When you think about social media, your mind probably goes directly to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the like . But don’t forget about blogs. Sure they’ve been around longer than most social media outlets, but that doesn’t mean they’re less relevant or less valuable. Nothing has replaced a blog for its ability to convey information in greater detail and outside the subject scope of what you’d typically find on one of your web pages.
An active and informational blog contributes significantly to the success of your website and overall digital marketing plan, allowing you to tie together useful information and products and services your company offers. Blogs require a commitment to posting good content on a regular basis, and a schedule is helpful for keeping you on track. When your blog is infused with fresh content, your website will gain more credibility with search engines and start to rank higher while you create more brand awareness online.
Blogs are an important component of an overall content development strategy and more companies are emphasizing content creation for its SEO and marketing benefits.
In 2013, B2B marketers will spend, on average, 33 percent of their budgets on content marketing (a 7 percent increase over last year) and 91 percent of respondents use content marketing of some type, according to the 2013 B2B Content Marketing Report. Another 54 percent plan to increase content marketing spending this year. Content is equally important among B2C marketers, 86 percent of whom are using content marketing while allocating 28 percent of their budgets to it, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
In short, if your company isn’t emphasizing content, your competitors are. And a blog is a good foundation for any content marketing strategy.
Consider these points about maintaining a blog
- Provide useful information: This may seem obvious, but a lot of companies view their blog solely as a platform for more sales pitches. Audiences will tune out these messages quickly. Instead, give your audience information they can use, whether it’s insight into a particular topic or links to other websites and news sources.
- Focus on topics that interest your customers the most: Your analytics tool shows you which pages are visited most often by your customers. Based on that information, you can tailor your blog content to their interests.
- Introduce your audience to new ideas: While you cater to your audience’s reading habits (see above), you also should broaden their perspective by writing about topics that are new developments in important areas of their lives. Just be careful not to stray too far afield into areas where you don’t feel confident about what you’re writing.
- Position yourself as an expert: When you have command of your subject matter, your message is authoritative, clear and trustworthy. Consistently delivering good content in that tone will prove your expertise to your audience and position your brand as a go-to resource for reliable information.
- Show you’re actively engaged: Your blog can feature more than just written content. Embed video and links to other stories and articles to give your audience a diverse blend of information. Posting two or three times a week keeps your blog updated with fresh, targeted content that can appeal to search engines and improve your website’s overall SEO.
We’ll help you launch a blog or improve an existing one. Contact ZAG Interactive today.
Doug Malan is the senior copywriter at ZAG Interactive.