Why Every Business Needs a Blog

“But I’m not a writer – I can’t be a blogger…”

The most commonly used sentiment of those whose lead generation site or ecommerce website does not currently have some sort of blog integrated. Obviously, if you’re reading this – you can see that Groove Commerce has an ecommerce blog and we’re definitely not writers. If a mixed bunch of developers, sales people and online marketing gurus can successfully write and manage a blog, then you can too. If you possess the ability to share thoughts and expertise with your potential clientele, you are a blogger.

One of my favorite TV shows “The Office” recently had a quote that stuck with me – when a character Dwight Schrute explained to a group of coworkers how to spot a blogger:

"Bloggers are gross! Bloggers are obese! Bloggers have halitosis!”

As somebody that frequently blogs – both for clients and my own personal desire – I’d like to think I don’t fit into any of these descriptions. So instead, I think I’ll try to put some of these myths to bed and explain what bloggers really are – and why you should be blogging on your website:

1. Bloggers Are Experts

When you go out for dinner, particularly at a restaurant where you’ve never dined before, don’t you feel a lot better about your dining experience when you get the server that knows the menu front and back? The one that you can ask which dishes are popular, new, free of nuts, gluten or soy?

In the same way – your website’s visitors feel better when they know you’re the best at what you do. Chances are, you’re an expert at what you do, especially if you’re able to make money doing it. A blog allows you to instill confidence in your site’s visitors by showing off your industry expertise.

2. Bloggers Speak Like Humans

The idea that you have to be a Pulitzer nominee to run a successful blog is very much a myth. Should you check your spelling and grammar – yes; should u try 2 avoid txt message and twitter speak #Probably, #AtLeastALittleBit.

But for the most part, you should write in the same manner that you talk. A blog is meant to be communication between the patron and merchant – not for a literary review board. Also, it’s meant to add SEO value, so you need to use keywords and phrases that your target audience uses, because that’s the language they use when they type into search engines.

3. Bloggers Are Not Bound by a Word Count

This is not college anymore – there are not 15 page research papers with at least 5 sources – 2 of which are scholarly journals. Your blog can be 500 words, your blog can be 50 words, your blog can be a picture of a flyer with a new event or sale you want to promote.

The quantity of words does not matter – if anything I like to stay on the 800 words or less side of things, it’s tough to keep a user engaged past a certain word count. What’s most important is the quality of your content and the keywords you use. Good keywords mean good anchor text for your links, which equals good SEO value. I’ll get into that in a minute.

4. Bloggers Drive Web Traffic

Google loves quality content – and one of the easiest ways to generate quality content under your domain is posting blog posts. You can only make so many on-page changes in a certain amount of time to your online store or lead-gen website before it will negatively effect it’s navigation or look. You can only get so many facelifts before you look like Joan Rivers.

But with a blog – you can post limitless content without affecting your site’s navigation or façade.

Also – you can never ignore the value of building links. Use targeted keywords as the anchor text and link to pages on your site to help navigate blog readers to your desired landing pages and so when Google crawls your site, it picks up on those keywords you’ve linked.

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So what did we learn? Bloggers are everyday people like you and me – and their value to the online community is unquestionable. You don’t have to consider yourself a “blogger”, but your site does need a blog. And if above all else, you still can’t seem to get yourself to sit down and put your thoughts into words, there are plenty of online marketing professionals out there that would love to help you develop a content marketing strategy. If you’d like help implementing a professional, SEO-focused blog for your site – contact us.