As an SEO company in Melbourne, we are often asked if blogging is important to drive traffic on to websites. Alongside that, questions like, 'does my blog have to be hosted on my website?', 'does blogging improve SEO?' and many more questions pop up as well. Here we'll be answering your queries and also clarifying the status of blogging in organic ranking.
Blogging is a great platform to unlock your business' true potential, and to share expert knowledge, all while being able to enjoy the organic search benefits.
For a few, it's the source of their millions of visitors, while others still consider it as a myth.
Mostly, small and medium sized businesses often get lost in the thought process of whether one should concentrate on blogging or to pay attention to their actual website, with the lack of resources and time keeping them from creating meaningful and high-quality content.
However, the more than you uncover, the more you realise that blogs require a lot of attention, and is a lot more important to your SEO than you might think.
Why?
In short, we can tell you that companies that upload 16+ blogs in a month are enjoying 3.5 more traffic and 4.5 time more leads than companies that either don't do or don't do it a lot (3-4 blogs per month).
Surprising, isn't it?
Blogs are not only a great way to provide customers and searchers with some fresh, new content - but it also lets people know that you know about the things that you are selling.
Amongst all clusters of confusions and so much happening in the digital market, we are here to inform how blogging is essential for ranking.
Don't write just for the sake of writing; make your words so powerful and impressive that the audience are bound to your content.
Why you should go for blogging?
Blog is short for 'web log'. It a space where people can share their thoughts, opinions, tactics and tips to their target audience. Having a blog that is rich in keywords, meaning and relevancy is indicative of wanting to provide valuable information to solving consumer problems.
If you are a firm specialising in sports goods, then writing about fashion clothes would be meaningless to your website. But when you write about how having quality sports kit can improve your basketball game or why basketball is the most loved game, customers are going to appreciate your work and then browse around your website.
With this notion in the mind, consumers will associate your company as providing value and whenever they need a similar product they are going to reach out to you again.
When writing a blog, focus on giving your audience information that will help them understand their problem and how might they solve it. To meet Google's quality guidelines and be among the top search results, you have to build a reputation of being an 'Expert' in the area, have 'Authority' and be 'Trustworthy'.. or in other words EAT. Just following those steps already gives to a competitive advantage to outdo your competitors and help you dominate the SERPs.
Blogs have a slow burning effect with gaining traffic.
It doesn't happen instantly.
So to ensure your long term blogging strategy is on point, begin with pre-planning your goals and index the content. Have relevant keyword mapping and pick the long tail keywords that are easy to compete with.
Doing this gives you the best chance to build on Google's quality guidelines and achieve satisfactory results sooner.
What blogging does for your website?
While many businesses are leaning towards paid advertising campaigns, blogging has come out to be simple yet efficient method of boosting your rankings organically.
Here's why-
- It takes traffic to your website
Start blogging on your website while keeping social media as the base. Doing this will help bring traffic in from multiple sources.
Add the links of your blog on the social media and give your followers a reason to come on your website.
You can always use classic digital marketing tactics like using inbound links in your blogs to carry traffic to relevant pages across your website.
- It's a boost to your SEO
When using relevant keyword in your blogs, this helps Google index the page so that people can reach your site organically through search. It is something you have to consider if you don't want to pay for advertising.
No doubt, blogging regularly on relevant subjects, customer likes and dislikes, their interests and lifestyle can help you naturally increase your search results ranking.
- It fosters meaningful customer relationship
When you are an expert in the field and you know you know you can do better than your competitors, it's necessary that this message is delivered to the audience.
Statistics say, "The median average time spent reading a blog is 37 minutes, while writing would take around 3 or more hours."
The content written in the blog tells the readers that you are the connoisseur. As a result, there is potential to start building trust in the information you're providing and the products you offer.
- It helps to brand you as a leader
Valuable blogs are likely to attract viewers and build credibility for your website and products.
When your readers understand the potential value the blogs provides them, they will start relying on them for making purchase decisions. As a result, this reliance builds your brand as a leader in the topics and products offered rather than going to another site for the same product.
Final Thought
When you don't have an active blog section, you miss out on an essential audience bonding. People can only find you through your own website directly which is a huge task to do organically and without paid advertising. It also does not build trust and loyalty to your brand and products.
However, the downside is blogs take up time and resources before your start seeing results. Furthermore, without a strategy you could be spending resources for a unfruitful outcome.
We aren't saying a website without blogging won't be successful but the lack of makes it hard to distinguish your offerings from another competitor selling the same kind of products. Blogging gives you a chance to tell visitors why they should choose your product over another, especially if you've been helpful to them.
Everyone these days are constantly looking up and researching information before buying products. In searching for your products and services, websites that provide good information and solutions to their problems are more likely to see increased traffic and leads.
It is a convenient and faster method to attract traffic and get rankings organically. So if you do decide to blog, be regular in updating them, link with relevant websites and mention keywords that you can compete for and that is best for your offerings on your website.
