What's the point of a business blog? Reasons for using a blog to market your business. What key benefits are there to having a business blog.

1. REASONS TO BLOG 1,2,3
WHAT’S THE POINT OF A
BUSINESS BLOG?

2. REASONS TO BLOG
1. Drive traffic to website
2. Generate leads
3. Stand out from the crowd

3. DRIVE
TRAFFIC TO
WEBSITE
Companies that blog 15
times or more per
month get 5x more
traffic than companies
that don’t blog.
Companies with 51 to
100 pages generate 48%
more traffic than those
with 1 to 50 pages.
photo
credit: one.juniper via p
hotopin cc

4. Monthly Blog Posts / Traffic*
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
None 1 to 2 3 to 5 6 to 8 9 to 15 over 15
B2B
B2C

5. DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE
 How?
 From your social media channels
 Email communications
 Shares and links from other sites
 SEO (search engine optimisation)

6. Social Media Channels
 Use your blog to create content your target audience
does want to click on.
 Make your blog the core of your social media
strategy.
 Promote blog posts on your social media providing
relevant and interesting info on your social media
channels and driving traffic to your site.
 Use your blog to generate leads.

7. Email Communications
 Share your blog posts through email.
 Feature recent posts in newsletters (creating
additional content for this platform too).
 Include your latest post in your email signature.
 Target specific contacts with an interest in the post’s
subject – segment your email lists!
 Include a sign up form on your blog.

8. Shares and Links
 Create content that other people will want to share.
 Provide relevant guest posts on other sites (those
where your target audience visit).
 Ensure that social sharing buttons are present on
your blog.
 Encourage your readers to share your posts by telling
them to!

9. SEO
 Write about subjects your target audience are
searching for.
 Do some keyword research and use your findings in
your content.
 Use long tail keywords “how do I….”
 Blog consistently about your subject using your
primary keywords.

10. GENERATE
LEADS
Companies that
increase blogging from
3-5 to 6-8 per month
almost double their
leads.
B2B companies that
blog only 1-2 times per
month generate 70%
more leads than those
which don’t blog at all.
photo credit: Globalism
Pictures via photopin cc

11. Impact of Total Published Blog Posts on Leads*
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
10 or less 11 to 20 21 to 50 51 to 100 101 to 200 200 or
more
B2B
B2C

12. Generate Leads
 How?
 Use your blog to build authority in your field, and
become a trusted expert.
 Link from your blog to other areas of your website –
without overdoing the sales pitch.
 Include a CTA in your posts.

13. Become an authority
 Remember you are the expert!
 Identify the problems and issues your target
audience are interested in.
 Provide excellent advice and opinion via your blog,
addressing their concerns.
 Build you blog (or part of it) into a useful resource
for your target audience to visit again and again.
 Include a CTA.

14. Links to Other Pages on Your Site
 Remember no SPAM!
 A blog should never be a sales pitch for your
products or services, readers expect value not spiel.
 However you can subtly point readers in the right
direction.
 Link key words in your post to relevant pages of your
site.
 Invite readers to look at other pages, or your
products when relevant to your content. Be
transparent.

15. Include a CTA
 Call to Action
 To generate leads you need to be clear what your goals
for your blog are.
 Do you want to start a conversation and build a
relationship? Then invite comments, or suggest the
reader contacts you to discuss further.
 Do you want your post to be shared with a wider
audience? Ask readers to share on their social media or
email.
 Do you want to sell a product? Direct the reader to your
online shop, but only if the content of your post is
relevant to the product. Link to specific products or
categories rather than the homepage.

16. STAND OUT
FROM THE
CROWD
People like to buy from
other people.
61% of US consumers
have made a purchase
after reading a blog post.
70% of consumers learn
about a company through
articles rather than ads.
photo credit: IronRodArt
- Royce Bair ("Star
Shooter") via photopin cc

17. STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
 People like to buy from other people.
 Provide a personal insight.
 Look at what your competitors are up to.
 Get inspiration from other blogs.

18. Provide a Personal Insight
 Use your blog to give readers some insight into you,
your business and your employees.
 Identify what key attributes you have that your
clients and customers engage with: likeability,
passion, influence, knowledge, professionalism,
style, eccentricity…
 Reflect these in the tone you use.
 Invite posts from other members of your team.

19. Look at what your competitors are up to
 Learn from them – what do you like? What don’t you
like?
 What makes you different from them?
 What can you do better?

20. There’s no hard and fast
rules for blogging.
Not just text!
 Behind the scenes
 Interviews
 Reviews
 Case studies
 Story telling
 Surveys and research
 Guest posts
 Video
 Presentations
 Pictures
 Infographics
 Photo diaries
 Funny, serious,
frivolous…
Get inspiration from other blogs

21. photo credit: David
Blackwell. via photopin cc
SEO – THE ELEPHANT
IN THE ROOM

22. Search Engine Optimisation
 A blog is not an overnight SEO fix.
 Search engines look for good quality relevant
information.
 Google algorithm is refined to minimise “black hat
SEO tricks”.
 The accumulative effect of blogging consistently
about your services or product will benefit your SEO
overtime.

23. I Love 2 Blog 4 You
 I provide a ghost blogging, blog strategy and blog
management service to business.
 Find out more about my services at
www.ILove2Blog4You.com
 Or email info@ilove2blog4you.com
 * stats from HubSpot, from their comprehensive
study into 7000+ customers.