You can be the biggest business brain in the world and yet if you’re missing out on one vital ingredient to your marketing matrix… well, let’s just put it this way: have you ever tasted a chocolate cake that’s missing the chocolate?

Pointless. Uninspired. Kinda redundant, right?

In this case, that crucial ingredient is… drumroll… BLOGGING!

And okay, I know I’m probably the world’s BIGGEST advocate when it comes to blogging. I mean, my whole business revolves around it.

It’s what I DO.

But I want to let you in on a little secret. You don’t have to be an expert to totally smash the blogging game out of the park.

What’s more, your business doesn’t have to be in the creative industry AT ALL to make blogging work for you.

Because blogging? It’s for all of us. And it can benefit every damn business going.

To prove that very point, I’ve rounded up my top 16 benefits of blogging for your business. Go on – I dare you to not be a blogging convert by the end of the article.

Why Should You Blog For Your Business?

1. Generates Organic Traffic

First thing’s first: blogging is the absolute boss at bringing traffic to your website.

Why? Primarily, through its ability to add fresh content on a regular basis.

Every blog article you post is one more indexed page on your site, and, as a result, one more opportunity to show up in search engines and pull in traffic through organic search.

Heard of a little thing called SEO? Fresh content is a serious force in boosting your SEO as search engines rank new content with vital importance. Basically, the more blog posts you add to your site, the higher Google is going to place you in their search results.

And if you’re competing with businesses that don’t even HAVE a blog? It goes without saying that Google is going to view you far more favourably. Easy peasy.

2. Pulls In Further Organic Traffic W/ Optimized Blog Posts

You need to optimize your actual blog content to increase your SEO ranking the same way you would with the rest of your website.

That means including keywords throughout the post and in your title, but remember to avoid keyword stuffing (it reads AWFULLY and will be looked at unfavourably by Google: keep it natural people!).

For a more in depth guide on how to optimize your blog post full for SEO purposes, check out my article here.

3. Gives You Ready-Made Content To Share On Social Media

We all know the value of social media in business promotion: it’s pretty much become a given that as a business you NEED to have a social media presence.

The thing is, sometimes it can be difficult to keep on thinking of interesting and new content to share. Because your social media has to be providing something of value to your followers. And, particularly if you don’t have a dedicated social media employee, that can be a time-consuming task.

The great thing with blogging is that it provides you with a ready-made hub of social media content. Plus, if your content is evergreen, you can go back to it time and time again whenever you’re seeing a lull in social media activity.

By sharing your blog content on social media, you could also be bringing new audiences to your site: after all, if your social media account really is a value-adding resource, not all of your followers will be there because they are already familiar with your business. This is your opportunity to engage an untapped market.

4. Provides Good Content For Newsletters

Similarly, blog content makes for a perfect addition to email newsletters. It gives your recipients something interesting to feast their eyes upon plus a good reason to visit your site.

5. Provides Shareable Content For Others On Social Media

Blogs are also brilliant content for other people to share on social media: so, if someone comes across one of your blog posts and LOVES what they read they might be influenced to shout about it on their own channels.

This is awesome for two reasons: one, it sends your content out to a brand new audience who might be brought over to your site and could turn into a lead.

Two, it gives you inbound links. Much like fresh content, inbound links are super important for your SEO rankings. The more you can get from external sources such as social media, the better.

6. Helps Convert Traffic Into Leads

Okay, so this is a pretty big one huh? Because as a business it is ALL ABOUT LEADS!

All this fresh content you’re creating holds a key role in this. According to a report by Hubspot, businesses with 401-1000 pages of content get 6x more leads than those with just 51-100. Basically? The more pages (or the more blog posts!) the more leads. It really is as simple as that.

But there’s another benefit here… because every blog post is an opportunity to directly collect more leads. You can do that with something as easy as a Call to Action at the end of every article (you know the drill… “Love our content? Why not sign up to our weekly newsletter!”) or you can go a step further and offer a content upgrade at the bottom of your post. This is essentially an extension of the content you’re providing (and that the reader is already invested in!) such as:

An ebook related to the topic
A PDF of the post
An infographic
A video tutorial
A checklist

And so on… and so on…

The only thing your reader has to do is provide their email address. Check out Leadpages for an awesome tool to set up content upgrades.

7. The More Content You Create, The More You Can Repackage

…the larger your pool of blogs, the more resources you have to pick apart and repackage into these content upgrades or incentives. Half the time, double the result.

8. Helps Establish You As An Industry Expert

It’s pretty obvious that your blog should be an extension of your brand, as in it needs to be related to your industry.

You want to consistently provide helpful information to your leads and customers by answering any questions that they might have. By doing this, you’re showing that you SERIOUSLY know your stuff.

This results in you establishing your authority as a business. You’re proving that you’re an expert in the field.

And this? This promotes you as a trustworthy source. And trust is everything when it comes to building customer relationships.

Adding to this, if you are able to secure your position as the industry expert, other bloggers, journalists and industry players will come to you for interviews, article pitches, speech opportunities and so much more.

This will not only give you heaps of exposure to brand new prospects, but it will also create MORE inbound links (remember how important they are?) and will often even have a cash incentive. Triple whammy!

9. Drives Long Term Results With Evergreen Content

Your blog posts aren’t just great for bring in organic traffic now: they’re around for the long haul.

If your post is well optimized for SEO and on a searchable topic, it will keep cropping up time and time again on Google even years down the line.

That means you don’t have to even move a finger and you’ll still be generating new traffic.

Here’s an example:

That article was created back in 2013, and it’s still in the first page of Google search using the keyword “Twitter Header Size”. I’m still generating a lot of leads because of it.

And guess what? I only edit it like twice a year.

Why is it still #1 in Google Search? Because a lot of people find it helpful, then they share it around and link back to my site. Result? More link juice = higher ranking in Google. Lesson here? Always be valuable!

10. Helps With Your Own Market Research

By taking note of the questions readers are asking in response to your blog posts and also regularly looking at your most popular content, you have immediate access to what is on the mind of your prospects.

This is super helpful as you can then use this information to tailor not only future content, but also directions your company might want to take / areas you might want to invest time and budget in.

11. Humanizes Your Brand

Particularly if your business sits on the more corporate side of the fence, a blog is the perfect opportunity to add a personal element to your work.

Here is your chance to show the personality behind your business… to really establish your voice. The best blogs are ones that humanize a brand and form a bond beyond a commercial face with its readers.

One particularly effective way to do this is by interviewing team members in your blog. Let your customers get to know you so that you can build trust and allow real and important connections to be made.

12. Low Cost And Easy Marketing Channel

Does what it says on the tin. Blogging = free PR.

13. Good Place To Achieve Subtler Advertising

Mega in-your-face advertising of your products can be off-putting to your prospects. I mean, it can get pretty invasive!

With a blog post you can drop in bits and piece of advertising in a far subtler way. For example, perhaps your website is all around fashion. Your post might be about the top tips to achieve the ultimate summer look… your post could include photos of products from your own site or even links to different areas of your site featuring some of your hottest items.

PS: Are you a newbie that want to start a blog? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for you on how to create a blog.

13 Benefits Of Blogging For Your Business