Blogging has been around since the late ’90s, and many people have an outdated idea of what it means today. While plenty of people keep blogs for personal purposes, more businesses are including professional blogs on their websites and seeing a huge difference in traffic. With results like that, it’s easy to think the purpose of a blog is primarily for your customers’ benefit. They get some good information, and you become a resource for them, right?

In reality, however, the benefits of a blog are solidly in your favor as the business owner. Your website can experience a huge boost in visibility and traffic from simply adding an active blog. Here are 5 benefits to consider if you’re questioning the value of having a blog on your website:

1 | IMPROVES GOOGLE RANKING

Whenever you post new content on your website, that text is readable by search engines. If someone searches for similar content, search engines scan for keywords in your text that are relevant to that search. That data helps them determine the relevance of your content and where your site will show up in the endless list of results. Having a blog that updates weekly or biweekly increases the visibility of your site across multiple topics related to your business, allowing more chances for search engines to find you relevant. The more keywords you hit in your posts (as well as the number of relevant links to and from other websites), the more likely you are to show up at the top of a search and be seen by people looking for your expertise.

2 | BLOGS DRIVE TRAFFIC

Of course, ranking higher in Google searches only means more people see you. Creating compelling content that people actually want to click on is the surest way to get more traffic to your site. Blogging is a great way to get views, because you can target different kinds of posts to different parts of your audience. For instance, our Red Arrow Marketing blog covers many different topics from digital marketing, social media marketing, and more. All of which are relevant to our business and customers, but not everyone is looking for the same information at the same time. Casting a wide net is a sure way to show up in more searches and drive more traffic to your website. Getting people to click to other pages of your site or blog is also beneficial, so try to work in links where they make sense.

3 | KEEPS WEBSITE ACTIVITY UP

Another benefit of blogging is that it keeps your online presence active and current, even if the bulk of your website stays static. You may never change your list of services or contact information, but if first-time visitors ssee a relevant blog updating regularly, they can feel confident you’re staying engaged with your field. They’ll also know that what they’re seeing on your other website pages is current and reliable.

4 | EASILY SHAREABLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

While keeping website activity up is great, it’s even more beneficial to have an active social media presence. The term social media might remind you of sites like Facebook and Twitter, but it includes everything from visual media sites (Instagram and Snapchat) to news and networking sites (Reddit and LinkedIn). Regardless of where your audience is most likely to like and follow your business page, keeping an active blog on your website makes it easy to share your latest content straight to your social media pages. This serves the double purpose of keeping both web and social presences active, as well as increasing visibility and linking more people back to your website.

5 | PROVIDES CONTENT TO CUSTOMERS

Keywords may be king when it comes to search engines, but there will still be real people reading your posts. So hit those keywords, but try to work them into actually useful content that people will remember. You can technically make a nonsense blog post full of nothing but keywords that ranks high in a search…but anyone clicking on it hoping to find answers will just get frustrated and leave. That doesn’t do you or your business any favors, so it’s in your interest to make your content readable and relevant.

Having a blog has a lot of benefits that business owners can overlook. If you’re looking to start a new website or drive traffic to your current site, consider including a blog in your plan. Some website designers will build in a blog page you can update yourself, while other full-service marketing agencies offer plans to manage your blog content for you, so you’re sure to stay on schedule and hit those keyword targets. Either way, it’s a versatile tool that can start boosting your business today, so let’s get blogging!

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