Why Your Small Business Needs a Blog

Since our company develops corporate web 2.0 sites, our team of web developers are big advocates of integrating blogging as a part of a company's online marketing strategy. Although blogging has shifted in popularity over the last few years in light of other social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, I still believe that a blog is one of the best marketing opportunities for many small businesses. They are relatively simple and inexpensive to set up and can typically be added to your existing website.  A blog allows you to easily and quickly communicate with your audience (vs. your website, which may be difficult to update) and allows you to share information about your company.

Here are some of the benefits of having a small business blog:

1) Showcase Your Company

No matter what line of business you are in a blog is a great way to share interesting information about your business.  For example, if you are a business coach you can post “behind the scenes” photos or videos of your seminars.  Show people how the presentation is delivered or some of your special guest speakers.  Alternately you can talk about how you help your customers reach their career goals to the fullest potential (i.e. a teaser to increase awareness and credibility about areas where you have special expertise).  For example a web development company can showcase a "User Experience" expert talking about how they utilize real-time 3D gaming technology for immersive user interactions.  This shows that the company does more than just develop traditional websites – they put a lot of thought into them.  This can help justify premium pricing and also shows you as an expert in the field.

2) Talk about Company News

A blog is a great place to highlight company news.  Press releases are often very formal and don’t provide “real” perspective.  Use your blog to talk to people like people and share information beyond a press release.  For example, you may have a news release about a new technology feature of your company's technology platform.  On your blog you can build relationships by talking about how it can benefit your customers and share how excited you are.  You can also share photos.  Blogs are great ways to make your company news more human and allow people to really connect with you.

3) Discuss Company Issues or Policies

If you get a lot of feedback on certain areas of your business, a blog can be a great way to have an honest conversation with your customers about it.  Don’t accept unsolicited sales appointments at your office?  Explain why.  Let your customers understand and respond to your business policies.  You may also be surprised with solutions that they can offer.  When I worked for an architectural firm, we had a policy that our architectural original equipment manufacturer representatives didn’t agree with.  When we posted about them on our blog, the architectural (OEM) sales reps actually suggested a better solution that we end up adopting.

4) Show what you Know

This is similar to #1.  Remember this saying: "People don't care about how much you know until they know how you care" - at nVision we are always mindful that it's never about us and it's always about our customer (it's ingrained in our company culture). Highlight the knowledge and talent in your organization that leads to the benefit of your customer.  Let people know what goes in to making your product.  Share photos and videos.  Allow them to connect with you and your team.  If you have a career coaching business, you can talk about why all business executives and community leaders need your help. This can help position your company as a leader in the industry and really highlight why your company is the best solution.

5) Educate your Customers

Whatever your line of business; your customers are often seeking out information to better inform their buying decision.  Whether it's selling a service or a product?  Write blog posts on what makes your service or product different from other kinds of services or products that may appear similar.  Help your customers better understand how your company's service or product makes the difference in their success.  Educate your customers to show your knowledge, expertise, experience, professionalism, quality, service and drive loyalty.

6) Search Engine Optimization

A blog can have a positive impact on your search engine ranking results as well.  Essentially this means that when people Google keywords related to your product or service you show up near the top of the results.  This can lead to more traffic to your website and ultimately more business.  If I search “Transcend Business Coach” and you show up first, I am more likely to go to your business.  Blogs help your search engine results because they are full of keywords which helps Google understand what your website is about.  They also get updated frequently which helps with your Google ranking.