Have you ever done a Google search, found what looks to be a great link, clicked and it's a post from two years ago and the content isn't relevant anymore? So you head to the home page of that particular site thinking there may be some more up-to-date info and nothing? They haven't put up a new blog post in months?
Blogging isn't a trend or a fad. You don't just jump on the blogging bandwagon. It should be a key part of your marketing strategy. And nothing says "we don't care!" faster than a blog that isn't active. You leave a bad taste in the mouth of your visitors and can pretty much guarantee they won't be coming back.
And by active, we mean at least one post a week, but two or three is better.
In reality, an active blog benefits your business in a huge variety of ways.
- Your website gets indexed much more often, so you have better organic search results - more visibility means more traffic.
- When you're active on your site, your visitors see that and the dedication and time you are showing on your site helps increase conversion rates. They see you taking time to invest in your site, so you'll take the time to invest in them.
- Active blogging also helps establish your company as THE authority in your niche. You build brand loyalty which also increases conversion rates.
- Your blog posts provide content for other avenues like social media. When your readers share your posts on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn you get a social signal. Social signals improve organic search results (more traffic!).
- You also provide a discussion forum when you post a new blog article. Comment threads allow for back-and-forth with your readers and also give you insight into what they're looking for from your product or company. Free market research is always a good thing.
- Each new post gives you another opportunity to rank for more keywords. More quality keyword rankings equals more traffic.
- Other sites and writers are always on the lookout for relevant and well-written articles they can cite from. They use your article, link back to it and ta-dah! An increase in search rankings, more awareness for your company and more leads.
Fresh Content Means Better Search Results
Google places some serious importance on up-to-date, fresh information, as evident by the Google Freshness algorithm they use. So you want to keep publishing new and exciting information on your site to feed those rankings.
You can also update some old content, but you don't necessarily have to go in and do a major overhaul of all of your content.
Because blog posts are considered to be pages search engines LOVE to crawl, they are a great way to give your site a healthy dose of "fresh". And you know, you can update other pages on your site too. About Us, Contact, your home page - these are great pages to update regularly.
What Type of Content Should You Be Writing?
When creating your content strategies writing you really want to focus on evergreen content; this is content that will pass the test of time. It stays relevant way past the point of when it was published.
However, you should also mix it up a little. Things like company news, new products, services or team members or the opening of a new location are great posts to share with your readers and they contain information that your visitors might be searching for. Not only that, but these posts give your readers an inside look at your company and make it personal.
It's well known that blog posts with "XX Tips on..." or "Top Ten Reasons..." as a title are great for capturing your readers' interest. Make sure you keep their interest with the content of the post.
Resources and guest posts are also amazing performers. Don't forget to take a look at your social channels to see what kind of posts are getting high engagement rates and make writing content about those topics a priority when doing your content planning. And if you can, videos are also a great idea.
A great mix of blog articles is nothing but beneficial to your company and to your website. You want those compelling and thought-provoking evergreen pieces in your mix, but the announcements and other feel-good pieces create a more rounded feel to your content and your company.
The Benefit of Engaged Readers
SEO is a continual process - always changing and adapting to the people using it. Results are becoming more targeted and personalized. So as a company, you need to meet those needs. Focus your content on what your visitors are looking for!
Remember how we mentioned that content is also a discussion forum? Look at the questions your readers are asking, and answer them in a blog post. This keeps your readers interested and coming back for more.
And isn't that why you're doing all this blogging? The higher your reader interest, the higher your engagement results which translates to better blog and site traffic.
Exposure and Credibility
We've always believed you need to be the trusted authority in your niche. You need to build your reputation and authority as an expert in your field. Writing great content leads to better exposure - that's just common sense right?!
People who are active on social media and bloggers love great content, and they love sharing it. This only works to your advantage, as your reach, exposure and creditability grow exponentially with each share, tweet or pin.
As a blog, when you really establish yourself as an authority, more people want to link to your content and inbound links are a major factor in ranking algorithms. More exposure means online readers and search engines will be more likely to see you as a credible source, thus building up your brand loyalty. And that leads to better conversion rates and better rankings in the results on search engines.
It all goes full circle. Great content = more readers checking out all your content = more shares and inbound links = higher search engine rankings = more visibility = more readers... and on it goes. And that's the ultimate goal. The best part? As you're blogging and creating fresh content, your SEO just gets better and better.
