There are multiple ways to look at blogging for your business. Is your primary goal to provide useful information to consumers or vendor partners. Are you looking to share expert opinions and more personal insight? Or, are you purely putting up more blog content to boost your SEO?
All three are viable reasons to support having a business blog. In our opinion, though, a good blog should incorporate all of these elements.
First, let’s look at the obvious reason most business owners start a blog. That would be for increased Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A blog is a fantastic source of fresh content on your site and the more content you have, the better (so long as it is unique content). Your blog articles will incorporate searchable keywords within the verbiage, as well as SEO tags to help readers find your site when searching about specific subjects related to your business.
So, yes. SEO is probably the primary reason for having a business blog. However, let’s delve a little deeper into what kind of content you want to be creating. At NextGear Marketing, we get asked the question all the time. What is better, information or insight?
The answer is both are equally important.
Informational blog posts are pretty easy to explain. You write about a subject pertaining to a specific product or service relevant to your industry. If you run an auto repair shop, maybe you describe how certain engine parts function, provide car maintenance tips or talk about a certain type of service you specialize in. Informational posts are good for SEO because they naturally contain a lot of searchable content. However, a lot of similar articles can usually be found online with the same basic information.
So how do you get people to find your article about that subject?
That’s where insight comes in. Insight can refer to a number of different elements you can incorporate into any blog article to help make it more relevant to your company.
1. Sales
You want to be careful not to get overly “salesy” on your blog, but certainly you can use any article as a chance to weave in some key strategic marketing messages. When paired with good information, a subtle sales message can enhance the credibility of your company (i.e. expertise in that subject) in the eyes of the reader.
2. Opinions
You typically won’t want to offer any really polarizing opinions or staunch political messages, but you can take advantage of any opportunity to provide some personal insight about a subject. Perhaps you are reviewing a new piece of equipment or talking about a trend affecting your industry. Add some opinion and perspective to create more depth in the article and, again, show the readers you know what you are talking about.
3. Testimonials
Nothing adds credibility like a third-party comment. Utilize testimonials from your customers or specifically write testimonial story articles. This means someone else is heaping praise on your company. It’s not just you talking about how great you are. And that means a whole more to fellow consumers.
4. Examples
Like customer testimonials, using first-hand examples can really boost the appeal of any blog article. Walk someone through the service process by framing it as something that happened with a particular customer (even if that customer is hypothetical). It’s a way to incorporate your business name throughout the story without feeling too salesy.
Ultimately, the best business blog articles will include useful information along with insightful elements. Put it all together with other SEO components and you will have a very powerful blog to promote your business and drive more organic traffic to your website.
For more information about business blogging, contact NextGear Marketing today.
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