What is a blog? Blogs are frequently updated online journals, news archives, or other articles based on specific topics. There are personal blogs, about the people who write them, kind of like online memoirs. What we’ll be focusing on however on blog development for business’s marketing use. These are blogs dedicated to a brand’s services, products, and overall company content.
Technically, the blog is a list of blog posts. Posts are individual articles, resources, and news releases that are located at their own URL and contain text, images, and other media. These posts are typically organized in order of most recent to oldest and depending on the website’s design, can be accessed in a variety of ways.
The easiest way to create and maintain a blog is to use a Content Management System (CMS). We use WordPress for the majority of our client’s websites but there are dozens to choose from. We wrote more about why you should use a CMS here.
So, does your business need a blog?
Well, do your customers search for, learn from, or buy from your business over the internet? There’s much to be gained from developing a blog for your website and creating a strong content marketing strategy.
- Blogs are easy to update and inexpensive to maintain. Blogs have an exceedingly low overhead. Most blogging software does not require a webmaster to edit. This translates to less cash spent on programming or blog development and less time spent waiting for your webmaster to update your site. You can hire a writer if you like, but if you’re confident in your ability to efficiently communicate your ideas online, you can be your own blogger. This ease of use assures that you can keep your blog and your customers as up-to-date on your business as you want.
- Blogs give your company an accessible personality. Let your customers get to know you. You’re a nice company— people love you. Your customers need to know this. Having a blog instead of, or in conjunction with, standard advertising gives consumers the chance to see the kind of minds behind your company. They also allow customers to know more about your company, since you can pack more information in a 500-word blog post than you can in a thumbnail-size ad on someone’s Facebook profile.
- Trust is built through unique blog articles. Obviously, people are more likely to do business with companies they trust than companies they do not. That trust is often formed by familiarity and a blog about your business, wherein the details of your product or service are explained with more depth than a fifteen-second ad allows. And it’s not just product knowledge that comes across the gap between screen and viewer. A well-written blog can communicate just how passionate you are about what you do. The effort of putting a few extra pages of content to help your customers will show that you’re willing to do more than simply wave your sign around and wait for business to come to you.
- Blogs boost your web presence and SEO. Take into account that your blog is a keyword-laden treasure trove of information that the search engines are hungry for. You want your blog to be seen as top choice among competing blogs vying for your attention. The more keywords you can cleverly fit into any given blog post that relate to your topic, the greater the likelihood to be seen by a potential client or investor. Simply put, blogs are a great way to drive people to your site in an indirect way and are great for your search engine optimization campaigns.
- Like I said: it’s your blog. There is no editor (unless you want to hire one). That means you call the shots. You decide what goes into each piece. You decide the tone of your blog. Will it be humorous? Will it be serious? Will it be customer service-oriented, or will it be designed to mainly provide product information? Or will it do both? Your blog can be customized to fit your unique business model. No matter what tone or content you want your blog to have, nothing goes to the final presses without your approval. After all, it is your business we’re talking about. Who knows it better than you do?
At Square 205, we provide blog design & blog development, content strategy development, copywriting and content management services.
Curious how to get started or want to know more about any of these reasons? Just contact us here.
