10. You don’t have a website for your business? Call me. Seriously.
People don’t use the yellow pages anymore—they Google. Even a simple, single-page site will work—as long as it is thoughtfully designed and worded, of course.
9. Increase page rank for your site.
Did you know that if your site is updated on even a semi-regular basis this increases your page rank on Google?
8. Improve visibility and Search Engine Optimization.
Particularly if you build your blog on the WordPress platform, you access SEO tools that will increase your ranking and visibility. (In fact, you can build your whole website on the WordPress platform, as I’ve done with this one.)
7. Create community and drive traffic.
You have the option to make connections via comments on your own posts—and the posts of blogs on your colleagues’ and clients’ websites, which will link back to you. Linking to your blog posts from your social media profiles engages your followers in conversations in those venues as well. Additionally, a blog sidebar is a great location for link exchanges with colleagues and clients. Inbound links from other sites increase your site’s ranking.
All of these links are doorways back to your site that potential clients will “walk” through.
6. Establish expertise.
Posts about topics that pertain to your industry show how knowledgeable you are. You can write new posts targeted specifically to impress potential clients with whom you’ve just met.
5. Replace FAQs with blog posts.
Turn your site’s Frequently Asked Questions page into informative mini articles with descriptive titles that incorporate the search terms and phrases people might use to find you. Google loves this. Be sure to leverage your tags and categories similarly to match desired search engine terms.
4. Harness your stories.
The content that you would draw on for a blog post or series of posts will also make for great print and electronic newsletter content and LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter posts. You can develop, repackage and distribute stories via different venues.
3. Take advantage of lulls in your fiscal year.
Is February usually a quiet month? Spend that time researching and drafting a set of 12 great blog posts and you have your monthly blog content set for the year, or 24 for bi-weekly, or 36, or 52 or 104 or…!
2. Showcase your work.
Blogs are a great place to show off photos of your work, share testimonials from satisfied customers, promote upcoming events, brag. A communications specialist can help you determine how to brag effectively, rather than off-putting-ly.
1. Be you.
Most business-related blogs won’t talk about what someone had for breakfast, UNLESS that story can relate back to your business—which it totally can. People choose service providers for a variety of reasons. By sharing who you are with your potential clients, you are creating the opportunity to build a relationship.