5 Reasons Every Business Needs a Blog for Digital Marketing
Fun fact: I was a blogger for many years! I started my blog, Clem Loves, back in 2012 and continued until 2022 when I launched Clementine Rose. Blogging was a big part of my daily life during that time!
Over the past 10 years I’ve worked and partnered with many different brands, companies and publishers, such as Oaks Jewellery, Udi’s, Propercorn, Harper Collins, Fat Face, House of Fraser, JD Williams, Gaston Luga, Simply Be, The Good Book Company, Lighthouse Clothing and more. I’ve also worked with authors such as Katie Ginger, Katherine Arden, Charlie Laidlaw, Jason Minick, Jamie Admans and Ruth Hogan, reviewing and creating content on my blog.
I’m forever thankful for the amazing opportunities that blogging has brought.
Even though I no longer consider myself a blogger, my blog remains a key part of my website and business. It drives traffic, boosts my SEO, creates new opportunities, helps me reach new customers, and much more.
I’ve seen a lot of talk on social media and articles online claiming that blogging is long gone, questioning its relevance, and wondering if people still read blogs or if it’s even worth it. I’m here to tell you that blogging is very much still here, still relevant, and yes, people do still read blogs!
I agree that things have changed from the days when Twitter and Facebook were overflowing with blogging support groups, communities, and thousands of active bloggers. Even though we don’t really see that anymore, it doesn’t make blogging any less important.
Here are 5 reasons why a blog is an ideal tool for your digital marketing. If you have a website, but haven’t yet got a blog on it, perhaps this post will inspire and encourage you to begin one.
Boosts website traffic
Your blog offers an incredible way to increase traffic to your website. I’ll talk more on SEO a bit further down, but every time you publish a blog post, it helps Google and other search engines recognise your site.
Your blog post could be exactly what someone is searching for.
Plus as soon as I publish a blog post, I always share it straight to social media. This also helps to increase visibility and drive traffic to my website, as it encourages my followers to engage with the content, and to even share it. Your blog adds that extra touch to engage your audience and pique people’s interest. Plus, your audience are then much more likely to stay for a while, and get to know more about you, what you do, and what you offer.
“Your blog offers your audience a nurturing and soulful online space where they can come stay for a while, and connect, reflect, learn and grow, and be a part of your online community.”
Increases brand awareness
Brand awareness is basically how familiar people are with your brand and how easily they recognise it. It ensures your audience knows who you are, what you offer, and what sets you apart. As brand awareness grows, people are more likely to think of you when they need something you provide.
I love the following words by Lucy Werner and Hadrien Chatelet from their book Brand Yourself:
“It’s a common misconception that creating your brand starts with a logo design, but a logo is just a symbol. The brand is more than just your colours and fonts, too. These are all part of what creates the look and feel, but it’s the whole package that conveys your emotion.”
Your blog lets people learn more about you, your unique style, and the bigger picture of your brand, by letting your personality shine through. It helps you stand out and encourages people to connect by highlighting your authenticity and building trust.
Building brand awareness doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are a few simple strategies I’ve used to grow my brand through my blog:
Posting regularly and consistently
Ensuring each post aligns with my niche
Creating content that’s easy to share
Incorporating personal stories and experiences to build trust
Connecting and engaging with my audience on my blog to show I’m active online.
Strengthens your SEO
Your blog is an excellent platform for implementing SEO (search engine optimization). By incorporating SEO into your blogging, you make your content more appealing to search engines, which increases its visibility and drives more traffic to your website. You can achieve this by using targeted keywords in your titles and throughout your content, helping you connect with your intended audience.
When choosing keywords for your titles and content, a good tip is to consider what people might be searching for within your niche and their motivations.
Some of my most popular blog posts are from a few years ago! I currently still receive a lot of traffic to my website from them as they continue to appear in search engine results. SEO helps keep your content relevant over time.
Think about what keywords you can begin to use in your blog content to help more people find it?
Expands your customer base
Blogging has the amazing potential to expand your customer base. It’s particularly good for introducing yourself to new customers. Your blog is perfect for showcasing what you do and what you offer.
Remember, your blog might be the first thing people find when they’re searching for something specific.
Your blog is also great for nurturing your existing audience, and turning them into customers. By providing your audience with inspiring, encouraging, and helpful content, it helps to build trust, and helps them to get to know you more personally, and discover and learn more about your offerings.
Here’s an example of a blog post I recently published sharing how I can support small business owners, individuals, and kindred spirits in their digital marketing journey. It shares what I do, who I work with, and what I offer – all in one handy post.
Think about the ways in which you can use your blog to showcase your offerings.
Builds your content library
Your blog provides you with a brilliant space to begin building your very own content library by breaking down long-form content (your blog posts) into smaller pieces, such as social media posts. This way, you won’t have to worry about constantly coming up with new content, you can simply repurpose what you’ve already written.
How great is that!
Your blog is not only a powerful digital marketing tool on its own but also generates more content to share across your other platforms. Plus it creates a connection that drives people back to your blog!
Think about some of the ways that you can begin to repurpose your blog content for your other platforms.
Which of these blogging benefits feels most valuable to you right now, and how might you start using your blog to grow your brand?