Why businesses must have a blog to remain competitive. The stats are alarming and the results outstanding for those that understand the rules
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Table of contents
How does a blog relate to your business?
A good blog answers all the questions that your customers may want. It is the silent salesman that turns lookers into customers and customers into cash.
Don't get me wrong-a blog is not a sales page it is there to answer questions or solve the problem asked by the reader. However, it will link to a sales page for those ready to buy.
You are blogging for money so let's not get all religious about it because it takes time and expenditure to create your posts. You want some return at some time.
Blogging is not a get-rich-quick program. It is a time bomb that needs to gather followers and grab their money by stealth. A single blog may take many months to gain a page one listing where all the readers hang out and take action.
Give me some proof why blogging works
I grabbed some figures recently that high lite what I am saying.
- Bloggers worldwide publish 7.5 million posts a day.
- WordPress users alone publish around 70 million posts every single month.
- The average length of a blog post in 2020 was 1,269 words.
- 60% of all internet users actively read blogs.
- Companies with an active blog get 97% more links to their websites than those without a blog.
- In Q1 of 2021, there were close to 600 million blogs on the internet.
- Tumblr alone is home to more than 520.5 million blogs.
When you understand the value of a customer it is easy to justify blogging as a marketing expense.
However, you need to decide how often to blog and who has control of the writing.
It may be time consuming but it works.
The average time to wrote a blog is estimated at four hours however this may extend out to six hours in some cases.
Interestingly this is about 80 minutes longer than in the past decade when you could chop out a product and get read easily.
The average blog length is 1269 words spread out in at least 6 headlines and preferably a few more.
Furthermore, the most effective number of posts per month is under 22 and over 4 or basically one per working day or one a week. However, the number of posts determines the number of readers so if you want traffic then you lift your level of writing.
Why businesses must have a blog to remain competitive by following the rules
What are the main rules for blogging
We have covered how many blogs a month and how many words so let's dive a bit deeper.
The Keyword dilemma
A complete understanding of search terms will guarantee results however there are no shortcuts with this.
Keywords are those phrases that people use to find an answer. It may be written into Google or spoken into Siri but it tells the search engines exactly what you are looking for.
The problem with this is that you have issues with Traffic and competition. You need traffic however competition makes life hard to rank.
To help with this we use a Keyword tool that indicates what to expect with your search term.
If you are selling Tools for instance the traffic will be high and the competition huge. Getting to page one is very difficult.
You can see here that the traffic is great however there are about 271 web listings ahead of you.
This is an impossible task. Customers would need to search through about 27 pages to find your blog. No one goes past page three, ever.
However, if we narrow down the search term we start to get some good results. As bloggers, we tend to look at a 100/50 ratio as the best starting point. That is one hundred searches a month and competing sites less than 50. I have marked a good example of a keyword opportunity.
This is a typical search term that would be asked to Siri or typed to Google
Correct Keyword use will dictate your success and gather results whilst ignorance will destroy your enthusiasm for blogging that does not work. It is the difference between winners and losers.
Having authority and using it
Authority helps your post-move through the ranks. If I was to write about wood carving no one will listen because my credentials are not on display. However, a winner of the sculpture of the year award should really have some ideas that I can use and will rank ahead of me.
However, to cheat the system I will quote from the work of the winning sculpture person to show that I have done my research and not just blabbering on.
Your business needs to be blown up as big as possible and use the association with known brands to support your image.
You may notice that many posts will include links to National identities thus leveraging off their good name. You can do the same and build authority as you go.
It ranks behind Keywords in the level of importance however well above most other rules you will follow.
Why businesses must have a blog to remain competitive using Social media
Using your media to build a following
It is not all about SEO and Keywords because you have assets to help in your customer growth.
Social Media should be used to deliver people to your blog site. Having a link from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter provides a ready stream of visitors.
A product may carry a link to an article that can assist. Unboxing is popular where you describe basic installation when they first get the package.
You may detail other uses that have been discovered by customers to provide a greater range of benefits.
Your Website can contain links to popular posts that enhance the small number of words on the website.
Linking from your Website also helps your SEO and keeps readers close to your material.
Newsletters ( also in the must-do list) can carry a link to more information as can emails.
SMS is the new marketing media and can generate many customers wanting that extra deal available on your blog site.
Every bit of marketing should be linked together in some way to establish multi-point contact and thus grow the client recognition of your brand and business.
Outsourcing the work
As important as blogging is it is also time-consuming and demanding for ideas from you.
You can get Freelance writers from lower-income countries that are capable writers well versed in blogging. Fiverr is just one of these as an example.
You could write out your list of Keywords with products and images and provide strict parameters to follow.
The rules of blogging include short sentences, short paragraphs, free images with lists and links.
Build your platform and hand it out to others to write.
It may cost you a grand a month however if you get a 97% increase in website visitors payback will be guaranteed and the $1000 repaid many times over.
Fiverr.com
Why businesses must have a blog marketing strategy
If the stats are only 10% right and blogging drives 10% more web traffic you would have to think it is a necessary inclusion in any marketing strategy.
Tying all your marketing into a coherent approach to Multi-touch marketing would have to include Blogging. In fact, it is probably the strongest approach to customer acquisition you can have.
It can link to every channel and from every channel to tie them all together.
Everyone will read a blog every day of some kind. We want answers to simple questions or resolutions to a problem that will be solved with a simple web search.
Conclusion
As a businessman dealing with small businesses across the country, I get to see those businesses that are going ahead and unfortunately also those that are declining in the market.
Internet marketing is a rule and not a wish as things have changed with the new tools for instant delivery. You know that social media can work however if you could 10X that by blogging it would be a necessary part of your day.
I hope I have helped in some small way to improve your future.
Why businesses must have a blog to remain competitive by Peter Hanley
Hi, thanks for the tips! As a matter of fact, I must admit I began a blog with my brother regarding Immigration in South America a few months ago, and we are still fighting with keywords. I see you recommend a tool for Keywords, and would love to know the best one for us. Nevertheless, I really like the way you boost our confidence with your words, and will work harder to get to a good point!
One of the WA members Partha has covered this subject better than you could pay for.
Partha
You will gather a real understanding of Keywords and how to use them and make a huge difference to your traffic.
Parth knocks our Keyword tool at jaaxy (available with your membership) however I do disagree with him on this as it is a great guide.
Best wishes
Peter H
Thank you for dedicating some time in this article to show that blogging helps our business. I am glad that I like to write. And I never imagined I could combine my two passions in my business. I also want to get on the online bus. And this seems to be a great opportunity.
Hi Abel and thanks for taking the time to comment.
Yes, you can let the inner writer out and create a return at the same time. Spend a lot of time on Keyword selection because this is the one thing that creates a winning blog.
Best wishes
Peter h