Why should I blog for my business?
I was honored to have the opportunity to teach a seminar with the Penn State University Small Business Development Center (aka the SBDC) last week. After the class, someone sent me a LinkedIn message and asked, “Why should a business consider starting a blog?”
Good question. Great question, actually. Blogging is time-consuming and takes a lot of creative energy. And, hell, a lot of people simply hate the act of writing.
It can even seem like a dated strategy in a world where vertical videos and social media dominate.
But I firmly believe a good long-form content strategy is a jumping off point for any spectacular, holistic content strategy.
Blogging greases the gears for thought leadership
I think most run-of-the-mill marketers would spout the same cliche: “blogging positions you as a thought leader!” …which it does, in spades, but I want to take that a step further.
Almost every client I’ve worked with has said to me at some point, “I’d love to get started but I know I’m just going to run out of ideas.”
I promise, you won’t. Creativity begets more creativity, and blogging is a lot like cutting off the head of a hydra. You get one topic out and then three pop out in its place. You just have to get started, and you’ll be well on your way.
The biggest encouragement I can give: If you’re starting a business, you have to remember that you know things other people don’t. And people are going to have questions. And you’re going to find questions as you write. It’s how this blog post was born!
All of that naturally leads into the next reason you need to blog.
Blogging captures those long-tail search keywords
Quick SEO lesson: a keyword is a single word, like “blogging.” Short, sweet, and to the point. It’s a vague word that’s just a jumping off point to more specific things. But try to rank for the word “blogging” and you’re going to be lost in a sea that you likely can’t swim your way to the top of.
A long-tail keyword, on the other hand, is a hyper-specific, multi-term string or phrase that has far less volume behind it, but carries a lot of intention. For instance, “how to start blogging” or “why should I start blogging for my business” or “best blogging platforms” are examples of long-tail keywords.
Years ago, it was said in the SEO world that some long-tail keywords may only be searched once, that’s how unique they are. Woof! It’s impossible to try and capture every single one of those possibilities.
But that’s where blogging for your business comes in. If you’re specific, thorough, and thoughtful in your blog posts, you immediately increase your chances to pick up those particular searches.
Of course, it’s more nuanced than that. But this is the entire basis of inbound marketing theory, which you can learn all about for free on Hubspot’s website (trust me, it’s totally worth going through this course). You can also pick up the book They Ask you Answer, which Hubspot references frequently (at least they did several years ago when I went through it).
Aaaaand if you’re interested in learning more about SEO in general, I always recommend the grande dame of SEO herself, Moz’s beginner guide to SEO.
Anyway! Back to blogging benefits.
Blogging helps keep your website current and active
I’ve seen business owners build a website and…promptly forget it exists. Or maybe they’re excited to update and add content, but they have to wait for things like product photography, project details/assets, case study results, or other practical and real delays.
Blogging can help you keep things moving even when there’s nothing else to do or your hands are tied. And if your website is constantly filling up with new content…
Blogging gives you more to talk about and promote on other channels
Did someone say “low-hanging fruit social post”? Granted, it’s not low-hanging fruit when you’re putting the effort into thought leadership, but it’s definitely an easy way to stay active and drive some traffic to your website when you’re unsure about what to talk about on social. Write a quick LinkedIn post and link back to your blog—bam. Content!
I’m sure someone out there is thinking, but social platforms don’t like you to link off of them. Okay, yes—but great posts will drive traffic regardless, algorithms be damned.
Even better: once you start blogging, you’ll find yourself uncovering the ‘micro-moments’ and ‘micro-tips’ that make for the perfect social media post that distills your blog down into a horse of a different color. Meaning: same topic, different execution. This is how I plan most of my content—it all just spirals out from each other.
Another awesome resource I recommend to learn how to make your content work harder by turning it into multiple different pieces is The Content Fuel Framework by Melanie Deziel.
How to get started blogging
I’m going to write a post for next week about the options you have to get a blog up and running, but let’s start a little higher up on the chain: you need to start getting your ideas out of your head.
This can be as simple as an iPhone note, a Google sheet, an array of sticky notes stuck to your wall, or my favorite, a Notion database.
Here’s a quick peek into a fraction of my brainstorm list:
I’m constantly getting ideas for topics to bang out, whether it’s through conversations, questions, things I see on LinkedIn, newsletters I get, or trends I’m picking up.
They all start out in the brainstorm list, and I categorize them based on topics and business goals. When it’s time to start writing, I change the status and it moves through my content planning process.
It helps me stay extremely organized and on track, and it’s easy to shuffle things around if I decide I’m not feeling that topic that week.
Fun fact: I’m building my content planning template out to share publicly, so if you’re interested in getting your hands on it, fill out the form at the end of this post and you’ll get an email when it’s ready.
Last thing: it’s okay to talk into the void.
It’s normal for blogging to feel a little like screaming into nothing for awhile. So keep promoting on social, talk about it in your networking meetings, and continue to experiment with topics and subjects to see what sticks. You’re going to strike gold at some point.
As always, thanks for reading, and don’t forget to come back next week if you want the hard tips on how to actually put a blog out into the world.