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Author - Sarah Gemmell
Category - Blogging, Small business
Posted - 01/31/2011
4 Comments | Add Comment Why Blogging Is Important for your Business

If you're reading this post, then you must be on Addwater Marketing Agency's blog. If you're wondering "Why does Addwater have a blog?" -- let me tell you. Blogging is incredibly beneficial to a business's brand, search engine optimization and sales efforts. Let's break it down:

The most important reason, I think, why a business should have a blog is perfectly stated by SEOmoz's CEO Rand Fishkin: "Blogs build familiarity and positive branding… The cardinal rule [is] - people do business with you because they know you, like you and they trust you - blogging accomplishes all three."

Rand also points out that "Blogs humanize people and companies to the outside world and make far deeper connections than newsletters or press releases." If you think about it, which company would you rather work with?: Company A -- with 20-50 employees, spread across three states, with no discernable "personality"; or Company B -- with 23 employees, a founder name Sue who loves to talk social media, an office manager named Greg who blogs about food, and one office in downtown Mountain View, CA? See what I mean.

Another huge benefit of blogs: they're automatically optimized for search engines. As the Blog Herald states, "Search engines love fresh content. But that’s not the only way blogs are powerful tools to rank high. Indeed, most blogs are structured to offer a high degree of search engine optimization." Including your blog on your business's site (and not on a separate Blogger or Wordpress site), will show search engines that you're constantly updating your website, and not letting it just sit around and gather dust. This makes your website more relevant in a search engine's mind.

Blogs are also great for building links. If your blog is about Italian food, you can join food blog conglomerates, "meet" other Italian food bloggers and exchange links -- reaffirming that your blog is trusted by others and is indeed about Italian food. Score!

Having a blog is a fantastic way to initiate conversations with readers and customers -- and learn how to make your business even better. As your blog "humanizes" your company, it also shows your customers that you care. Take polls, ask "what's your favorite and least favorite item on our menu?" etc.

Finally, blogging also establishes your expertise in a subject. Say you're comparing two real estate agents online: Realtor A has a website that lists her specialties, location and a picture. But on Realtor Bs website, you have the same information, but also a blog with 50 posts on the current state of the real estate market, advice on whether you should have your home staged or not, and so on. You'd probably decide on Realtor B because they obviously know what they're doing!

Of course there are a bajillion other reasons why a business should have a blog (ask any blogger out there and they'll chew your ear off!) but these are the main reasons I think blogging is important -- and why Addwater blogs.

Finally decided to start a blog for your business? Here's a great read: ProBlogger's "13 Tips for Marketing Your Business With Your Blog"

Comment posted by Brad Harmon on 02/02/2011 03:04pm

Very compelling post, Sarah. We tend to think of larger businesses when you hear a statement like, "Blogs humanize people and companies to the outside world and make far deeper connections than newsletters or press releases." I love how you applied it to small businesses with your examples. Thanks for sharing this post with us.

Comment posted by Sarah Gemmell on 02/04/2011 12:49pm

Hi Brad, Thanks for your comment! You are absolutely right. People tend to think of larger businesses when they hear statements like "building your brand" as well, but small businesses have brands too! -Sarah

Comment posted by Molly Griffin on 02/09/2011 02:35pm

Great article! I know here at dydacomp we try to show our clients the value in running a blog and this will be a great article to share with them! thanks for this one! Molly Griffin http://www.dydacomp.com

Comment posted by Sarah Gemmell on 02/09/2011 02:41pm

Thanks for your comment Molly! I hope your clients find it useful :)

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