Digital marketing has become an essential part of running a business in 2020. Because of recent events, internet use has skyrocketed, according to the Pew Research Center. To survive, companies are ramping up their online strategies, hoping to capitalize on the action. If you own or manage a business, you may have been considering starting a blog. This article will help you decide and give you some tips for starting.
Why Start a Blog
Google and other search engines love a regularly updated website. When you have a blog on your business website, it signals to those search engines that you are active. If you combine this with genuinely compelling content that offers actual value to your target audience, the search engines will make sure your website appears higher on people’s searches.
A well-researched and well-written blog will also inform your visitors that you know your stuff. That’s why it’s essential to write about topics that are related to your business and that your target market is interested in. Once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field, people will keep coming back to learn more.
A blog is also another platform to interact with your audience. Reading and answering comments will boost your online engagement. Plus, since you control the topics you post on the blog, you also control the themes of the conversations surrounding your posts.
How and Where to Start
The concept of your blog will mainly be based on the nature of your business. It has to be consistent with your overall branding message. Although this somewhat narrows down your focus, there is still a lot of room to accommodate different topics, especially compared to writing copy for your website. If you own a bike store, for example, you can write about anything from bike parts to road safety tips. Your blog’s concept should be focused, but not restricting.
Now that you have your concept, you can choose your platform. You can choose to host your own blog on your website. If you don’t have one yet, there are several free and paid services you can use. WordPress is a popular choice because you can start free and eventually move it to your own, paid domain. Some organizations offer WordPress management to help you stay on top of your blog.
Other Reminders
Once you get the technical side out of the way, there is still the creative side to think about. It can be daunting to stare at a blank page when writing your first few posts — not because you don’t know what to write about (you know your business better than anyone after all), but because there’s a desire to write the perfect article. But that doesn’t exist. Many experts have gone through this challenge, and their advice is to start writing. The mistakes you will inevitably make will be the foundation for your improvement. And you will improve if you keep going.
Starting a blog is an excellent way for your business to boost its digital marketing strategies. Keep these pointers in mind and keep writing. Good luck!
