Is Blogging for Your Business Really Worth it in 2021?

Running a business takes a lot of time and energy, especially if you’re just starting out. You need to be smart about where you focus your time and energy. So is blogging for your business really worth it?

The short answer is yes. But first, let’s get clear about what I mean when I say your business needs a blog.

What a blog is not…

The blog that you need for your business is not a spot where you write a few paragraphs about a funny situation that happened over the weekend accompanied by some mediocre pictures.

Back in the OG days of blogging, even the bloggers making money from their blogs were doing a lot of what could be considered online journaling. This is no longer the case.

The bloggers who currently make a full time income (or in some cases a legit fortune) are not treating their blog like a diary. They see their blog as a valuable business tool, and you would be wise to follow their lead to drive potential customers to your business.

So how can you use blogging for your business to increase sales? Let’s get right to it.

A blog drives traffic to your website.

If you’re using a website to sell a product or advertise for your business, you need people to visit your site.

In the online world, you can’t depend on someone finding your business. First, a customer that types your business name into the search bar is already familiar with you. Second, your business doesn’t just magically pop up in the search results.

What you need is a way to drive more traffic to your site. Blogging for your business gives people a reason to come to your website on a regular basis.

There are other ways to increase traffic, but a lot of them have something in common. Take a look at what I mean…

• You can pay to advertise on other websites.
• There are paid ad options on social media platforms like FaceBook and Instagram.
• You can pay for Google ads.

Are you seeing a pattern? None of these traffic sources are free. If you already have a website, adding a blog isn’t going to cost you anything extra. It’s also a proven source of increased website visitors.

Hubspot found that of all inbound marketing efforts, blogging was cited as the #1 reason for an increase in website traffic.

When you blog consistently, people have a reason to return to your site because they know they’ll find useful content in your blog.

Higher search ranking means more traffic.

It’s not just potential customers that will remember your website as a place to find valuable content. A certain search engine also recognizes your website based on content.

The more that Google sees your website as an authority on a specific topic, the higher you rank when someone searches for that same topic. This is super important for helping people find your business.

Remember the last time you clicked on a link that you found on page 7 of a Google search? Neither do I.

You want your business to rank well in a Google search and blogging can help improve your ranking when you use SEO to your advantage (more on that later).

More traffic to your site means more potential customers. The more that people visit your site, the more familiar they become with your business, and the more likely they are to purchase from you down the road.

Blogging adds personality to your business.

A second benefit is that a blog gives your customers insight into your business that they don’t get from a sales page.

Sharing behind the scenes details or background stories, for example, invites customers to connect with the story behind the business.

Let’s say you run a business selling gift baskets. You could write a blog post describing how you found inspiration for a new product during a trip to Paris.

The post creates a deeper connection with your customers and helps you develop the “know, like, and trust” factor that leads to a community of loyal followers.

Melyssa Griffin teaches digital courses for entrepreneurs and bloggers who want to grow their audience to increase their income. When she rebranded her website from The Nectar Collective to MelyssaGriffin.com, she wrote a post explaining her reasons for the rebrand. She also reassured her audience that they would continue to see the high quality content that they’d come to expect on her site.

The post received 149 comments and 3.9K shares across social media platforms. Social shares make you visible to a larger audience, including potential customers. This leads us to the next benefit of blogging for your business.

Blog posts provide social media content.

Social media is an easy (and free) way to promote your business and bring visibility to your website.

You don’t need to be active on every platform. The trick is to figure out where your customers are hanging out and utilize that platform to your advantage.

The biggest complaint from businesses about social media is not knowing what to share. Blog posts automatically provide content that you and your customers can share on social media.

Here’s an example of how you can use one blog post to create content across multiple platforms. Jenna Kutcher, online educator and podcaster, posted about a podcast interview with Kelly McNelis.

She then shared the blog post on FaceBook,

on Instagram,

and on Pinterest.

Your customers may not share your product page, but they’re much more likely to share a link to a blog post titled 11 Unique Ways to Use a Handheld Steamer.

Not only are you providing helpful tips, but someone who reads that post might think, “Hey, those are really useful ideas. Maybe I should get a handheld steamer.”

While sharing other people’s content is a great way to attract an audience on your social media profiles, sharing your own content demonstrates the value of your business.

Related: How to Use Social Media for Your Business Without Getting Overwhelmed.

Blogging provides a steady stream of shareable content to put your business in front of a larger audience of potential clients and customers.

A blog gives you authority and credibility in your market.

Sharing useful information with your audience helps position you as an authority in your industry. Instead of simply trying to makes sales, you become known for providing expertise.

For example, a wedding photographer could write a post titled 10 Tips to Help Your Bridal Party Enjoy a Photo Shoot. Instead of just taking beautiful pictures, the photographer is demonstrating knowledge that can help a bride have a better experience on her wedding day.

The wedding photographer comes across as an authority in her field even though she didn’t say “I’m great at helping bridesmaids feel good about getting their picture taken.”

Blogging allows you to showcase your business or skills without stating the obvious.

For example, Whole Foods Market uses a blog to share information that would be useful to someone shopping at their store. Because Whole Foods specializes in high end ingredients, featuring unique ways to use a more common item is also appealing to their ideal customer.

Blogging is an easy way to address common customer issues.

Do you get the same questions over and over? Is there a common issue among your customers that could be easily addressed?

Create a blog post answering these frequent questions and link to it on your contact and about pages. You can update it regularly when new questions come up.

You can also refer customers to the post when they contact you instead of spending time repeatedly emailing answers to the same questions.

The Bottom Line

Blogging is one more way that you can reach potential customers and build your business.

In a noisy world where people are marketed to thousands of times a day, blogging for your business can help you stand out by providing value that doesn’t require a purchase.