With today’s myriad of competing social media platforms and the various other novel ways to reach an audience, you might consider blogging to be a bit old-fashioned. But, according to HubSpot, businesses that blog receive, on average, 55% more site visitors than those that don’t! This makes blogs one of the most useful tools available when it comes to spreading awareness about your brand.

Additionally, a quality blog can help to improve your search engine optimization (SEO), which ultimately drives more visitors to your site and gives your brand an air of professionalism and reliability.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, perhaps this will: another perk of owning your own business is having control. A blog exists in your ecosystem, adding an extra layer of insulation if a search engine algorithm change doesn’t favor your site.

Ready to get started? Let’s review how creating compelling, educational blog content can drive visitors to your site and build brand loyalty.

Blogging to boost your SEO

Running a quality blog gives Google (and other search engines) content to analyze, increasing the likelihood that you’ll rank higher on relevant keywords. See the “Optimize Your Content” section of Google’s SEO Starter Guide for more detailed information about this practice.

Here’s one example of how you might create a blog post that’s valuable for your audience as well as your marketing efforts:

Since many users are often searching for information (like how to perform a particular task), you can try filling a knowledge gap by blogging about how to perform a specific task or service related to your field, whether it’s how to change a bike tire or perform emergency first aid.

By supplying readers with informative content, you’re giving search engines something to categorize you by while empowering your fans and customers. But, you don’t have to stop at writing a blog post. You’ll reap even more benefits by optimizing how it’s presented to visitors (and search engines) with Jetpack’s SEO tools. These generate XML sitemaps, improve meta descriptions, and cut down on load times.

Blogging builds trust

Once people find your site, reading a quality blog post or two can help to establish your credibility. If you can successfully write about a particular subject, readers will begin to trust that you’re a knowledgeable resource.

This increases the likelihood that they’ll get in touch using contact forms and email submissions, and will turn to you for products or services (as you’ve demonstrated that you’re an expert in your field.)

Even if you blog about closely related or niche subjects, you’re still building credibility with fans and search engines. So, keep writing about the aspects of your business or passion that you can talk about with confidence. If someone contacts you after reading one of your posts, a large portion of the “sales process” will already be completed.

Blogging gives you content to share

Social media sharing can make your blogging efforts even more effective. Sharing posts on social media pages ensures that people who are or may become interested in your business or brand know that you consistently publish new content. You can also set up automatic promotion of your content to make this process easier.

Blogging helps you establish a following

Engaging blog posts attract loyal readers who will want to check out and share your content as soon as it’s published. Even if your readers aren’t current customers, your name will still be at the forefront of their minds when the need eventually arises. After all, they were probably looking at your content for a reason.

To boot, people who enjoy your content may become your ambassadors, referring their followers to your page and further extending your reach. You can make it easier for them by adding sharing buttons to your posts. Remember, even one share to a reader’s social media accounts gives you social proof and carries more weight to people who aren’t familiar with your brand yet.

Blogging enables you to build a community

With your blog as the foundation, you can take your following to the next level by building a community. Your followers will not only share your content, but they might start and join in on discussions about it — with you, and with each other.

Activating comments on your site is a great way to get started. This lets readers post comments using one of their existing social media accounts. They can participate in discussions even if they don’t have WordPress accounts, or don’t want to create an account on your site.

If you’re ready to branch out of the comments section, you might try creating a forum where your audience members can have conversations, share knowledge, and compile resources for others.

A blog is a powerful tool, so make use of it!

A quality blog can be an extremely effective way to boost your website’s influence and engagement. If you follow the tips above, you’ll have another marketing tool that can help you reach more customers and grow your business.