Why do I need a blog?

People usually fall into one of two camps. 

They write blogs but don’t really know why they need them.  Or they write a blog now and again in the hope that it actually does something.

You might be the person that writes blogs regularly and is super clear on your content and you make full use of them! If that’s you, amazing! Go forth and carry on you don’t need to read this.

But if you still aren’t clear on what a blog is for, why you need a blog, or how you can use a blog in your business, then read on as you might find this quite interesting.

So blogs are fairly new.  New if you consider that 1997 is as recent as I do! 1997 was when the term ‘weblog’ was coined by an American called Jorn Barger which later was shortened to blog. 

So let’s start with why are blogs are so useful.

Blogs give you shareable content

Firstly a blog is content.  And we are all driven by content right? Everything on social media is content.  We know we need to post to our social media accounts daily and we get SO stuck on what to write.

But now have an 800-word Blog sitting right there, with numerous snippets of content and thoughts you could expand on and share.  A blog could last you a whole week in social media posts quite easily.

And every time you quote from your blog, you direct people back to your website for the full article. 

Now you have got some additional website visitors and people staying on your website for more than a few seconds to read your blog.  Google starts to think you are a bit of a badass and pushes you that little bit further up the rankings.

Blogs are your backbone of website SEO

Secondly, as mentioned above, to read a blog, people have to stay on your website for a bit. So Google thinks it’s pretty good that people aren’t immediately clicking off. There is a lot of SEO involved in a blog. I try not to think too much about it when I write them as I’m an organic type of writer.  But there is some value in going back over your blog once you’ve written it, and just making sure you have dropped in those all-important keywords or phrases that you know people are searching for. 

Blogs give you connection

There are lots of reasons why a blog is useful, but another good reason is that it makes you SHINE above your competitors.  If I were to visit two competitors, and one had an outdated haphazard blog, while the other had a regular blog with information I could connect with and use, then I would absolutely go for the latter. Wouldn’t you?

They have connected with me before I even met them.  Not only do they appear to be on the same level as me, sharing content I can relate to, but they have taken the time to give me some free advice.

So how do you know what content to put into your blog?

I think this falls into two areas:

• Informative

• Personal

Now depending on your business, how you connect with your audience will determine how you speak and communicate in your blog. That’s something for you to have a really good think about so that you know what your conversation style is going to be before you start writing. It also depends on your personality too.  If you aren’t sure, ask your friends, family and customers. Read your reviews. I’m a creative pretty outgoing person. This is my speciality as a Digital Marketer.  When people speak to me on the phone this translates, bubbly and chatty!

If you are your brand (which I am) then convey your personality.  If your brand is more about your business than you, then make sure you still keep it conversational to an extent. You just might not be all ‘Hey!’ and ‘How’s it hanging?!’. Write in a way that feels comfortable for you. As if YOU were talking. (NOTE: I would always recommend that you show that your business is very much about you. YOU are what is going to set you apart from all those other businesses)

I absolutely think that a mix of blogs that solve problems for your audience in a warm conversational way, together with a few more personal blogs about you and your business are a great way for your audience to get to know you and connect with you.

If you want more inspiration and content ideas, then join my Facebook group over here - a free group where I share advice and tips and where you can connect with other business owners. It’s a super fun group - get over there and say hey!