If you are running a business website without a blog, you are missing out on some major opportunities to engage your prospects and increase web traffic. A static website that doesn't change or feature new content is essentially an online brochure. In today's social media-driven world where engagement with your customers is expected online, blogs are essential for marketing your business.

First of All, What Is a Blog?

A blog is a resource on your website that contains articles that educate your visitors about your specific industry and, occasionally, your products or services. It’s an excellent opportunity to attract your target market to your website with informative content that answers questions and provides solutions to the problems they have (or may not even know they have).

Benefits of Blogging

Blogging is fundamental to a successful inbound marketing strategy and gaining a competitive edge online. Not only does it offer your potential customers something of value when they discover your website, it gives you an opportunity to express your tone and add to your company’s brand.

Although there are a multitude of additional benefits of blogging, the following will most likely have the greatest impact for your company:

Blogs Build Authority

You have the ability to establish your company as a leader – Providing interesting and valuable content about your industry and your buyer personas’ industries will increase the credibility of your company. It shows that you are knowledgeable, have an opinion and are aware of industry trends.  70% of consumers learn about a company through articles rather than ads; wouldn’t you rather your customers come to your blog for advice rather than go to a competitor’s?

User Experience

More educational website content that is easy to navigate helps your visitors learn more about your industry and services. They have a positive user experience because the questions they have in mind when they go to your website are answered. Their positive user experience turns into trust for your company and staying-power for your brand.

When you create original content that is valuable, interesting, aligned with your buyer personas and easy to digest, you are more likely to have social shares of this content pointing directly to your website. If you choose to just share curated content, or content from other sources on your social channels, you are directing these potential visitors and leads to someone else. Creating your own original content is what helps you garner those visits and accolades for your own company.

Increase Your Subscriptions

Newsletters help out a lot. We all know that. The problem is that it is pretty hard to get those niched subscribers that you surely want. Blogs help you to do that faster than with many other methods. It might seem weird that anyone would subscribe to the newsletter of a company. That is true for the main site but when the blog is active, the same restriction does not apply.

The bottom line in this case is the following: when the visitors see that the blog offers quality content of high value, they will want to subscribe so that they can receive an email when something of a similar quality appears. In order to entice the visitors to subscribe, you could offer some eBooks or let them take advantage of various discounts or promotions. We are faced with unlimited options and you can choose one that is suitable based on your marketing strategies.

By providing free advice and information on topics that interest your target market, potential customers will view you as a credible source of industry knowledge and are more likely to hire or purchase from your company. Ultimately, it is up to the customer to decide if your product is the right fit or if it is more efficient for their company to perform a service internally. Some of your visitors may have already made a decision before visiting your website, but providing them with accessible, valuable content may just change their minds.

If your site doesn't have a blog yet, start by talking with your web designer or web-hosting provider to see if there is an easy way to install a blog on your existing site. Keep in mind that if you set up your blog under a different domain your main website won't benefit from the added traffic. Ideally, your blog should be hosted on your current domain.