevant and current.
By consistently creating high-value, relevant content on your blog can help you exponentially grow your audience; position you as an in-demand expert in your field and capture new client leads.
While social media certainly has its place, if your marketing strategy solely relies on building your audience on platforms like Instagram and Facebook - and the algorithm changes or they shut down - this puts your entire business at risk.
Focusing your energy on building your audience on someone else’s platform is like building your house on someone else’s land - and is not a great idea!
Want to know what I love most about blogging?
That it’s a sustainable form of marketing. Meaning that while the upfront investment of writing a brilliant blog post may take a little longer, if it is crafted intentionally for your audience solving a problem they face, that single blog post can reap you a lot of dividends in the future by way of traffic and referrals to your website.
A single blog post has a lifespan of years, versus the mere hours of a social media post.
So today, I’m sharing seven ways blogging will help you grow your audience and build a trusted reputation for your brand that will accelerate your business growth, sustainably.
Let’s dive in!
01. Blogging boosts organic search traffic.
Creating consistent, high-quality blog content for your audience boosts your organic search traffic and builds your authority online.
How, I hear you ask?
Because Google loves fresh content and favors sites that regularly update their websites with relevant and extremely useful information.
But not just any content will do!
Creating content for a niche topic is essential.
By narrowing the focus of your content, Google will begin to recognize your site as being an authority on a subject matter area, which in turn will help improve your ranking results for key search terms.
For example, if you’re a health coach who specializes in helping people improve their gut health, your goal with the blog content you create would be to build a bank of blog posts that all focus on the topic of gut health.
When it comes to creating content for your blog: consistency is key.
Publishing consistent, high-quality blog content helps let Google know that your site is active and current, with relevant information.
By sticking to a regular schedule and publishing (at minimum) one blog each week, you’ll be rewarded with an engaged audience that will continue to grow overtime.
02. Blogging puts new client leads on auto-pilot.
Blogging allows you to put new client leads on auto-pilot and convert sales for your business.
How?
Like honey attracts bees, regular blog content draws readers to your website.
Once people know you exist and begin engaging with the content you share, overtime you’ll begin to cultivate a thriving community of people who are genuinely interested in the content you are sharing.
When you have an established community that knows, likes and trusts you, then you can progress your audience through your marketing funnel.
A smart blogging strategy integrates marketing lead magnets and content upgrades within each blog post that invite readers to sign up to your email list, and by doing so is a brilliant way to grow your email subscriber base.
Once you begin to grow your email marketing subscribers, you then have a list of people who want to hear from you.
This means you can communicate with your audience, letting them know about your latest blog content; service offerings and any upcoming promotions, effectively putting your new client leads on auto-pilot.
An email subscriber on your list of marketing leads is more valuable than your social media followers because not only do you own the data, you’re going to have a higher chance of them seeing your emails and then converting them into a customer.
03. Blogging positions you as an expert in your niche.
Consistent blogging builds credibility, which in turn breeds trust and authority.
How does one position themselves as an expert? By consistently showing up and sharing their expertise about a specific topic or subject matter.
Thing is, you don’t need to be the ‘best’ or know everything about a certain topic to be considered an expert - you just need to demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about and that you can get results.
Here are some ways you can demonstrate your expertise through blogging:
Trend reports and predictions.
Can you predict the changes likely to occur in your industry, based on past data and current events? Blog posts that highlight trends in your industry using data as a way to predict what the future may bring are a brilliant way to highlight your knowledge and expertise.
Even better?
Creating this kind of share-worthy content has the opportunity to drive significant traffic to your website.
Round-up posts with industry examples.
Highlighting and identifying success stories and examples within your industry builds instant credibility as it demonstrates that you have your finger on the pulse of what’s trending.
Sharing your unique perspective.
While there may be thousands of other coaches, nutritionists and hypnotherapists out there - no one else has your unique perspective on it.
Blogging is an opportunity for you to share your story and educate your audience on the value and transformation that you can offer your clients.
This done through consistent blogging will build you a body of work that will be evidence for the expertise you provide.
04. Blogging demonstrates what your business can do and how you can help.
Using your blog as a portfolio for your business is a brilliant way to demonstrate to your prospective clients what you can do for them.
This can be done in various ways including:
Case studies.
Have you helped your clients achieve amazing results? Share them on your blog as a case study!
For each client case study, create a blog post that details the journey and transformation you’ve helped your clients with.
The case study could include things like:
Where they were in their life or business before they met you;
What led them to find you and choose to work with you;
Showcasing the work you did for them;
Where they are now and how it has transformed their life/business.
Before and afters.
Before and afters are a perfect way to showcase a visual representation of the radical changes you’ve helped your clients achieve. Think health transformations; design overhauls and organizational shifts.
This content can be easily created and applied for endless types of businesses including health coaches, interior designers, stylists, personal organizers, nutritionists - the list goes on!
05. Blogging builds your personal brand and establishes your brand tone of voice.
In the digital age, branding is about so much more than your logo. When you purposefully position your brand with regular content on your blog, your brand voice shines through, authentically.
Your words have the power to transform - the language you use; the topics you write about and the stories you share - all help to shape your brand.
Content is branding.
This is why blogging helps set the tone for your entire business.
Consider that consistently creating fresh content on your blog allows your audience to build a relationship with you and by default, cements your brand in the minds of your dream clients.
While there may be other businesses out there that seemingly do a similar thing to you, the reality is that no one else has your background or experience.
This means you have the opportunity to shape your business entirely through the unique perspective you bring.
Blogging offers the unique ability to share your story through the lens with which you view the world, helping to create love-at-first-sight moments for your audience and keep their attention.
06. Blogging builds your know, like and trust factor.
Consistent blogging helps you build your know, like and trust factor with your readers.
But first, what is the know, like and trust factor; and why is it so important?
One of the basic fundamental principles of marketing is getting people to know, like and trust you, so you can convert prospective people into paying clients and build a community of raving fans who advocate you and your business.
Let’s break it down:
Know:
This relates to your visibility online. For someone to visit your website; read your content and ultimately become one of your paying clients, they need to know you exist and then, know what you’re all about.
This includes what you stand for, your values, your philosophy, your story and why you began your business in the first place.
Blogging is a brilliant way to nurture your audience and let them get to know you - the more they know you the more they will trust you. Which leads to…
Like:
Plain and simple: people do business with people they like.
As Simon Sinek wisely said:
“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Trust:
Your audience will need to trust you before they buy from you - and through sharing consistently on your blog, you will be able to cultivate that trust with your readers.
This won’t happen overnight, but think about it in terms of growing and cultivating a relationship with your audience - the more you invest in that relationship, the more you will be ultimately rewarded for your efforts.
07. Blogging is a sustainable form of marketing.
Out of all the various marketing methods, blogging is one of the most sustainable ways to grow your business. This is because the effort you put in upfront to craft valuable content for your blog will continue to provide you results for years to come.
I like to think of writing a blog post as planting a marketing seed. Once that seed is planted, over time it will begin to grow in value with each month and year that passes.
Unlike social media posts which have a very limited time span of up to 24 hours (and oftentimes even less!), strategically crafted blog posts will continue to provide you results long after the post was written.
This is why it is important to have a solid content strategy for your blog that addresses the challenges your client is facing, along with the solutions you provide, so that over time - as your domain authority grows - search engines will begin to serve your content in the search results.
So as you can see, blogging strategically is one of the best things you can do to grow your business because it helps you build your audience, demonstrate your expertise, build a relationship with your prospective clients and ultimately grow your business.
If you need any assistance with creating a content strategy for your blog that will help you achieve your business goals, please reach out as I can help!
