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6 reasons blogging is worth the commitment

Are you still not sold on the value of blogging as a business development tool? Blogging is an extremely effective way of getting your message out to your customers and letting them get to know your company without pressuring them with hard sale tactics.

Here are 6 specific ways that blogging can benefit your business:

1. Writing a blog contributes to building your brand

When you write a blog, everything from the tone of your writing to the opinions and values that you espouse contributes to your overall branding.

Consider this: Every piece of your marketing strategy is somehow tied into promoting your brand. Your advertising copy, social media posts, the design of your website, even your logo are all things that you use to tell your customers exactly who you are, and what you stand for.

However, when somebody looks at a logo, reads a short social media post, or watches a brief advertisement, you only have a few short seconds to make an impression. With a blog, you have the opportunity to connect with your audience by telling the story of your brand – and you.

2. Great blog content boosts your SEO

Google’s search engine algorithms have been updated once again. Now, the best way to boost your SEO is to produce, original, high-quality content that readers can count on for useful help and information.

If your blog is a part of your company website, this means that your writing can contribute directly to driving more traffic to the pages on your website where people convert.

3. Blogging results in conversation

If you use your blog to pass along useful information, strong opinions, and entertaining content, people will react by commenting and sharing. This opens up an opportunity for you to engage with your audience on a personal level, thereby building the relationships that can ultimately lead to sales.

Just remember that your job is to make engagement as easy as possible for your audience by adding social share button and making it known that comments and thoughts are welcome.

4. A good blog establishes trust

Your business blog is your forum to share your expertise, and to write posts that help your followers solve problems. It is also your place to act as a thought leader by making industry related predictions and recommendations.

Eventually, the more you do this, the more your audience will begin to see you as a trusted source of helpful advice and information. Based on this foundation of trust, people will be more likely to purchase your products and services and more likely to recommend your company to others.

5. It gives you the chance to talk to your audience about what interests them

The most effective business bloggers know what their audience is interested in, and sticks to those topics. This is why the 80/20 rule of blogging works so well. You balance 80 percent blog content that is focused on audience needs and interests with 20 percent blog content that is promotional. Not only does addressing your audience’s interest increase your readership, it also focuses you to finely tune your target customer persona.

6. Blogging boosts overall social media presence

When people realize that they are interested in what you have to say on your blog, they are more likely to take an interest in your other social media accounts. This means more traffic to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other accounts. If you are marketing yourself effectively on those platforms, this will mean more followers and more people sharing your content.

Not only can a blog enhance your business development, it is very easy to set a blog up and have it ready for public consumption. Then, all you will need to do is commit to writing regular content that your audience will enjoy.

This is a post from a member of the Freelancers Union community. If you’re interested in sharing your expertise, your story, or some advice you think will help a fellow freelancer out, feel free to send your blog post to us here.

Daniela McVicker Daniela McVicker is an author, psychologist and educator. She currently works as a freelance blogger for a number of sites that are related to educational and psychological backgrounds.

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