A business website without a blog is like a smart shiny car parked in the drive without any fuel in the tank.
If potential customers go out of their way to look for it, they have a good chance of finding it, particularly if they have a registration number or an address to hand. They can admire the wing mirrors and the plush leather seats; they can ponder crumple zones and parking sensors and even wonder how many miles they could get to the gallon.
But, let’s be honest, once they have seen the car once, they might not think it worth making the trip another time to see it all again.
Now imagine filling up the tank, starting up the engine and driving around your local area. You can toot your horn to say hello to friends and acquaintances or park outside a busy club, pub or gym, engaging people in conversation as they go by. By driving your car you are getting it and yourself noticed and sometimes you will be noticed by people who want to do business with you.
Writing a blog for your company website is like putting fuel in the tank. At the most basic level, regular posts are the petrol of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Google just loves blogs; mainly because they are posted frequently, but also because, if well done, they link in with news items, keywords and other websites.
In a cyber-world where millions of websites remain unchanged every day, blogs offer up fresh new information, and Google recognises that fact by giving that content higher placement when users search for related topics. Research by Hubspot indicates that company wesbites that have blogs receive 55 per cent more visitors and an active blog draws 6.9 times more organic search traffic than one without.
Beyond the mechanics of SEO, however, writing a blog transforms a website visitors’ perception of your business.
Compare the experience of visiting a site with some corporate information, a few photographs and some product information (most of which appear not have been changed since the website designer left the building in October 2007) with the experience of finding one which is constantly updated with varied and interesting content.
Imagine the visitor being driven to your website through a topical news search and finding a page which is populated with lots of posts that are relevant and engaging. The visitor will conclude that your company is active, busy and knowledgeable, perhaps even a thought leader in its industry.
The wider the range of subjects you blog about, the greater the likelihood that someone will be directed to your website by search engines.
You can really write about anything, although linking the ideas within your blog back to your core business is a good idea. So do not let a lack of news within your own company hold you back, you are not limited to writing about your product or services. React to the news, put forward opinions, offer advice.
Put some fuel in your tank.
