This article was originally published on the Spectrum blog. 


SEO value aside, most business owners often find it difficult to conceptualize the benefits of keeping a company blog. Many just wouldn’t be able to justify the time and energy that went into it, which thus begs the question: would you still keep a blog if Search Engine Optimization wasn’t an advantage?

Hmmm.

The answer should be a booming “YES!” and here are 4 extremely tenable, revenue-driving, lead-generating reasons why your company’s blog is one of the most important marketing tools available to you:

 1.    Make Your Company a Team

The influence of any company is ultimately a culmination of its people’s efforts. It’s an important fact that can often slip through the crevasses of corporate America, leaving employees, managers and business owners alike in an estranged state. Keeping a business blog that all can contribute to is a tremendous reminder to everyone at the company that they are, in fact, a team of people working towards a common goal. This can be a fantastic morale boost – supporting togetherness, encouraging collaboration and driving momentum with every new post.

 2.    Hone Your Knowledge & Polish Your Pitch

When it comes down to it, you know everything about your business and the industry you are competing in. Or do you? The point is, when you are consistently researching new and relevant information to write about on your blog, it’s very difficult not to stay sharp when it comes to the particulars of your business. The time and effort you put into making your blog interesting and informative will not only improve your SEO, but your sales skills, as well. Writing, especially about granularities, hones one’s ability to communicate effectively on that topic – and if customers appreciate one thing, it’s clear and concise answers to their pressing questions.

 3.    Become Your Customers’ Trusted Adviser

There are mainly two types of consumers: price shoppers and value shoppers. The vast majority of small business sales and marketing departments prefer the latter because they lend themselves to relationship building and repeat business. By maintaining a quality blog with helpful content, you can easily build trust with value shoppers by providing them with the information they needed about your product, service, or industry in general – information that will establish trust. And, typically, trusting prospects turn into quality leads that turn into sales and revenue for your business.

 4.    First Comes the Blog, then Come the Comments

…then you have feedback for more excellent content! Truth: interesting, thought-provoking content will generate questions and comments which can then be turned into an additional post. Not only that, but business owners can learn an incredible amount from consumer comments and feedback (not even mentioning the amount of traffic they generate)!