Is your business looking for ways to drive more traffic to your website? To attract more leads? Blogging is the answer. Companies that blog get 55 percent more website visitors than if they didn’t blog at all. Marketers that use blogs get 67 percent more leads than those who don’t.
Blogging has long been a popular means for businesses to enhance their reputation and sales. And they continue to grow in importance. In a recent survey by Impact, 89 percent of companies said they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
More and more prospects look to blogs to learn about products, recommendations, statistics and information. They spend more time on a blog than they do reading an email. That means more time connecting with your brand. Here is a look at the increase in blog readership over a recent seven-year span:
Benefits of having a blog
There are many benefits to a blog. They include:
- Driving traffic to your website
- Gaining attention that can be redirected to other parts of your site
- Reaching new prospects
- Staying connected with customers
- Helping convert web traffic into leads
- Providing these benefits for weeks, months and years
One of the major benefits of a blog that is blog posts are instant and shareable through other channels, including social media and email. That means more opportunities for your business to be noticed. Need content for your emails? Use your blog content. Need to share information with a prospect? Send them a blog link.
Types of blog posts
The hardest part of blogging is coming up with topics. There’s nothing worse than staring at a blank screen, wondering what to write about. The writer Gene Fowler, in the pre-internet days, once said, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Professional bloggers have tricks-of-the-trade they use to generate ideas. Since most companies can’t afford to hire a professional, we’ve compiled the following list of blog types to help you create interesting posts.
We can’t tell you exactly what to write, but keeping these approaches in mind will help you kick-start the writing process.
The Crash-Test Dummy
The Crash-Test Dummy blog is one that consists of tests, different strategies, techniques, and tools. It shares what works and what doesn’t so readers can know what to implement and what to avoid. An example of a Crash-Test Dummy blog is our Biznet post The Best Channels for B2B Lead Generation, which introduces the best strategies in lead generation.
The Rogue
The Rogue blog is a blog that takes bold stances on divisive issues, such as an opinion or belief that a company might have on how to do things or what you should do in a certain situation. A good example of this type our article You sent an email with an error. Now what?
The Niche
The Niche is a blog topic in which you narrow your focus to an ultra-specific topic. This article type is perfect for talking in-depth about a topic related to your business and your products. A great example is the blog we did for a client: The Self-Health Revolution
The Giver
The Giver blog is one that you introduce something related to your business in the form of giveaways to bring in more interest to the product or service. This can also attract more traffic! A simple example of this type is one our client produced: Cleary University launches tuition program for public service workers.
The Guide
The Guide blog consists of guiding someone through a concept with how-to’s and other problem-solving tactics. This tutorial-style blog is very popular for educating customers or prospects. An example is the blog we did for a client: Cleanse Your Skin With This Charcoal Detox.
The Homer
The Homer blog is composed of long-form content. It describes a topic in detail, from various angles and perspectives. This type of content gets the most shares and a better shot at attracting organic search traffic.
The Tell-All
The Tell-All blog is one that shares problems/lessons learned and walks the reader through the situation and tells them the best ways to handle it themselves. This type of blog can build trust by sharing a relatable experience with readers. A good example of this type is Overcome the Fears Associated with Returning to College as an Adult.
The Enterprise
The enterprise blog consists of information, ideas and strategies about your company. This type of blog can inform your customers about what your business is all about. Take a look at one we did recently: Digital Marketing Trends of 2017.
How to get your blog noticed
Once you’ve determined that a blog would benefit your company, the next step is getting it noticed. Studies show that blog articles with images get 94 percent more views. Schedule and frequency matter, too. Posting at a variety of different rates (daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) helps with search engine ranking.
Sharing your blog across social media channels and via email will generate attention, too. If you send out a regular email newsletter, by all means include links to your blog posts to increase the chance of them being seen. Always make sure to write great headlines and subject lines and focus on customer interests for the best chance to get your blog the most attention and traffic.
At Biznet, we help companies enhance their lead generation activities through a range of digital marketing specialties, including blogging. Check out our digital marketing services page to see all we can do for you. Or give us a call at 248-560-9000.
