Maybe you’ve heard about blogging, but you’re unsure how a blog might benefit your business. If you’ve already got a website for your business, having a blog can help in a number of ways.
Probably one of the best methods of spreading the word about your business and connecting with your customers is by having a company blog.
The benefits of a business blog
Blogging is a remarkably simple way of publishing. It’s cheap, it’s easy to do and it’s something that your business can benefit from in so many ways:
- Higher search engine rankings — generally speaking, a regular stream of new articles is considered appealing by the search engines, who will pay more attention to your blog or website, ranking you more highly accordingly. The more pages you write, the more there is to be found. However, it’s an exercise in quality not quantity!
- Gaining trust — by writing informative and authoritative articles, over time you’ll build confidence, trust, respect and a sense of “expert status” around your business.
- A sense of community — you’re engaging with your customers in a conversational style that’s difficult to replicate by other means. And by allowing people to comment on your articles, you’re encouraging those people to participate, giving them a reason to return. In simple terms, a blog is a great opportunity for you and your staff to quickly share ideas, and maybe also get some feedback from your customers.
- Better communications — a blog is essentially a publishing platform, where you control the content of your articles, and also when those articles get published.
- Cost effective — in terms of communications, blogging is very low cost but has the potential for a high ROI (Return On Investment).
Is a blog a CMS (Content Management System)?
Maybe you’ve heard the acronym / term CMS before, but didn’t quite know what it meant. Yes, a blog is a kind of Content Management System, simply because you use a blog to manage content!
This very website is powered by WordPress, which is probably the worlds most successful blogging software. There are other kinds of CMS, some of which are very sophisticated. Some of which are even free, like WordPress.
What are the advantages of a CMS compared to a website?
When you have a blog (which, as I mentioned previously is a CMS), you have the option to manage many of the day-to-day aspects of owning a website yourself, such as: adding new pages, editing existing pages, replying to comments, adding images, links to websites and more.
Assuming you have the right tools and skills, your blog can be as sophisticated as most websites.
