15 Reasons Not Having a Blog is Killing Your Business!

There are definite benefits of blogging for small business, and here I'll go into detail on some of the adverse effects, not including one on your website may have.  You hear it all the time: “You need a blog!” But, what you may not hear is why not having a blog is killing your business!

Do you think it's important to have a blog on your business website?  Scroll to the comments below and let me know why.

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In an age when an online presence is absolutely crucial to marketing success, a blog has become one of the most effective tools you can use. It can help you attract your target market, build a trusting relationship with your customers and move people to action.

But when you skip blogging, you miss out on these benefits. In fact, failing to maintain a small business blog can actually have a negative impact on your entire business.  Now you may be asking yourself, does my business even need a blog?  Here are 15 reasons you are losing out if you don't have a blog on your business website.

1 – Blogging Reaches The Majority of People Online

When your target market gets online, there are a lot of things competing for their attention and it’s vital that you stand out and get your message across. Between social media and blogging, you can reach 8 out of 10 internet users.  That’s the majority of people online, and blogging will make your social media even more effective, but more on that later.

2 – The Risk of Becoming Invisible Online Is Real

If you don’t proactively strive to establish your online brand, voice, and presence, you’ll blend in with all those other online distractions. You won’t attract the people you need to to make your business successful.  With a blog, you can claim your own space and get your message out there. You won’t rely on what others are saying about you and you can say more in a blog post than you ever can in an ad. You’ll be able to create your online home base where you can grow a community of loyal customers.

3 – If You Don't Have A Blog On Your Website, You’re Failing To Establish Yourself As An Expert

As you raise awareness you also need to build trust with your market so people will want to buy your products, use your services and interact with your business.  In one study, blogging beat out social media status updates and celebrity endorsements as the most trustworthy online influencer. The same research shows that 81 percent of people online say they trust blogs.  When you provide valuable and insightful information on a regular basis that solves problems and provides solutions, you'll soon become recognized as an industry expert.

4 – Missed Opportunities To Listen Can  Damage Your Reputation

One key way you can build trust with your market is by listening to what people are saying to and about your business. Blogging can help you start this conversation and give you a chance to listen when people post comments and see how people react when you share your blog posts on social media.

When used strategically, blogging will bolster your social media marketing, SEO efforts, and content marketing, making them stronger and more efficient.

5 – Blogging Is A Very Affordable Form Of Online Marketing

Blogging isn’t just effective marketing, it’s also affordable marketing. Compared to other tactics, like online advertising, pay-per-click campaigns, and email marketing, blogging is an affordable way to market your business online. And considering the results you’ll get, you can’t afford not to blog.

6 –Social Media Marketing Is More Successful with Blogging

When used strategically, blogging will bolster your social media marketing, SEO efforts, and content marketing, making them stronger and more efficient.  Using this form of affordable marketing you can grow your social media audience, making that channel more effective. Access to interesting content is one of the top three reasons social media users follow brands.  When you use your own content from your blog to make your Social Media accounts come alive, you’ll also raise brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.

7 – SEO and Content Marketing Need Each Other

Content marketing is almost completely dependent on SEO, while SEO also needs content marketing to be successful.  Content marketing tactics like blog posts are more valuable when they earn high rankings, bringing more traffic to your site.  Many SEO tactics, like link building, regularly updating your site with fresh content, and onsite optimization, need high-quality content like blog posts.

8 – Blogs Bring Traffic…A Lot of Traffic

Businesses with blogs have huge opportunities to bring traffic to their sites. Those with active blogs get as much as 55 percent more visits than those that don’t maintain blogs.  But, it doesn’t end there. Small business blogs can also bring 97 percent more links to their website and see their pages indexed 434 percent more often.  People like to link to valuable content, so a high-quality blog will help you earn links to help with your SEO efforts. Google likes sites that update their content frequently, so with a blog you are more likely to see higher rankings. With more content on your site, you also increase your opportunities for indexed pages.

9 – If You Don't Have A Blog On Your Website,  You’re Missing Out on Leads

Business to business companies that blog one to two times a month generate 70 percent more leads than companies that don’t blog. Imagine what you could do by increasing that number to just four blog posts a month!  Just by blogging, you can increase the number of leads you see, giving you more and more opportunities to land new customers.  It’s a basic rule that the more people you can get through your door, or on your website, the more sales you’ll make. Your small business blog can be a major attraction that helps you increase sales.

10 – People Make Purchasing Decisions Based on Blogs

One of the other benefits of blogging for small business is that the posts can pack a lot of sales power. One report found that 57 percent of businesses with a blog have acquired a customer from it.  The fact that 61 percent of consumers have bought something because of a blog post they read illustrates just how much blogging can influence sales.

11 – Blogging is more Influential than Social Media

In fact, in this arena blogging is more influential than social media. One study found that blogs are the third most influential digital resource when it comes to making a purchase.  After retail sites and brand sites, blogging is most likely to persuade someone to make a purchase. It ranks ahead of all major social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

12 – Your Conversion Rates Are Nowhere Near Their Potential When You Don't Have A Blog

According to HubSpot, businesses that make their blog a priority are 13 times more likely to have a positive return on investment.  While there’s no magic number dictating how often you should blog, regular posts with high-quality and valuable content will make your blog a strong marketing tool. Research into your niche, audience, and market, along with some testing can help you determine how often you should blog.

13 – When You Have A Blog, SEO Leads Have A Higher Close Rate

Search Engine Journal found that leads generated from SEO have a 14.6 percent close rate, while those generated from outbound marketing only have a 1.7 percent close rate.  As you use your blog to support your SEO strategy, you can get more of these valuable leads, which means more sales for your business.  With each of your blog posts, you will be adding to a valuable marketing tool that will keep bringing benefits, even long after you click “publish.”  

14 – A Single Post Can Bring Traffic To Your Site For Almost Two Years  

All that traffic your latest blog post brought won’t stop coming when your post is a day old, or even when it’s a month old. Blog posts have the potential to keep bringing traffic and site impressions for up to 700 days after they are published. That’s almost two years!

15 – MORE Blog Posts Mean MORE Traffic

The more you blog, the more traffic you can drive to your site. When your blog has over 50 posts published, your traffic can increase by as much as 53 percent. When you pass the 100-post mark, you can see as much as 300 percent more traffic. And finally, when you pass 200 posts, your traffic could increase by as much as 450 percent.  How does this work? Old blog posts, especially those with evergreen content, can be shared on Social Media again and again, can be recycled and used as part of an email marketing campaign, and continue to earn search engine rankings. As you build up a larger bank of blog posts, you have more opportunities to attract more traffic.

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Not having a blog is killing your business. You are missing opportunities to build trust with your market and establish your voice as an industry leader and you’re neglecting a powerful sales tool. With blogging, your social media marketing, SEO and content marketing could be stronger.

It’s easy to understand the benefits of blogging for small business and get started with a strategic blog that brings all of these benefits. With consistent posts and high-quality content that appeals to your market, you’ll have a blog that takes your business to the next level.  What do you think is the most important benefit of having a blog for your small business website?  Let me know in the comments below.