blogs a tool for sales

Blogs are standard on business sites. We all schedule a day for this office ritual of sharing know-how and service benefits with the world but why is blogging such a big deal for your marketing strategy? If used the right way, blogging can become an effective platform to leverage sales.

One of the reasons often used for engaging in blogging is to improve SEO, so your website can be found by more people. Your SEO can benefit with blogging on your website. Every time you post a new blog, you have new bait for your target customers and you’ve expanded your presence online. Websites with blogs can have hundreds of extra indexed pages compared to competitors without blogs and importantly, they can reap the reward of up to 97% more inbound links. Blogs keep your website up to date with fresh content, keep people on the site longer and a good blogger can give a customer a reason to revisit.

blogging keyword strategies

Blogs are keyword generating machines for your website. They are good for long tail marketing, where more specific sector-relevant words and phrases are used in descriptions. If for example, your blog is about interior design and you talk about the latest styles, you’ll draw interest around those specific kinds of designs. You can therefore hone in on details about what you sell as a service. There is a problem today, in that content is saturating sectors online. The more specialist your blog language the more chance it gets picked up by those searching for the nitty gritty on the topic or service.

do blogs have a place in the sales pipeline?

Companies that prioritise blogs are said to be 13 times more likely to have positive year on year ROI. Consider also that in a survey, 81% of businesses reported their blog as critical to B2B lead generation. These are clear indicators that blogs can be an effective sales tool. It may not always seem obvious how blogs lead to sales but people do often check out a brand prior to purchase, so they trust it, believe in it and like it. Your blogs can be your sales pitch by demonstrating your knowledge or by simply promoting your service in a professional way.

tips for blogging in 2018

In a competitive blogging sector, don’t be too tempted to ignore SEO practices for titles – a crazy, funny or unrelated title will lose potential relevant visitors for the sake of art. It can be a challenge to find that perfect mix of engaging and necessary keywords so do your research, or take time to think about it.

Always remember why you are blogging – think of the target reader and the potential to encourage them to your service. Is there a call to action to engage? There are so many blogs out there that don’t mention they have a service or product or even ask for interaction but just focus on a sector in general. For products especially, this can be a mistake. Try to bring the blog around to a sales pitch or to encourage contact at conclusion.

To format your blogs, it’s been found that people respond to lists and although it’s standard to write around 300 words per blog there are benefits with longer editorial blogs, if the content is right and the reader doesn’t leave before the end. More writing can sometimes mean more possibilities of a search matching the content. This is the aforementioned long tail search.

images make a difference on blogs

Another crucial consideration is imagery and whether to have a video content strategy. Images need to be consistent in style for your brand to be consistent and videos too.

Videos are increasingly the media of choice in blogs, known as vlogs. Some senior executives enjoy talking to camera with edited film clips interspersed – like a documentary. It can add a dimension of authority on a subject, as well as a flavour of personality. You can always push out your own advertising through a vlog channel. For instance, check out this video we did for Find a Creative Pro. This can and will be re-used for promotion when we need it, so it’s a very useful marketing asset. With easy to use tech like live recording functions on Facebook, it’s never been a better time to be a video star for a business. It does take more time and it’s a skill to make it effective, so practice and experiement or hire some professionals to help.

share your blog on social

Make sure you extend the reach of your blog by sharing it on your business social media. This is a standard practice for extended engagement. Also – blog regularly, make it a must-do in your calendar.

Blogs are your online voice, so never underestimate how a blog can make a difference to the perception of your company.

Think your blog strategy needs a dusting off? We have blogging experts at our disposal at Find, who will help implement a strategy that will work for you. Feel free to contact us and we’ll help.