Should My Company Have a Blog? Yes (If You Don’t Already)

In the beginning, was the blog.

Long before social media exploded with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and even before Friendster came and went (remember Friendster?), blogging was blazing the trail and preparing users for the content-sharing craze that was to come.

It’s surprising, then, that many businesses still don’t have a blog.

If you’ve wondered over the years, “should my company have a blog?”—the answer is yes. Here’s why.

It allows you to have a consistent stream of fresh content for social networks.

Blogging allows you to create and post content that’s timely and relevant right now. Just like on Twitter. You’re more likely to gather followers on Twitter if you can respond quickly to breaking news, especially as it’s related to your industry. People don’t retweet old news, and the static content on your website is only interesting for a short time. Blogging allows you to share stories, news and resources quickly and easily to your communities on social networking sites.

A blog improves your search engine results.

In recent years Google, Bing, Ask.com and the like have all changed the way they search the web to archive and list web pages in their search engines. SEO experts and spammers got so good at utilizing meta tags to manipulate search engine results that search engines have now changed their search “spiders” to look for keywords in page titles, not meta tags. Blogging tools like WordPress and TypePad automatically add the code for page titles in every new blog post you publish.

It gives you access to statistical data.

The blogging platform WordPress provides statistical data that is very helpful in helping you understand what type of content your readers are interested in. WordPress also allows you to view referral URLs and how many visitors came to your blog from Google searches, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

A blog can build a community around your business.

Buzzwords like “community” and “engagement” have become very popular over the last few years in reference to sites like Facebook and Twitter, but perhaps nothing builds community better than a blog that allows comments and conversation. Like right now—I’m not talking at you. I’m talking with you. If you comment on this post, I’ll keep the conversation going (as long as it’s appropriate). Promise.

Remember this––effective bloggers are prolific (they write a lot), consistent (post regularly) and persistent. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your blog won’t be, either. There are few, if any, overnight successes in the blog world. Keep at it, though––the most successful bloggers are those who have something interesting to say, and they say it well and often.