BroadVision Marketing Blog

[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.

Business Blogging: A Key Component of Effective Digital Marketing

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.

More Than Just Another Content Medium

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:

• 80% of internet users interact with both social media sites and blogs. (DemandMetric)
• 59% of marketers find blogging valuable. (DemandMetric)
• Websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages and 97% more inbound links than those without. (BKA Content)
• Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don't blog. (DemandMetric)

Oh, and did we mention driving traffic to your website through organic search?

• 80% of bloggers report that blogging drives strong marketing results. (Orbit Media)
• Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don't. (HubSpot)

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.

Keeping the Traffic Moving

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!

Tell It and They Will Come

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?

The Two Main Keys to Business Blogging Success

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.

Frequency

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.

Content

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:

• Research Related Topics: Use tools like SurferSEO.com, Frase.io, AnswerThePublic.com, Ahrefs.com, or Google’s Keyword Planner to identify related topics that complement your main content. Look for questions people are asking about your main topic and address those within your content.
• Use Topic Clusters: Consider organizing your content into clusters, where a central “pillar” page covers the main topic broadly and links to “cluster” pages that dive deeper into related subtopics. This helps search engines understand the breadth and depth of your content.
• Incorporate User Intent: Understand the different intents behind search queries related to your topic (informational, navigational, transactional) and create content that satisfies these intents. This could include how-to guides, detailed explanations, product reviews, and more.
• Update Regularly: Keep your content fresh by regularly updating it with new information, trends, and insights. This shows search engines that your content is current and relevant.

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.

Business Blog Marketing Strategy Checklist

This checklist outlines a basic marketing strategy using blog articles as your main content source.

Before You Start:

1. Define Your Target Audience: Who are you trying to reach with your blog? Understanding their needs, wants, and online behavior is crucial for creating relevant content.
2. Set Goals: What do you want to achieve with your blog? Common goals include generating leads, increasing brand awareness, or driving sales.
3. Competitor Research: Analyze successful blogs in your niche. What topics do they cover? How often do they post? This will help you identify opportunities and avoid redundancy.

Content Creation:

1. Develop a Content Calendar: Plan your blog posts in advance. This ensures a consistent flow of content and avoids scrambling for ideas.
2. Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords people search for related to your niche. Optimize your blog posts for these keywords to improve search engine ranking (SEO). There are many free and paid keyword research tools available online.
3. Content Variety: Experiment with different blog post formats. Lists, how-to articles, industry trends, and in-depth guides can all be engaging for your audience.
4. High-Quality Content: Focus on creating informative, well-written, and visually appealing blog posts. Proofread carefully before publishing.

Content Promotion:

5. SEO Optimization: Use relevant keywords in your titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
6. Social Media Promotion: Share your blog posts on social media platforms where your target audience is active.
7. Email Marketing: Include links to your latest blog posts in your email newsletters.
8. Guest Blogging: Contribute articles to other relevant blogs in your niche to reach a wider audience.
9. Encourage Sharing: Make it easy for readers to share your blog posts on social media with clear share buttons.

Analyze and Adapt:

10. Track Your Results: Use website analytics tools to monitor traffic, engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares), and conversions.
11. Learn from Data: Analyze your data to see what content resonates with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.
12. Stay Consistent: Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Regularly publish high-quality content to build a loyal readership and achieve your marketing goals.

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.

Your Business Blogging Strategy Partners

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.