Should I blog?
The rise in popularity of video platforms like youTube and tiktok, and with Instagram recently pivoting to a video-led focus, we often get asked by my clients if it’s worthwhile spending the time to produce written blogs.
The simple answer is yes, god yes, please keep blogging and if you haven’t started then you probably should. The popularity of video and images does not mean you should stop blogging. Here’s why:
Cut-through the noise
There is a lot of noise out there, and the more you blog the more chance you have of being seen and heard. Blogs can do a number of things: increase visibility, attract new audiences, build loyalty with existing ones and differentiate your business from other, similar businesses. Your blog also gives you a platform to flex your creative muscles a little, show off your brand tone of voice, and emphasise your values while promoting your services and products from a position of the ‘expert’ rather than a pushy sales approach.
Improve SEO
Every blog you post is another indexed page sat there on your website, which means there’s more chance of people coming across you organically. Your chances increase even more if done in conjunction with social posts and proper use of SEO and keywords, which we’ll explore in a later blog. Blogging is also hugely beneficial for link building - your inbound links and backlinks are among the key factors Google's algorithms (Google's complex data retrieval system use to rank which websites appear highest in your search results) consider. Google's algorithms also like fresh content so consistency is key.
Positions you as a thought leader
Another benefit to building a steady back catalogue of well written blogs is it helps you build trust and credibility. You might be helping a potential client answer a tricky question with one of your blogs or pointing them in the right direction for saving time and maximising profits with a simple hack that you’ve learnt through years of experience in your industry. This places you as the expert or teacher which helps create credibility for your brand, builds trust and helps set you apart from the competition.
Clark Creative will bang the social media drum all day long, we work a lot on social media campaigns (we even run courses on how to use social media) but, generally speaking, blogs convert leads better than social media. Social media is a fantastic tool and works even better when part of your social strategy promoting your well thought out, well written, expert blog pieces. If you’ve read our previous blog on evergreen content then you’ll be aware that blogging can provide benefits long after being published and should always be considered as an important part of your wider content strategy. If someone is taking the time to read your blog then the impact can be far greater than a potential client scrolling through your Instagram or Facebook feeds whilst sipping their morning coffee.
Make your content work for you
One of the great things about blog writing is it’s multifaceted. The obvious place to start here is promoting your blog on your social channels gives you something to post about, promote and create conversation around. Delving deeper into the content of your blog - perhaps there are some great statistics that you can pull out and use as an isolated post on your twitter feed or a great quote for your linkedin page. The research you put into your blog can really work for you across a number of channels - it is your research after all so don’t be afraid to use every bit of it across all your social channels and make it work for you a number of times.
Not only is a well maintained and informative blog a great tool for increasing web traffic and converting clients, it is a great place to show what you know. It’s a snap shot and an overview of your industry knowledge. It can showcase your brand tone of voice and what your business is about. Got a great tip that you think your audience would like to know about? Blog about it. Got an event coming up that syncs with your brand values? Blog about it. You get the idea. Along with social channels it can give a great overview of who you are, what you know and what you do.