Gone are the days when your onsite blog page is filled with tedious company updates or worse yet, nothing at all! As a business, having an active blog that offers interesting, engaging and industry-relevant content is the way forward, because who wants to read another post about your latest company bake sale?

The reason for overhauling your blog page is clear: content rules! The power of high-quality content (in all forms) can not only improve your website’s search rankings, but also increase brand awareness and help you become a thought-leading authority in your industry.

Sounds great, right? If it’s time to give your blog page a new lease of life, read on for all you need to know. 

How does having an active blog page help businesses?

You might be wondering if blogging is still relevant in 2023 and it’s a fair question. Today, the world of video and social media are two of the most powerful forms of content, and while the idea of going viral or gaining millions of followers on Instagram may seem great, some argue that blogging offers much greater long-term value, and can deliver consistent results when used as part of a wider content marketing strategy.

When you think about it, how often do you end up reading a blog after making an informational search such as ‘what are the best exercises for a beginner?’ Chances are, the answer is pretty often. Blogs are one of the main ways that people find answers to questions, and if you can provide a clear, comprehensive, yet engaging answer, that’s already a boost in your credibility and authority with Google.

Having an active blog page can help your business by:

Building credibility with your audience

Blogging will help you build a relationship with your audience based on trust. By consistently publishing informative and engaging blog posts, you are establishing yourself as an expert in your field, and your audience will take notice. They’ll begin to see you as a knowledgeable source of information and advice, and they’ll be more likely to trust your recommendations and opinions in future. You can help to boost your credibility by offering thought-leadership-style perspectives, rather than summarizing what others are already saying.

Increasing organic search

According to Wordstream, blogs are perfect for targeting informational queries. By answering questions and providing information about something you’re an expert in, Google will start to see you as a relevant source and show your content to those making relevant searches —  and that means more organic traffic to your website. Creating a buyer persona can be a great way of understanding your target consumer so you can better predict their needs, wants, and questions, and tailor your blog posts accordingly. 

Generating more leads

Once someone has read one of your blog posts, perhaps they’ll read another or browse elsewhere on your site, such as your product pages or even fill out a contact form. You can convert blog readers to leads by adding a good call to action (CTA) at the end of the blog, linking to your products or services throughout the content and more. It’s also a good idea to sprinkle a few internal links to other pages on your site throughout the body of the post, as this helps create contextual bridges between your content and signal to search engines what your content is about. 

Giving your business a voice

Your blogs need to have a little personality and match up with the rest of your branding. If, for example, the general tone of your brand is quirky and playful but your blog page is full of wordy, corporate-style articles, there’s a disparity between your messaging which will potentially be confusing for your visitors. Hiring digital marketing experts can help. An agency such as Seeker, for instance, offers professional content services from in-house experts who will research your business and your industry so your blogs are cohesive with the rest of your branding.

Boosting your website ranking

Blogs work tirelessly to boost your website’s search engine rankings. By creating new, engaging and relevant content that attracts visitors, you’ll start to build a relationship with search engines such as Google, which will recognise the value of your content and rank you accordingly. Getting onto page 1 of Google isn’t everything, but it will help massively with visibility. Before long, you’ll increase the number of relevant keywords that you rank for and appear higher up the search results pages.

What kind of content should I write?

Blogging comes in many forms. As a business you should pick a style that’s engaging to your target audience (whether that’s B2B or B2C) so your content has the best chance of resonating with them.

Popular content types include:

• Tutorials and how-to guides
• Helpful listicles
• Industry news posts
• Thought leadership articles
• Case studies
• Interviews
• Expert roundups

It’s also a good idea to post a mix of long-form and short-form content. However, long-form typically earns more backlinks than short-form content and tends to perform better for longer, so bear that in mind!

Top tips for posting great blog content

So, what should you do to give your content an extra push? If you want to see real results, you should have two factors at the top of your list — uniqueness and optimisation. In other words, redistributing content that’s been done a thousand times before and leaving it unoptimised is a big no no.

Here are 3 simple ways of improving your blog content.

Make sure the content is optimised

An optimised blog is a blog that will help your website in so many ways. For starters, you need to do keyword research (a tool like Ahrefs can help with this) to discover valuable search queries that will help you rank better. This may include short- and long-tail keywords, many of which will provide title ideas for your next blog post. You should also add internal links throughout your blogs such as links to specific products, services, or other relevant blogs. Try not to shoehorn random links in if they’re not relevant or adding value, however!

Don’t be afraid to write about something new

Did you know that between 16% and 20% of all annual Google searches are brand new? While it’s important to answer the existing queries that people are asking, don’t be afraid to think outside the box, too. New opinions, thoughts, tips and advice is always welcomed. In fact, it will offer a breath of fresh air and could make your blog stand out from your competition, particularly if your industry is highly saturated. 

Add images and videos to the blog

Add images and videos to make your blogs a little more interesting and break up the text. Many of us are visual learners and will only skim-read large passages of text, so adding a demo video, infographic, or even a meme can help illustrate your points and make the blog more shareable. Plus, when you share your post on social media, a great image can be a game-changer! You can create original images on Canva that will add a new level of engagement to your post.

Avoid the dangers of abandoning SEO efforts by keeping your blog alive and kicking! Get generating content today and help your business grow in more ways than one.