Should I write a blog for my business?
These days, do you even exist if you don’t have a blog? It can certainly feel that way sometimes. With the explosion of content marketing and the pressure to post consistently on social media, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the commotion and jump on the bandwagon before you’ve even considered why to start a blog, let alone how.
Content marketing and blogging is, in theory, a fantastic way to keep your marketing going for free. If it’s done right, it will bring in more new leads and more revenue than any paid advertising ever could.
But that’s if it’s done right. And it’s very easy to do it wrong.
There are plenty of articles out there extolling the virtues of writing a blog for your business. I’m not going to add to the noise on Google by writing another one. So, in brief, here is a good summary of what a high-quality inbound marketing strategy (AKA blog content) can do for you:
If you’re blogging well and your articles are search engine optimised, every click of that blog post is a potential conversion. You’ll be drawing new visitors to your main website and, once there, they might just choose to buy from you.
Much like having a super-slick tone of voice promotes trust and establishes your authority, so does a well-written blog.
Blogging is a short-term traffic spike and a long-term marketing tactic. When you first publish and promote a blog, it will generate views, maybe a few leads and perhaps a few shares on social media. Then, as feeds refresh and new posts slide on in, the fanfare dies down. But your blog post is still working hard for you. For days, weeks, months, and years to come, you can continue to get traffic and leads from a single blog post if it’s ranking on Google.
Should I start a blog?
Although content writing pays my bills and is a large part of my work, the first thing I ask a client who approaches me to kickstart blogging for their business is: “what are you hoping your blog will achieve?”
Lots of people have vague ideas about how it can help. They’ve got a well-thumbed copy of They Ask, You Answer on their book shelves (I have to confess here, I have spent years writing and editing content and only heard of this book a few months ago!) and now they want to put Marcus Sheridan’s teachings into action. They’ve heard about SEO and how blogs can help their Google ranking. Maybe they’ve just got a lot of ideas and would like to put them out there.
All of those reasons are great. But, in isolation, they’re not enough.
I’ll let you in on a secret: content marketing done badly is one of the biggest wastes of time and money for a business. Because content strategy and execution – even for bad content – takes a lot of hours.
The thing is: time is at a premium in modern life. We are all busy. We are especially busy scrolling through our phones looking at – you’ve guessed it – content. Open Instagram, you’re looking at content. Click on a shared Facebook link, you’re looking at content. Read a Guardian Longread, you’re looking at content.
Never before have human beings been bombarded with So. Much. Content.
So your blog really needs to cut through that noise and provide them with some quality action points that keep them on the page.
Going against the grain with most articles out there on the web, I’m going to share some reasons why you shouldn’t bother with a blog.
Don’t start a blog if:
Your competitors are blogging, so you feel like you should too
If the main reason you’re considering starting a blog is simply because you’ve seen everyone else is doing it, stop yourself right there.
I get it. I am THE WORST at checking out the competition and then writing myself a to-do list of a million-and-one things I have decided I should be doing for my business. But what works for one person, brand or business isn’t necessarily right for you. Sure, content can bring in some fresh leads and help you assert your authority, but what is your content going to tell your customers?
Make sure you have a solid reason to begin blogging – that could be a wider marketing strategy or a plan to share more high-quality pieces on social media. But it needs to come from you, not from anybody else.
You don’t have the time or money to keep up a blog
Blogs are a fantastic strategy to yield organic traffic, but it could take six months or more for you to start seeing a trickle-down effect in new visitors. This is why consistency is vital. Writing a blog represents a large commitment. You’ll need a content calendar, a content plan, a platform and – most importantly of all – the time (or the budget to pay someone) to write all those blogs.
The more great-quality content you have on your blog, the easier it will be for people to find you from search engines. But if you don’t have time to put quality content out there, you won’t be seeing many results, and you’ll get despondent pretty quickly.
You’re doing content for content’s sake
Ask yourself two things before starting a blog:
Who is going to be reading this?
What do they want to learn?
Your ‘ideal’ readers should be both your current customers and your prospects. Therefore, you need to think like they do. It’s very easy to fall into a trap with content. You start feeling pressure to put out regular blog posts, which can often result in what I like to call ‘content for content’s sake’. That means, pointless content that is not relevant to your audience. That’s a sure-fire way to both waste your time and stop people clicking on any of your future articles.
Be brutal. If you can’t explain how a blog post informs or inspires your key customers, bin it.
How to start planning a blog content strategy
If you’ve run through all of those and you’re still feeling like you have the time, energy and goals to start a blog then GO FOR IT (or, hit me up, I can help). Here’s how to make a start on a rough content strategy…
Utilise customer FAQs
What are some of the questions you’re consistently being asked? Put customers at ease by answering some of these with your blog and kickstart the sales process in doing so.
Repurpose or expand your other content
Maybe you have an email in your intro sequence with a killer conversion rate? Add to it, embellish it and hone the message into a blog post that’s even more helpful to new and prospective customers.
Tap into the zeitgeist and the season
(Zeitgeist is such a great word, isn’t it?) What’s everyone doing right now? What’s happening in the world and how does it affect your customers? Maybe autumn’s coming up. Shorter days, rainy weather, cosy evenings. How does that relate to your business?
Allow me to elaborate:
Coffee brand? Energise your mornings with our punchiest espresso blend ever.
Skincare brand? Autumn-proof your complexion with these moisturising skincare heroes.
Flooring brand? Beat the mud this autumn with our wipe-clean vinyl flooring.
See how easy it is once you get going?
Do your keyword research
I’m not going to do a deep dive into SEO here as that needs about ten blog posts to explain fully (and, I’ll be honest, I find it a total snore-fest, Zzz), but if you want your blog to start bringing in organic traffic, you must do your keyword research. By keywords, I mean the things people are most likely to be searching for. Your blog needs to be shaped around these so that, when people type that burning question into google, your blog post is the one being pulled in to answer it.
You can use plenty of tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends or even professional SEO businesses. I personally like to use a little site called answerthepublic.com, which gives you all the options your potential readers might be typing into that little old search bar.
So, if you’re weighing up the pros and cons of launching a blog, I hope this is helpful. Just make sure you’re a lighthouse on the shore, not another one of those plentiful fish in the sea – swimming frantically but being drowned out by the competition.