I know, I know. Blogging is SOOOO 2007. It’s not sexy, it’s not new, and to some, it’s downright tedious. You may think that blogging just isn’t necessary for you to be a viable business. That you can run your business on Facebook, or Instagram.
While Facebook and Instagram (Twitter, Snapchat….the list goes on) are considered mini-blogs in and of themselves, it is still important for your business to have a blog.
Just hear me out; in this post, we’ll look at some of the reasons you should still have a blog even if you have THOUSANDS of raving fans on social media.
Here are the reasons a blog is still important for your business:
Your audience is there
Even though your customers and prospects are watching you on Facebook live or getting a kick out of your Snaps, or ogling over your beautiful Instagram images, they still want to be able to find you on the web. Your blog and website will be where they go to do some deeper research on your product or services, like description and pricing.
Most customers when considering a purchase will do a lot of research before they click the buy button, and the blog is a perfect place for them to find the most informative and helpful information. Use your blog to teach your potential buyers about how they can best use your product, or what benefits they can enjoy!
SEO and the Google machine
Even though Facebook, Instagram, Twitter et al are top of mind for most people, don’t forget that Google still gets 3.5 billion searches a day. And that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother! When writing your blog posts, you can take a little time to research your keywords and write a quality blog post that can help your website rise up the search ranking ladder.
Please the reader, then the search machine.
The more you post quality content, the better chance someone will come across your name when searching on Google.
Blogs give your business credibility
Not only does your blog add value to the reader, but it will give your business credibility. Having a blog and a website is a way to display that you are the authority in your niche.
Don’t forget, there isn’t anything that hasn’t been done under the sun. This means that there is almost 100% likelihood that someone else is offering what you offer. Which leads to….
Your competitors are blogging, and you should be too
Do a quick search on what you do or what you sell. I guarantee that you will find others doing it. And probably more than likely you will find their websites and blogs.
A lot of people will start their buying process by searching the web. If your business is not there, your credibility will suffer.
Blog posts live longer
Usually, only websites and Facebook pages will show up in Google search results. Very rarely does an Instagram or Snapchat post show up in search.
The average lifespan of a Snap is 24 hours. Instagram posts are not likely to stick around more than 13 hours.
And Twitter, get this: Every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter…. which corresponds to over 350,000 tweets sent per minute, 500 million tweets per day and around 200 billion tweets per year.
The bottom line is that social media is fleeting and it can be hard to keep up and stay in front of your customer. By having a blog, you can possibly bring in new customers years down the road.
Own vs. Rent
Don’t get me wrong, you need social media. You need it to engage with your audience, share information, get to know your audience, and the list goes on. You also need it to promote your blog posts!
Pinterest for example, is gold for blog posts! Year-old blog posts can be re-pinned into infinity bringing new life to your blog each time!
However, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and all the rest are just that. They are someone else’s platform and you do not own them. Have any of you been in Facebook jail? We have! It makes you feel helpless.
With your website and blog, they are yours and no one can take them away from you. (yes, you do have to host them on domains, etc, but you get where I’m coming from!)
How to Start a Blog Step by Step for Beginners
So you’ve probably read through this post and thought, “this is all great and I know I should be blogging, but…..where the heck do I start”?
Let’s not get overwhelmed, we’ve got you covered. Most of you are probably not the computer guru/programmer type, and just need an easy to use and update blog platform.
WordPress is amazing, and it’s what we use here at #DitchtheDaycare. But I’ve found it’s a little more advanced and you do need some tech skills to keep up with changes and updates.
Lately, I have been recommending Weebly.com for a simple website and blog. It’s SO easy and packaged simply in one place. They will host your domain, or you can easily use if your domain lives somewhere else. (like GoDaddy)
You can track your visitors and pageviews right within the dashboard and easily add new pages and publish blog entries.
We are fans of the step-by-step, so that’s why we created this quick guide to help you through it. Let us know where to send it and we’ll have your website up and running in 7 days!