7 Reasons to Be Blogging for Your Business
Many business owners skip over blogging and SEO, when in reality it is a massive missed opportunity.
Many coaches, creatives, and other service based businesses think blogging is dead, which gives you a chance to capitalize on it.
Pssstttt...blogging is not dead.
>> Read more: How To Create a Blog in Squarespace for Your Business
I know multi 6 figure entrepreneurs who have built their businesses off of blogging.
And I know that the thought of putting hours into creating long form content can be daunting, so I really want to stress the payoff of this form of organic marketing.
So stick with me here because these blogging benefits are really juicy.
But before we dive in, I want to stress that the benefits of blogging I mention in this post are only the outcome of pairing SEO with your blog.
In case you have absolutely no idea what SEO is, it stands for search engine optimization. I have a blog post all about SEO basics that will really come in handy for you if you’re a newbie.
But to give a quick summary, SEO is about changing the content and technical elements of your website to give it the best chance of ranking high in the Google search results.
How do you do this? By using keywords in your blog post that people are searching for and correctly optimizing your blog posts. The word “optimize” might sound foreign to you, so the best way to put it is that you have to “package” your blog posts for Google.
>> Read more: Squarespace SEO: Ultimate Blog Post Guide to Rank in Google
Without further ado, here are 7 reasons why SEO and blogging deserves a seat at the table, and why you should focus your energy on it.
1. Your blog content has a long shelf life
Instagram and Facebook have an extremely small life cycle. You have to basically post every single day to get your content in front of the right people. And most times, your followers don’t even see your content because of the algorithm.
I don’t know about you, but having to show up on Instagram Stories every single day dropping website design and SEO tips is exhausting, especially when I’m having a rough day and the last thing I want to do is put on a smile and pretend everything is okay.
Didn’t mean to damper the mood there, but if you’re a business owner, I’m sure you can relate to the roller coaster that comes with being your own boss.
Any who…back to what I was saying…
With blogging, posts can rank in Google for years.
Instead of having to recycle your social media content every 3 months, you can write one blog post that stays on page 1 of Google for 2-4 years.
There are certain factors that can help with this, like the number of frequency of comments, updating the post every few months and the amount of time someone spends on your site. But this is the reality of blogging.
2. You own the content on your website
On social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you don’t own your content at all. On your website, you have full control over your content. And you don’t have to be at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm hiding your content.
In other words, Facebook and Instagram are borrowed platforms.
Let’s say you have 20,000 followers on Instagram. That’s amazing! But what happens when...
The platform goes down and you can’t publish videos or post to your feed?
There’s a tech glitch that hides your DMs?
It closes up shop like Periscope?
Scary right?
And as you’re very much aware of the Instagram and Facebook apocalypse that has happened a few times now, you don’t have full control over when the platform will go down.
When it does, you’re unable to reach the people that need your services most. I don’t know about you, but I get so frustrated when this happens.
If you’re only building your business on social media platforms, you’re making a big mistake. You need to think long term - that’s where a search engine comes into play.
3. Blogging puts you directly in front of dream clients
Every single day, thousands of people are searching for the solutions to their problems.
Whether it’s a quick and easy recipe for apple pie, finding a tutorial for how to do a certain fitness exercise, or they want to master Instagram for business so they can make more sales, the goal is for your content to be that solution.
You want your blog post to show up on page 1 for the specific search term you’re using in your content.
The beauty of this is that instead of having to scour through Instagram hashtags, comment on hundreds of photos, and send a mass amount of DMs each week to find that only a fraction of those people actually want your services, getting found through Google puts you directly in front of people searching for your exact services.
Or they’re looking for some sort of help that you have the solution to.
4. Blogging gives you free traffic (no ads)
With Google being free, you don’t have to be constantly putting money into ads for your business to run on autopilot.
Although ads can definitely be effective, they can greatly increase your expenses. You want to have an organic marketing strategy to fall back on.
Once you build up your authority and people start finding you every day through Google, you’ll have the opportunity to turn that traffic into leads and sales.
It’s slow at first - a few dozen a month, then hundreds, then thousands. It’s a snowball effect. If you put in the time and energy now, it will greatly pay off.
5. Reaching page 1 of Google establishes you as an authority and expert
People automatically correlate page 1 in Google with expert and authority status. Therefore, they’re more likely to trust you. That means more email signups and more sales coming in from your digital products and services.
>> Read more: 5 Squarespace SEO Tips to Rank on Page 1
Even if someone finds you through Instagram or Facebook and stumbles onto your website, they will see all that content and know that you’re legit.
So even when you first start blogging and you’re hidden on page 5 of Google, you can still direct followers and email subscribers to that high quality educational content so they can learn from you.
People looking to hire are much more likely to go with someone who can prove their expertise in a topic. So it’s still a win-win as you’re climbing the search result pages.
6. Evergreen lead generation
Getting found through Google grows your email list.
What does this mean? More sales!
With that traffic that is coming to your website every single day, whether it’s hundreds or thousands of people, you want to be promoting your freebie.
A freebie or lead magnet, if you’re not aware, is something you give away for free in exchange for an email address. Gone are the days of a call to action of “sign up for my newsletter” with a form in your footer.
You need to provide an enticing free resource in return that relates to your services. You might have noticed mine above.
You can use a PDF, video series, podcast, mini email course, quiz (affiliate link) and so on. The choices are endless!
By including a preview or mockup and a call to action to grab your freebie, you’ll be growing your email list full of warm leads.
Here are places you can include your freebie or lead magnet:
1-2 times inside your blog post
In the blog post sidebar
At the bottom of your blog post
Here is a full list of places to promote your lead magnet on your Squarespace website.
By getting these leads onto your email list, you’re able to collect those site visitors who are already warm to your content. You can nurture them through weekly emails, which will lead to more sales.
This leads me to my next point...
7. Automated sales
I do have to preface that this only works if you have an email marketing platform (I absolutely love Convertkit), a sequence of emails pitching your offer, and a sales page.
I’ve had many people find me through Google and purchase my tripwire offer (and sometimes purchase the upsell) after they opt into my email list.
I don’t have to convince people in my DMs to purchase or spend time jumping on IG Stories. Ideal clients and customers are finding me, not the other way around, and purchasing my offers and autopilot.
It’s amazing right?
As a recap, here are the benefits of blogging for your business:
Your blog post content has a long shelf life
You own the content on your website
Blogging puts you directly in front of dream clients
Blogging gives you free traffic (no ads)
Reaching page 1 of Google establishes you as an authority and expert
Evergreen lead generation
Automated sales
Looking for help crafting blog content that will catapult you to page 1 of Google? Look no further! I love helping coaches, creatives and service based business owners create an SEO strategy that aligns with their offers so they attract dream clients and customers.
After implementing SEO strategies for billion dollar global brands, celebrities, and lawyers, I know what it takes to reach page 1 of Google.
Looking for more Squarespace SEO tips? Check out these blog posts: