This week we are delighted to welcome a guest contribution from Mike Jennings who is the owner of Business Development Advisors. Over to you Mike…..

Blogging is hot news right now.

There are regular articles about bloggers and the amount of readers they have and the amazing amount of money they’re making from their blogs.

So while on the one hand blogging is now totally mainstream I still regularly meet business owners who not only aren’t blogging but do not see the point in it and believe that from a business point of view that it’s a complete waste of time.

Here are five reasons why blogging will benefit your business and why you should be doing it.

Before I get to that let’s just recap on some basic facts about blogging.

  • A blog gives you the opportunity to express your opinions on any issue you want.
  • Blogs don’t have to be long – anywhere between 200 – 500 words is fine.
  • If you start a blog you really need to commit to updating it regularly. I usually blog once a week.
  • You don’t need to be the world’s greatest writer – people are looking for interesting subject matter not the next Shakespeare.
  • You’re not going to get lots of hate mail if people don’t agree with you. Very few people comment on blogs these days.

So what are the benefits of blogging

  • Expert status

By commenting on and giving informed opinions on subject matters relevant to your industry, you come to be recognised as an expert in your field. Expert status is a powerful driver of business enquiries.

  • Finger on the pulse

Blogging is a perfect vehicle for commenting on topical issues which will show you to be up with current trends and to have your finger on the pulse of events in your industry.

  • Drive website traffic

We all want more visitors to our websites and a blog will help achieve this. If your readers enjoy what they read they may well become regular visitors, assuming you’re updating your content regularly.  If your blog sits within your corporate website, if visitors like what they read on the blog, they may well decide to look around the website – happy days.

  • Improved your website ranking within Google

One of the things that Google looks for when ranking websites is regularly updated content. So by blogging regularly, you will help your site’s SEO and so improve where your website appears within the organic listings.

  • Increased exposure on social media

While many of us want to be active on social media, it is often difficult to find relevant and useful stuff to post. Social media is the ideal place to promote your blog

Social media also gives you the opportunity to increase your reach. If readers enjoy your posts, they may well share them which in effect endorses them which will bring new people to the blog and therefore your website. So not only are you in effect getting free advertising but you’re also getting social proof, which is immensely valuable.

Now I hope that having read this, you’ll understand why you should be blogging and will be encouraged to make a start.

Mike Jennings runs Business Development Advisors, a Surrey based marketing consultancy. Mike provides a “done for you” marketing service to small businesses who want to grow but aren’t sure how to go about it.

For an initial chat or a free consultation contact Mike on , email or via the website www.marketingsurrey.co.uk

For further reading, take at look at rhw’s legal blog.