Many businesses create a blog and update it now and again. They have static pages explaining what the company does and list descriptions of the products or services they sell.
They can’t understand why they’re traffic drops off after just a few months after the site’s launched. The problem is simple – your blog is stale.
Your Blog Is Part Of Your Business
Even though blogging is a powerful tool, many businesses still don’t take it seriously. Your blog is just as important as the products/services you’re trying to sell.
Think of it as another product to offer your customers. Each post is a chance to offer a valuable new product to your readers. As visitors come back for new products, they’re more likely to become paying customers.
Customers Are Hungry
Companies are constantly reinventing their products. From new slogans and packaging to updated features, companies are always trying new ways to give customers the best and most appealing products.
Customers are hungry for these kinds of changes. Your blog is no exception.
Visitors are bored by a blog that’s never updated. Why should they visit your site when the competition’s blog is updated every week?
The more they visit the competition, the more they start to consider buying from your competitors instead. Feed your visitors’ hunger and give them the posts they crave.
For best results, post on a regular basis so visitors know when to check your site. Weekly and bi-weekly posts are often best for businesses. Start with weekly and increase the number of posts over time if possible.
Readers Want Useful Products
Slapping together a blog post about some random company picnic or describing the same product repeatedly isn’t going to help your blog traffic grow.
Every post should be useful. After all, customers prefer useful products. Shouldn’t your blog posts be what customers want?
Every post needs to provide some sort of value to the reader. Some common post types to consider are:
- Promotions – These are also great for marketing specific products.
- Product/Service tutorials – Help readers learn to use what you sell.
- Tips to make the reader’s life easier – These should relate to your industry.
- Product teasers – Let readers know about upcoming product releases.
- Q&A sessions – Let readers submit questions and answer them in posts.
- Company news – Tell readers more about your company, especially any community involvement.
While these are just a handful of common posts, you can see an overall theme. Every post provides something useful to the reader and isn’t just a marketing pitch.
Your Customers Come First
Remember the most important rule is your customers always come first. Cater posts to the reader and let the marketing portion come second.
Also, don’t write for search engines. SEO is important, but Google prefers keywords to occur naturally.
If you write posts that readers find useful and enjoyable, they’ll share them with friends and family, which actually helps your posts rank better with Google.
Remember, your blog is a vital part of marketing your business. Treat it like it’s important and you will get results.
