Five Reasons Small Businesses Should Be Blogging

When I meet people in the course of my Social Media and Online Marketing business here in Las Vegas it is rare to find someone who is new to social media but who has a blog. Most of the beginners have tried one of the more popular platforms, such as Facebook, but many seem to think that they do not have enough to say to write a blog, they do not think they need one, or are not sure how to get started. In fact I find that small business have lots to say on their field, there are lots of reasons why they need one, and they can set one up in just a few minutes. And if that’s not all, you can set one up for free. Here are my top five reasons why your small business should have a blog:

Traffic

A blog will drive traffic to your website, and more traffic can often lead to more sales. For this to work, you must update it fairly frequently. When users are searching the internet for an answer to a question they might just stumble upon your blog and then check out your site. A visitor to your site may continue on to your blog, follow you, and there you have a regular visitor to your site and an audience. When you publish a blog, tell people about it on Facebook and Twitter, this keeps your audience returning to your site for the information that you share. This in turn helps to build your brand.

Community

If you are working in your field every day then you will find that you have lots to say about it. A blog will help you to show your online community your expertise. If you regularly update your blog with the things you learn through your every day working life your clients get to see how knowledgeable you are within your field. Consider what you audience would find valuable and share your knowledge. All this increases your visible online presence, which helps to win new customers and improve relationships with existing ones.

Reputation

Your business is likely to have competitors and you need to make your company’s voice heard in the online community. It is likely that things have been said about your business online by other people, so you need to get your own voice out there, too. Your blog will help you to manage your reputation. Your clients will read your posts and make a judgement on your credibility.

Credibility

Many people are more comfortable making a purchase from someone they consider trustworthy, someone they feel they know. If people can regularly read your blog posts they will feel as though they are getting to know you. It is important to interact with your readers. Encourage them to comment on and share your posts, and remember to respond to them. This helps to build relationships and strengthen your brand.

Customer Service

A major use of a blog is to inform your clients of any major changes within the business or industry, or of any new products that you are introducing. Your customers can read your blogs and ask any questions about your posts, this is very valuable, as long as you take on their feedback, use it to make improvements and of course remember to respond to them. This is an excellent way of getting news and information about your business out to the world at large, and a quick and easy way for prospective clients to find out about you.