6 Powerful Reasons Why You Must Maintain Your Blog

Business blogging is on the rise. In a period where content is key, there is no better channel than a blog to offer comprehensive, valuable information to your prospects and customers, showing off the success of your company, promoting events and news, positioning you as a thought leader in your industry, and helping you to educate customers about the products or services that you offer.

The benefit of blogging is two-pronged.

On the one hand, a blog acts as a source of useful information. Think of an FAQ sheet that is 1000 times more interesting and entertaining. It's a resource that allows customers to find any information they need on your business and allows you to craft this information to answer any questions they may have at each stage of the buying cycle, from Awareness to Consideration, and through to the Decision, positioning you as the trusted authority on the topic.

On the other hand, producing online content helps your SEO, which helps your website to rank better, increasing organic traffic and bringing in people who may not have been looking for you specifically, but are researching the products or services you offer.

A blog helps those who don't know you to find you and those who do know you to learn more about you, in both cases, positioning you as the business of choice.

6 Powerful Reasons Why You Must Maintain Your Blog

There are no set-and-forget options...

It is sadly very common to see websites that have a blog, but fail to maintain it. Unfortunately, when it comes to blogging, there is no set-and-forget option. Blogs need to be maintained. While blogs have amazing power to engage and compel viewers to action, those that are poorly maintained can have the opposite effect, impacting a customer's experience on your site, leaving a poor impression of your business.

Maintaining your blog comes with a host of amazing benefits. Your blog is a channel that can drive business and catapult you to star status, if maintained correctly.

Blogs Boost Traffic

Search engines love content and they want it to be relevant and regular. Blogging just a few times a month is one of the most cost-effective and simple ways to boost your SEO results, giving Google, Bing and all the other search engines juicy new content to index and serve straight to the consumers who are curious about businesses just like yours.

Satisfy Questions and Lead to Purchase

In 2018, 47 per cent of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. With the power to research in the people's hands, it is not only nice to have plenty of information available -- up to date, relevant and educational information --, but it could be the difference between a reader choosing to engage with your business vs someone else's.

Blogging Boosts ROI

Last year HubSpot reported that marketers who prioritised blogging were 13x more likely to generate positive ROI on their efforts. While blogging takes time, it is ultimately free. Investing in a content marketing strategy that includes blogging, can dramatically increase visitors to your website, thus increasing your prospects and opportunities to close.

More Links, More Leads

Companies that invest in maintaining their blog receive 97 per cent more links to their website. When an authoritative website links to a blog post, your website gains great SEO benefits. Maintaining your blog with high-quality, engaging content that positions you as an authority in your field, is the easiest way to attract links which boost your SEO power and delivers you more prospects.

Blogs Beat Ads

Consumers are more clued on than ever when it comes to advertising. More than 70 per cent of internet users will avoid clicking on paid ads and go instead for the organic results. And the only way to get organic results is to maintain your blog with SEO rich content that appeals to your audience and keeps you at the top of search results.

Organic Leads = Higher Quality

SEO leads -- those that come from organic searches -- have a 14.6 per cent close rate, vs outbound leads, which garner a measly 1.7 per cent close rate. This is because consumers find organic content themselves. They're engaged in the uncovering of your business, rather than just clicking on an ad which they may passively be curious about.

Consumers Trust Blogs

Right or wrong, consumers trust blogs. So much so that they've been rated as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information. With this trust comes great responsibility and businesses need to make sure that information is relevant and truthful, or risk losing their status as a trusted source of information.

Quick Blogging Tips

Over the years the humble blog has been transformed, and with it, the demands of consumers and search engines have changed.

Here's what you need to know about blogging in 2019:

• Longer blog content performs better in search engines - think 1000 words or more
• Video is increasing in popularity and proving to create more engagement
• 36 per cent of readers prefer list-based headlines
• Articles with images get 94 per cent more views.

It's important to consider that there needs to be a strategy behind every inbound marketing initiative, blogs included. To get the most out of your blog, you need to know who you want to reach, what you want to say and what you want to achieve, then a plan can be put in place that meets the goals of your business.

If you're not sure where to start, or you need expert eyes to take a look at what you're currently doing, Blue Beetle digital agency in Dubai can help. We've been working with clients on their inbound marketing strategies for 15 years, keeping a firm finger on the digital marketing pulse to bring our clients the most effective strategies to harness their blog and position them as the source of authority in their industry.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you succeed in the competitive world of content.