3 reasons why you should run a WordPress blog for your small business

You’re time poor. You run a small business. As well as actually running your business you’re the one responsible for marketing it too. If you’re reading this you probably have a WordPress site. You know that you need to blog, you read that advice everywhere. Why though? What’s the point? What should you really expect to gain by spending your valuable time taking on yet another commitment?

In short: why do you need a small business WordPress blog?

There is a lot of noise online in the marketing world. Loads of ‘experts’, lots of hype – probably a lot B.S. too. Do not loose faith. Today I’m going to lay out why blogging on your business website is a worthwhile exercise and answer the above question as go.

Let me sum it up for you. In just 3 individual ideas.  I’ll convince you to get blogging for your small business.

Blogging improves your SEO situation

Google loves fresh content. Regularly adding new material for the search engines to discover inside your site is very well regarded. It will improve your position. Particularly if your blog posts are publish with a good SEO structure; adding 3 – 4 new blog posts a month will undoubtably improve your rankings.

An increasing number of blog posts means you can also link to your cornerstone content and overtime teach Google where the important content in your site is.

Steadily improving your SEO status and therefore your rankings in search engines is a cost effective long term marketing strategy. If you stick at it you will succeed. When you do, traffic coming from the major search engines can be the life blood of your website. Read more about WordPress SEO here on our blog.

Be a leader

Ok. You may think this is a little daft. However it’s a valid reason to publish great content, it’s an opportunity that awaits you. Regularly publishing new material on your blog puts your name, your business and your product / service in front of your audience. Over time your name can become synonymous with your area of expertise.

Publishing solid content gives you material that you can share on your social media networks. Subtly, placing you and your brand in front of your audience regularly. When it comes time to buy, you’ll be top of mind and their first port of call.

Solve problems with your blog content

This idea is often missed but I think it’s invaluable.

If your sales people regularly hear the same pre-sales questions, if you clients commonly need answers to questions, use your blog to supply this information. For one thing is creates efficiencies inside your business. Next time your sales person is asked the same question – ‘sure, that’s a great question, can I eMail you a link to our website where we really explain that in detail’. A good result for the sales person and great for the prospect. They can see in detail that your business is organised and your team really know their stuff.

The idea does not have to be restructured to pre-sales situations. Over at HelpForWP.com – our WordPress plugin business, we regularly have situations where our users ask the same questions.

• ‘How do I get the plugin to do X’
• I’ve installed the plugin, done XYZ and blah happens

Each of these situations can result in a great blog post for your WordPress site. Similar theme as before, your support team can save time by referring the user to a link on the website, no need to write out the answer again. Of course a great result for the user too, assuming your blog post answers the questions, pictures, screen captures whatever it takes to get the message across.

Have I convinced you?

I hope so. If you have a question, perhaps you’d like some more tips, or you’ve got a blogging success story you’d like to share. I’d love to hear from you, post a comment below.

If you’re are convinced on the why, check out this post where I set you up with some tips on how to work efficiently on your WordPress blog. If you’re the time poor business owner I mentioned in the opening of this post you’ll enjoy the tips I share.