It comes as no shock that social media has staked its claim in business marketing. Businesses have found new opportunities to spread their message and reach new target markets using sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn. How many times have you heard the phrases, “Like us on Facebook”, or “Follow us on Twitter”? The truth is, this interaction is becoming the way of the world. However, one aspect of social networking that is being neglected by some businesses is the power of a well-written blog.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, there are over 9 million blogs on the Internet at any given time, with 40,000 new accounts being generated every day. Blogs are an influential tool that can be used to take a business to the next level. Major blogs sites include Tumblr, Blogger and WordPress. On these sites, anyone from a professional journalist to someone with middle school writing experience can express their opinions and establish a following of readers.

So how do blogs help businesses? According to the Social Skinny, blogs are a part of the social media network, which currently consist of 2.8 billion profiles worldwide.  Blogs are not just a fad. In fact, four out of five Internet users visit social networks and blogs, and 50 percent of people will follow the brands they prefer on a social media site. Companies that do choose to blog are seeing the benefits by way of 55 percent more web traffic and 97 percent more inbound links than companies that do not blog.

Corporate blogging is a social networking device that can be used to communicate news, share information and ideas. Your average blog will use text, images, links and/or video.

To blog or not to blog? That is the question. Social media is not just a trend, it is how millions interact with one another. A blog is a great way to keep a connection with customers and stay connected with your key audiences. Blogs attract an audience and open up space where consumers and companies are able to inform, interact and learn from one another. Blogs work to retain and energize your audience, while you build a two-way bond. Companies are able to respond to customers and constantly grow a community of loyal brand followers. Blogging is also used as a recruiting tool to find contacts, employees and consultants. A prodigious blog will also give your company a great brand by growing an informed customer base and improving online SEO.

Arguably the best benefit of utilizing a blog on your site is its natural impact on your site’s search engine performance.

How a well-executed blog improves search engine performance:

• More indexed content, providing a larger keyword footprint

• Provides a URL structure, title system and content format with naturally occurring keyword

• Continually updated content makes for more frequent crawling by search engines

• Good content provides more opportunities for backlinks (other sites that link to your content)

A blog also allows a company to create instantaneous communication with a worldwide audience. A single post will update the company site, RSS feed and even social media accounts upon creation. With such quick communication over that many channels you are much more likely to acquire and maintain the attention of your audience.

Blogging is an important tool that should be used for a business in order to create more sales and a better relationship with consumers. Social media is becoming the way of the world and companies that choose not to use all aspects are sure to be left behind.

Questions? Let us know by giving us a call at 952-449-6800 or emailing info@fuzzyduck.com.