[This article first appeared here in August 2020 and has been updated and revised for 2024.]
Let's just say it right at the start: Blogging can be a powerful marketing tactic.
However, the truth is far more than that because business blogging is far more than a tactic. It's actually a strategic communication channel for your brand.
Not so surprisingly, many business owners still picture blogging as an online activity engaged in by somebody sitting at home in their PJs and writing about their latest vacation in Tulum or St. Thomas. And, while there certainly are hundreds of thousands of these types of bloggers out there, blogs on business websites are a completely different thing altogether.
Most businesses in the U.S. have websites. In fact, most surveys and research agrees that as of 2023, over 71 percent of these companies had a website. As of 2024, the United States has approximately 33.2 million businesses, with 99.9 percent of them being small businesses. These "small businesses" are defined by the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) as independent businesses with fewer than 500 employees.
So, roughly speaking, there are over 23 million business websites just in the United States alone. And sources report that as of 2024, almost 90 percent of businesses have a blog. Breaking that down, it's been determined that 91 percent of B2B sites host a blog while 86 percent of B2C companies have one.
Many of these businesses make full use of their business blogs as an integral part of their overall marketing strategy. And a business blog can be powerful.
And why is that?
A blog on your company's website is a forum for informing, educating, and inspiring your audience. It can build brand awareness and deepen customer loyalty. And it can help establish your business, your brand, as an authority in your field or niche.
It is the versatile and multi-faceted nature of a business blog that makes it such a critical and powerful part of your overall content and inbound marketing strategy.
And, yes, it works great for driving traffic to your website.
While we can easily argue that, from a purely marketing stance, this is the primary purpose of a business blog, this doesn't mean that established brands cannot have blogs that are largely for their existing base of clients or customers. They can and they do. And blogs can be designed to publish news items and time-sensitive updates.
However, for most small businesses - established and otherwise - their blog exists primarily to be found online by search engines in response to a search query. In other words, when someone is looking for an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or information that they need, if it's in your "wheelhouse" you want your site to be the result they are given.
And relevant, informative, authoritative, and good quality blog posts can make that happen.
In fact, our friends over at HubSpot have listed just a few good reasons to include blogging in your content strategy:
Oh, and did we mention driving traffic to your website through organic search?
Leveraging a website blog for B2B or B2C brands has a long and impressive history of success - and it isn't showing any signs of letting up or "fading away" as a viable and cost-effective online marketing tool.
Keep in mind, however, that website traffic by itself is not necessarily beneficial.
Think of it like this: having 100,000 site visits per month via your blog posts but without a single inquiry or lead coming from them is analogous to having 1,000 people read the menu on your restaurant door every month but never coming inside!
Your content must not only attract readers but it needs to educate, entertain, and strike an emotional chord with your audience. Then, and only, then, will your audience engage with your blog content in a meaningful way.
But what does this look like?
Educating does not mean to bore them to tears, Instead it means presenting valuable or actionable knowledge relevant to your target audience's needs and interests. This could be insights, tips, tutorials, or any form of helpful information that establishes your expertise.
Entertaining content may not involve humor, for example, but it does mean crafting content that evokes a positive response in readers. Your goal is to make learning enjoyable! Use humor, storytelling, creativity, or any technique that captures attention and keeps your audience reading and interested.
Emotion is the key to content that resonates with an audience on a deeper level. You can connect with your audience in a much more visceral way by evoking feelings like joy, empathy, inspiration, or nostalgia. Remember, emotions drive decisions! Or, as one person put it, every buying decision is an emotional one.
This type of content will invariably lead to far greater engagement and response from your audience. And blog posts, or articles, are the perfect medium for making that happen!
Website visits from people who need what you do or what you sell is the goal of blogging traffic.
While most people understand what website traffic is, remember that not all traffic is the same. Strictly speaking, website traffic is determined by the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit.
But unless those visitors go further into your website and learn who and what your business is and does, they represent nothing more than window shoppers. What you want is for visitors who are also ideal prospects for your services or products to be so intrigued or impressed by the content of the blog post read through that they will "hang around" on your website for a while to learn more about you.
So, how do you make that happen?
Okay, there are more than two keys, but without these primary strategy considerations the rest don't much matter. Simply put, it comes down to Frequency and Content.
How many blog posts should a small business publish each month to successfully drive traffic and show up in organic search results? It depends. Some established businesses with a robust social media presence and other content marketing channels such as email marketing can publish once a month and see results.
However, most businesses should consider a minimum of two or three posts a month or, better yet, once or even twice a week. The total number of posts within a specific period of time combined with a growing archive of quality content creates a synergistic effect on search engine results.
So, what does that mean for determining your optimum blogging frequency? If daily blog posts aren't necessary or even recommended for most businesses, does that mean blogging once a week? Can you publish once or twice a month and still see resulting traffic?
According to data from Orbit Media bloggers who publish 2 to 6 times weekly are 50 percent more likely to report strong results. The two or more blog posts per week numbers are followed by those who post once a week and those who publish a few times a month, both at just over 25 percent likely to see good results.
But keep in mind that creating consistent, engaging, and high-quality content should be your number one priority, not worrying about volume or frequency. And this is something that most small businesses struggle with. In fact, depending on your business and your audience, even an epic blog article weighing in at over 2,500 words can drive a great deal of organic traffic.
In this context, we use the term "content" to refer specifically to what is in your blog posts. And this matters on two fronts: quality and length.
Without quality content the labor is all for naught. And quality entails user intent, relevance, and substance.
Google wants to direct people to websites that solve problems. To that end, according to Blog Tyrant,
"This particular update [Hummingbird] changed the way Google looked at searches so they no longer emphasize keywords but instead look at the intention behind the search. For example, people searching for 'acid reflux' might really be looking for 'why do I have acid reflux?', 'what drugs treat acid reflux?', etc."
More recently, Google's core algorithm update has had an impact on the way content creators - business bloggers included - should approach their content development.
The folks at Search Engine Journal shared some tips for this:
Note that in addition to the relevance, intent, and substance of the content, fresh content is something that Google looks for. And blog posts are perfect for that. Back in 2011 Google implemented a freshness update that became part of Google's search algorithm. This update was aimed to give a fresher content a more prominent edge in rankings, especially for content where freshness is important.
But keep in mind that "freshness" comes in different packages.
According to Brain Dean, leading SEO expert.
“Although Google prefers fresh content, an older page that’s regularly updated may outperform a newer page.”
Another reason why building a stockpile of blog post content is valuable. Since most of your blog topics may not be "evergreen" it is a valuable strategy to routinely go back and update, revise, and even expand on older blog content. Re-publishing these with current posting dates can provide a wealth of ongoing, fresh content for the search engines to discover.
And one more tip: use plenty of visuals. Experience and data shows that readers engage more often and more longer when your written content is enhanced with graphics, images, short-form video, infographics, and other forms of visual elements.
This checklist outlines a basic marketing strategy using blog articles as your main content source.
Before You Start:
Content Creation:
Content Promotion:
Analyze and Adapt:
By following these steps and continuously refining your approach, you can develop a successful blog content marketing strategy that attracts new customers and grows your business.
An additional tactic for creating and publishing and effective business blog is to get outside help. A digital marketing agency such as BroadVision Marketing can offer expertise and tools that the typical business owner or marketing manager may not have.
In addition, it often helps to have a professional marketer's perspective to assess your content marketing strategy. Acquiring the insights of a third-party professional is an investment that can bring a quantifiable return.
Click on the image below to help you make an informed decision or call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238.