Why do I need a blog on my website?

advice | copywriting

Let’s be honest… running a business on your own is really hard. There are tons of things to do outside of the one thing you wanted to do in the first place – the reason you set up your whole business! I get it. All you want to do is create your products, write your words, make your art… and yet you have to do a bunch of other things too – build a website and maintain it, keep on top of social media, filing, admin, emails, accounts, marketing, purchasing stock… the list goes on! And then little old me comes along and says:

You need to blog regularly on your website about your business!

Yep, totally get why you want to close the door in my face right now! But here’s the thing… you really do need to blog regularly on your website all about your business. 

Here’s why…

To keep things fresh

You might spend long painful hours writing all the copy for your website, ensuring it sounds interesting, grabs attention, hits all those keywords and scores well for SEO but, realistically, once the words are up on your website, how often do you change them? On average, a business will update or renew their website every 3 or 4 years, sometimes even longer.

So what happens between those times?

Leaving your website to fester and grow dusty is just not an option. You know, as well as I do, that the world of small business is ever-moving and ever-changing. Whatever industry you’re in, things are always moving forwards so the only way to really keep your website fresh and showing your clients that you’re moving with (or even ahead of) the times is by blogging. It’s either that or refreshing your entire website every couple of months and I bet you’ve got even less time for that!

To build and maintain relationships

Blogging allows clients – past, present and future – to interact with your business. They can read about the projects you have done or are thinking about doing. You can show them how much you know about your field and present yourself as an expert in it, encouraging a greater following. And you can see exactly what it is people want to know about your business by the questions they ask you through your comments section.

Blogging is actually a great source of information for you, as well as for your readers!

To show people the person behind the brand

Writing blog posts is a great way of showing your clients exactly who you are by the way that you speak. After all, you’re not a corporation, you are one human being speaking to another, so let your readers know that!

Putting your personal stamp on what you do makes your business more personable, more approachable and more talked about! I’m a big believer in personal branding. We’re in an age where people are moving back to small businesses, shopping locally and supporting handmade over mass-production. So show that that’s what you’re all about on your blog!

For lots of awesome content

Information in a blog post can be used again and again and again. You can repurpose it, break it into chunks and use it on social media, update it and re-jig it when new information and ideas come to light… honestly, a single blog post is not a short-lived entity!

To get people visiting your website

Ultimately, driving more traffic to your website is one of the main goals. If they come to read a blog post that’s full of useful information and engaging, there’s a good chance they are going to stay and have a look around. The longer they stay, the better things are for you and your business.

So, in short, the answer really is yes, you need to have a blog on your website. Now you’re probably wondering what you should be writing about and how to maintain a blog… don’t worry, I’ll talk about those things in more posts.

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