Why every business can benefit from blogging

With more than 5 billion internet users currently around the globe, there has never been a better time for businesses to consider blogging as a part of their marketing strategy. High-quality blogs with engaging content can help businesses drive traffic and convert site visitors, generating an ROI many times greater than its cost. 

By definition, blog is a digital publication where relevant content is created and published on an ongoing basis. It can be used as an alternative, organic method for advertising and promoting businesses, be it in any industry.

Whether you run a small local shop or lead a global corporation, blogs help extend your reach and connect more effectively with your intended customers. Besides, providing your visitors with informative content, blogging builds trust and gives them a reason to come back.

In short, if done right, blogging can be a viable avenue for business growth. It can be a major driver of marketing leads and revenue dollars for your business. Plus, it can be a more valuable and effective tool than advertising when it comes to ROI and building trust with your potential customers.

Let’s take a closer look at three key benefits of business blogging and corresponding statistics to understand how starting one in 2023 can benefit your business’s growth.

Benefit 1: The popularity of blogging is surging

Not only will blog be relevant in 2023 but likely to be one of the most popular content types for B2B marketers, have a more comprehensive look below:

81% of consumers trust blog content: While Americans’ trust in major public institutions is near historic lows, blogs are still found to be a trusted source of information. Blogging statistics by BlogHer suggest that 81% of U.S. consumers still consider blogs as their trusted source of information and guidance.

More than 3 in 4 Fortune 500 companies have business blogs: It’s not just small businesses that use blogging to reach new customers and expand a company, a growing number of the largest corporations in the U.S. also maintain a blog. As of 2020, about 77% of Fortune 500 companies have a business blog, up from 54% in 2019, according to the leading statistics company, Statista.

90% of businesses market with content: Blogging statistics published on HubSpot indicate that 90% of businesses use some kind of content marketing tactics — wherein blogging is the third most commonly used content marketing strategy, after video and e-books.

More than 90% of B2B marketers leverage content marketing: Statistics from marketing advisory firm, Demand Metric indicate that 91% of B2B marketers make use of content marketing in their overall strategy for business growth.

77% of internet users read blogs: An overwhelming 77% of internet users are found to regularly read blog posts, according to blogging facts published on IMPACT.

Benefit 2: Blog content creation is an effective tool for boosting SEO

Blogging gets your website listed in Google’s search results, and that gets more visitors to your website and ultimately more sales. Here are some related metrics:

Content creation is the most effective SEO tactic: Content creation is deemed to be the most effective SEO tactic, 72% of online marketers consider content creation as the best strategy to improve a website’s rankings and increase organic search traffic.

Sites with blogs have four times more indexed pages: Blogging statistics suggest that websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages and get 97% more inbound links than their counterparts. 

Leads gained through inbound SEO close more often: According to OptinMonster, SEO-generated leads have a higher close rate of 14.6% vs. a mere 1.7% close rate for leads gained through outbound marketing tactics like print advertising and direct mail.

Up to 80% of online searchers pass over paid ads: According to Martech Zone, 70% to 80% of users ignore paid ads in search engine searches, instead preferring to scroll down to the organic search results to find products/services that they are looking for. 

70% of people prefer articles to ads: While advertisements probably will never go away, they have certainly become less important to customers. Consumers’ Attitude Towards Custom Content survey finds that 7 out of 10 customers prefer to learn about a business through an article or blog post rather than an advertisement.

Benefit 3: Blogging generates high ROI

Whether you are looking to generate leads, sales or simply top-of-the-funnel, new site visitors from your business blog, the ROI is massive.

Custom content marketing significantly improves brand affinity: Statistics suggest that 82% of consumers feel more positive about a business after reading custom content and 70% feel closer to the brand using custom content. Findings of another content marketing research reveal similar sentiment, 61% of consumers were not only found agreeing to feel better about but also expressed willingness to buy from a business delivering custom content. 

Blogs boost traffic by 55%: A study perusing marketing metrics of approximately 1500 HubSpot customers (mostly small- and medium-sized businesses) finds that businesses that use blogs have 55% more website visitors. 

Blogging amplifies lead growth: Blogging data from IMPACT finds that small businesses that blog regularly experience 126% higher lead growth than those that do not.

Content marketing generates three times the leads: Overall, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing practices and generates approximately three times the number of leads for every dollar spent, according to Demand Metric.

Blogging augments a sixfold increase in conversion rate: According to research compiled by Content Marketing Institute, the website conversion rate for content marketing adopters is nearly six times higher, that is 2.9%, vis-a-vis non-adopters, that is 0.5% on average.

Business blogging FAQs

It is evident that adding a blog to your business website can be a huge bonus to your marketing strategy. Much more affordable than advertising and traditional marketing tactics, blogging helps you reap the same benefits of increased visibility, brand awareness and traffic to your website. 

But the question is how do you go about creating relevant blog content that drives inbound links and traffic to your site?

Below are answers to common business blogging questions:

How can I add a blog to my business website?

One way of adding a blog to your existing business website is to use masked subdomains. This entails creating a subdomain for your website and linking it to your blog page. Another approach to starting business blogging is to migrate your existing website to the WordPress platform. This way you can have a static homepage in WordPress and a separate blog post page to display your content.

How often should I blog?

Experts suggest publishing new blog posts one to four times per week. However, if you can manage to publish every day, you definitely should. In fact, business blogging statistic reveals that blogs that publish daily are more likely to report stronger outcomes.

What should be the average length of my business blog post?

Long-form posts of approximately 3,000+ words are found to perform the best but not everyone wants to read super-long blogs. Besides, even Google prioritizes search results based on quality content and user experience rather than the blog length. To begin with, aim for 500+ words high-quality, SEO-optimized articles.

Which browser should I choose to optimize my blog content? With more than 60% of internet users using Google Chrome worldwide, optimize your content for the Chrome browser. 

How do I optimize blog posts for SEO?

Optimizing your blog posts isn’t too difficult. Start by performing keyword research, find out which keyword you want to rank for in the SERP and make it the focus of the blog post. Next, make sure to use paragraphs and appropriate headings, and add relevant images, CTAs and internal links. For more tips, refer to this guide.

Should my blog posts be mobile friendly?

With more than half of Google searches happening on mobile devices, making your business blog posts mobile friendly is critical.

How can I create mobile-friendly blogs?

To make sure your blog content is optimized for mobile devices, try creating sharp and snappy content. Plus, instead of using long paragraphs, use bullet lists and subheadings to break up and organize your content; take time to preview your posts on mobile devices and make necessary adjustments before you publish.

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