Why Your Business Needs a Blog (and how to get started)

Dec 30

This post may contain affiliate links. Which means if you make a purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you!

There’s been a lot of talk recently about blogging being dead.

But I’m here to set the record straight. It’s not dead. In fact, blogging is the best way to consistently drive new traffic to your website because you’re constantly adding new content for people to see.

If your website consisted of just your homepage, about page, and work with me page, why would people want to come back? They probably wouldn’t.

Regular blogging also helps tell Google that your site is up-to-date and has current content. Which means Google will start to (or continue to) show your website to people in relevant search results.

If you’re not adding new content, Google will start to think your site is old our out-dated and it’ll be harder to rank results.

So, if you don’t currently have a blog on your site, keep reading for more on why it’s a good idea to have one and how to get started!

This is for you if…

You have an online business but aren’t currently blogging regularly.
You’re just starting your business and want to start blogging from the beginning (highly recommended!)
You are ready to stop focusing on social media as your main source of finding new clients and are looking for a more passive way to generate new leads.
You’re looking to give your content a longer shelf life using SEO and Pinterest marketing strategies.

5 main reasons you should start a blog today

LONGER CONTENT LIFESPAN

When you post on social media, any platform, your post only stays on newsfeeds for about 24 hours.

Yep. That’s it. One day and that piece of content you worked so hard to write significantly loses it’s reach. We don’t want that.

A blog, however, essentially lives forever. It’s on your website for anyone to find anytime.

You could argue that anyone could find your social media posts anytime, and you’re not wrong. However, people rarely hit up social media to search for answers to questions.

That’s the key here. You ultimately want to use your blog to leverage Google to show your content to the people who are looking for those answers.

The more you blog, and show Google that you create quality content that searchers are looking for, the more Google is going to share your content.

That means that the blog post you wrote 2 years ago that is still relevant today, will continue to drive traffic to your website.

Trust me, that Instagram post you wrote 2 years ago is not driving people to your website.

So put your time and energy into creating content that will actually last in the content lifecycle. Then feel free to pull from that to share on social media. But know it’s the blog posts that are going to keep a steady flow of traffic coming your way.

DRIVE TRAFFIC

We touched on this when we talked about longer content lifespan. Blog posts drive traffic to your website.

More traffic to your website tells Google you’re adding valuable content that people want into the interwebs. Which means, over time, Google will send more traffic to your website, without you having to do anything extra (re: no paid ads!).

It does take some time for Google to work its magic on its own. But you can help it along with Pinterest.

When you write new blog posts, one of the first things you should do is create a few pins for it and add them to Pinterest.

Pinterest functions as a search engine, much like Google. So when you add content that answers the questions people are searching for, it will show your pins in those search results, driving traffic to your site.

Google will pick up on this new traffic too. As you get more traffic from Pinterest, your Google rankings will improve. It’s important to note this does take a little while. A pin can start driving traffic to your site as soon as you pin it. But it takes time for Google to pick up on this and boost your ranking. If you’re consistent though, it will happen!

If you’re just getting started with Pinterest grab your free SEO + Pinterest Workbook right here.

BUILD TRUST

Your blog also helps you to build trust with your audience. This happens in a few ways. One is in being consistent. If you are consistently providing them with valuable content, they’ll trust you when you have something to offer them and be more likely to make a purchase when the time comes.

Blogging also helps to make you an expert in your niche, whatever that is. You’re putting out content that answers their questions (are you seeing a theme here?) so the next time they have a question, they are likely to come straight back to you, or look you up.

If they go to Google and your content pops up as an answer, they’re more likely to click the link to your site over someone else’s.

Like mentioned before, overtime all of this link clicking boosts your reputation with Google. So your rank in Google searches will continue to climb.

BOOST SEO

This is a big one! Blogging boosts your SEO. We’ve talked a few times now about how driving traffic to your site through Pinterest and Google shows Google you’re legit, know what you’re talking about, and are adding quality content to the web.

Well your content needs to tell Google this as well, not just how many people are visiting your website.

Tailoring your content to the questions your ideal clients are asking and using keyword research to tell Google what your content is about helps ensure your content is shown to the right people when they are looking for it.

Grab your free SEO + Pinterest Workbook right here.

A couple of my favorite tools for keyword research are Ubersuggest and Keyword Everywhere. They both offer Chrome extensions that let you do your keyword research right in Google. Just search in Google and either extension will show you the search data for that keyword. So you can see if that’s a good keyword to use and get other keyword suggestions.

BUILDS YOUR EMAIL LIST

This is important. Maybe I should move it to the top of this list. Your blogs help grow your email list.

In case this is the first time you’re hearing of an email list, it’s possibly the most important marketing piece of your business. It’s a list of leads and their email addresses who want to be in your community because you offer something that they need. You own this list, unlike Instagram or Facebook followers.

In your blog posts, you need to have forms or calls to action inviting readers to join your list. Offer them a free gift for giving you their email address, then send them tons of value.

You’ll grow a community of raving fans who are ready to buy from you whenever you have a new offer for them!

Just getting your email list started? Check out ConvertKit. Hands down the best email marketing tool out there.

How to Start Your Own Blog

Now comes the fun part! Starting your blog! If you already have a website, you can just start your blog there. I definitely recommend keeping it on your current website if at all possible.

How to do this will depend on your website platform. But if you’re using Squarespace, go to your Pages section and click the + in the linked or unlinked section. (Whether you chose linked or unlinked depends on if you want it to show in your menu or not).

Then, click Blog in the Collection section. This will add a new blog section to your site! From there, you can add individual blog posts each week, or every other week. Whatever you decide is the best schedule for you!

If you’re not using Wordpress instead of Squarespace, you may have to search out a blog plugin to add to your site.

FINDING BLOG CONTENT WITH KEYWORD SEARCHES

Now that you’ve set up your blog, how do you know what to blog about?

This is a good time to check out those two Chrome extensions I mentioned earlier, Ubersuggest and Keywords Everywhere.

Ubersuggest is actually a great one for this part because you can use it to search for content ideas. So when you go to https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/ you can type in a keyword, then on the left, you’ll see a tab for Content Ideas. This shows you what others are writing about using that keyword.

You can also click on Keyword Ideas. This section shows you other keywords people are searching when they search the one you originally typed in. You can also see related topics and questions around this keyword. All these suggestions are based on what people are actually searching around your keyword.

So if you go to the Questions section and see that the long tail keyword “why is content marketing important” is the top question around “content marketing,” you know that’s a good question to base a blog post on.

Because people are actually searching “why is content marketing important.” Answer that question in a blog, optimize the hell out of the SEO for it, and it can become a major traffic driver to your site!

FINDING BLOG CONTENT WITH PINTEREST

In a similar fashion, you can use Pinterest to do keyword research.

When you go to Pinterest and type in a keyword, you’ll see suggestions of what other people are searching in addition to that keyword.

So if I type in “content marketing,” Pinterest also suggests:

content marketing strategy
content marketing plan
content marketing ideas
content marketing infographics
content marketing social media strategy

… and so on. You can get tons of ideas for blog posts simply by searching out what your ideal client is searching for. If you click on one of those topics, you’ll see pins that Pinterest has deemed most related to that keyword.

Use that info to start brainstorming your own blog ideas. If you see a particular topic is coming up repeatedly at the top of the list, it may be a good one to write about! People are searching it and clicking those pins because they answer their question.

This should go without saying but please don’t copy anyone else’s work. Do your own. Use this research as a jumping off point only. And don’t worry if someone else (or several someone’s) has written a blog post on the same topic you want to write about.

We all have our own ideal clients. And our writing and the way we teach things will attract the right people.

Now get out there, start that blog, and watch how it changes your business!

Recap

Blogging is not dead. It should be a very important piece of your marketing plan as it drives consistent new traffic to your website.
It extends the lifespan of your content. Social media posts only last around 24 hours if we’re lucky. A blog post can continue to drive traffic to your website for years after it was originally posted!
Blogging helps build trust between you and your ideal client by showcasing what you know about your niche and showing them that you’ll consistently show up for them with new lessons and content.
It helps boost your SEO by showing Google that you continue to update your website with new, relevant content. The more optimized content you have on your site (ie, quality blog posts) the better your overall Google ranking will be.
Blogging also helps you grow your email list community. As people land on your blog posts, they’ll be interested in learning more from you and join your email list… that is if you have a great free offer for them. 😉