Blogging is a way to separate you from the crowd, just like the ducklings huddled together eventually will go out on their own.
By Shelley Widhalm
Everyone seems to have a blog from writers to business owners, but are they a necessity?
With more than 150 million blogs in existence, it seems like a key way to promote what you have to offer to your readers, customers and clients. Google certainly likes blogs and other written content for Search Engine Optimization and higher online rankings.
Beyond SEO
But blogging goes beyond simple SEO. A blog is part of branding, an aspect of creating a platform and a form of marketing.
Consistent, quality blogging creates an image and demonstrates expertise and authority in a niche. It gets readers to turn to you, because, over time, they begin to value your knowledge and how you relay that knowledge, plus your values and what you see as most important. It’s a way to connect in the fast-pace world of social media that feels a little more personal.
Blogs should educate, inform and entertain and not be solely written for SEO purposes. Content-mill or -farm produced blogs are written to get clicks—what’s created is SEO-stuffed with little meaning and value. They only are about quantity, not quality.
Quality Blogs
Alternatively, writing regular quality blogs create relationships, build audiences and convert readers to fans, clients and customers. They result in engagement and a following.
Research shows that blogs should be posted once a week on the same day of the week, and not randomly, especially with big gaps of time and a lack of focus in topic. To create quality blogs, think about your target market. Who are you writing to? What voice do you want to use to reach them? What is it you want to say?
Blogs are a way to talk about your business, your newest product or service, your latest book or your artwork. It’s a way to show your process of creation. It’s a way to show what attracts fans to your business or what you have to offer and why you are the best pick.
Blogging Advantages
Here are some advantages of blogging. Blogs can:
- Put you in front of your customers, serving a similar purpose as an ad or marketing materials.
- Bring traffic to your website.
- Nurture and build a relationship with your audience through regular connection.
- Separate you from your competition.
Blogs also can be used to tell your story and to make your business, platform or website look personal and inviting. The good news is they don’t have to be written by you—you can hire a ghostwriter to get great quality and a consistent approach that brings readers back wanting more.