You know your business better than anyone else, but are you writing about it? If you’re not actively promoting your company or informing customers with a blog, now is a great time to start! It can be overwhelming at first to write content for your ideal audience, but the data shows blogging is well worth your time.
While the trends, algorithms, and tools of online marketing are often changing, “content is king” remains true. Having plenty of high-quality, relevant content on your website can grow your business, cost less to promote, and earn the trust (and business) of your customers.
For example, when small businesses blog, they can expect to generate 126% more leads than competitors who don’t create content. That’s a big potential boost in business, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of blogging.
In this post, we’ll explain how blogging will allow you to grow your small business, as well as a few easy tips for writing content your customers will love.
How Blogging Grows Your Business
It has clear financial benefits.
We know blogging can be time-consuming or seem like a challenge if you don’t consider yourself a writer. But it’s a valuable enterprise for any business, from getting more traffic to converting more leads. Websites with over 200 blogs on their website earn six times the amount of traffic compared to websites with 10 or fewer blogs. And this statistic increases to over eight times the amount of traffic for smaller businesses (those with one to 10 employees).
Prioritizing your blogging efforts also makes you 13 times more likely to see a positive return on investment. That’s a pretty big deal, especially when you consider blogging is about 62% cheaper than outbound marketing strategies like direct mail, billboards, or signs.
But do blogs lead to actual purchases? In the U.S., 61% of online shoppers say they’ve made a purchase because of a blog recommendation. Not only does this help your business, but it’s also proof that customers
Customers trust companies with blogs.
Blogs are the fifth most trusted source for accurate information on the internet. When you create helpful, relevant content, you’re taking steps to build positive relationships with the people you want to reach the most. You can further increase consumers’ trust in your content by backing it up with (and linking to) credible sources, such as news sites or industry articles.
Blogs outweigh paid ads in reliability and boost a website’s reputation. Nearly 80% of users report ignoring paid posts or ads and only using organic results (such as blog posts or a website’s pages). Blogs can boost your organic SEO, getting your site more clicks and reaching more potential customers while building their trust in you.
But not all blogs are created equal. There are things you can do to make your content more appealing and trust-building for your target audience.
How to Write Blogs Your Customers Will Love
1. Keep your titles short and sweet.
Blog titles with six to 13 words result in the highest, most consistent levels of traffic. Short headlines make it easy for readers to get a quick idea of whether your blog answers the questions they’re asking. The same goes for subheads since many of your prospects will likely just skim your content instead of reading word-for-word. When you keep your subheads brief—making them a summary of the content below—potential customers will have an easier time skimming the post and understanding the purpose of your blog.
2. Try odd-numbered listicles.
The listicle (writing articles in a list format) has quickly become more popular than some longer-form blogs, so this skimmable layout is almost always a safe choice for pleasing and engaging your readers. Interestingly, odd-numbered listicle titles increase click-through rates by up to 20%. According to UX Collective, the brain believes odd numbers more than even numbers, and it takes us longer to process odd numbers. Thus, we hone in on odd-numbered titles and digest the information more easily than with even-numbered headlines.
3. Write compounding posts.
Compounding posts—which are blogs receiving increased visits over time—make up one in 10 posts online and are vital for making content work for your small business. They account for 38% of blog traffic and are becoming increasingly valuable as more and more content becomes available. Stay relevant with your customers by writing about evergreen topics (parts of your industry that will never go away) and creating titles that reflect common search terms. This will allow customers to come back to your helpful content over and over again.
As you can see, blogging for your small business will allow you to communicate more effectively with your ideal customers. Wondering where to start or don’t have the time to blog? Experts can help by offering advice or even taking on blogging so you can focus on running your business.
Our proven marketing protocol helps companies make more money, free up time, and plan an effective strategy.
Treefrog Marketing is an agency in Lafayette, Indiana focused on small business. We specialize in strategic marketing and advertising, graphic design, web design, social media, SEO, and more. For more information, please visit our website. You can also connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
