We see them all the time. Blogs. Personal blogs, blogs about dogs, blogs for your store. A blog is actually an intricate part of all your online content. Mostly, it provides useful information. Or, it should.

 

The other purpose a blog serves is to increase your ranking in an internet search. By using keywords that people are looking for, the search engine will find yours and move you up to the top or near the top of the list.

 

What is the Purpose of a Blog?

 

The main reason is to make a connection with your audience and provide information. If you are a new company just starting out, providing useful information in your blog will make you more visible.

 

You can use the blog on your website, but also in an email blast, a link to it on your social media pages, and as a stand-alone. The main purpose is to get people to your website and ultimately buy your products or service.

 

By connecting to your relevant audience, you will be able to grow that audience. People will share your information with people they know looking for your products. This will increase the traffic on your website and hopefully, sales.

 

Keep It Current

 

It is important to stay on top of your blog posts. Set up a schedule to post something at certain times. Perhaps every Monday, or Saturday, and try to send it out at around the same time of day. People like routine.

 

By staying current and active, it builds trust with your followers. When you provide useful and factual information, it builds your voice and allows you to become an expert in the area you write about.

 

By posting regularly, you can keep all your information up-to-date and build your audience. More and more people will start to find your blog and your website as you grow your audience.

 

A great blog with a firm, professional, and informative voice has the potential to grow quickly. In particular, in a market that isn’t saturated with the same types of blogs and websites. People will just give up or take the first one they find.

 

Blogs as Reviews

 

Many people and businesses use blogging as a way to review products and services. People can come to rely on these blogs for finding great restaurants, contractors, and dentists.

 

While it is just one person’s opinion when they have thousands of followers, that voice gets heard. They have the potential to make or break a new business. Most people do their comparison shopping online, so reading a blog about something they are looking for can have a lot of influence over the reader and their purchase.

 

As a new blogger, you can approach someone with a lot of followers and ask if you can guest post on their site, offer to send them a sample of your product for an honest review, or have them provide a link to your site. This works similarly to how social media influencers work.

 

A guest post is a great way to get yourself and your brand noticed by an audience that hasn’t likely heard of you. By posting on their site about your own, providing a link will draw a lot more people to your site. This is a great way to leverage other websites’ traffic to draw to yours.

 

Asking for a review of one of your products can also be a big boost for your website and your sales. Often, reviewers are seen as experts and a favorable review or mention of your product can make a big change in sales and future traffic.

 

Blogging For Dollars

 

If you just run a blog without a website or something to sell, you can still make money. Maybe you are the one who wants to write reviews for certain products. You can engage with companies and ask for samples to review.

 

You can also find affiliates to pay to advertise on your blog site. If you run a plant store or blog about dogs, people with similar products will pay to advertise and provide a link to their own site. This can be quite lucrative for people with the time to dedicate to their blog on a regular basis.

 

One of the most effective ways is to write a very in-depth and/or technical blog on a subject and give an honest suggestion on what service or product to use. In this article, posting a unique affiliate URL provided by the merchant allows for some level of profit sharing or finders fee for sending people their way.

 

Interact With Audience

 

Writing a blog also opens the door for your customers to interact directly with you. They can comment or ask you questions. They can order your products directly through the blog and see what else you have to offer.

 

Intersecting with people on your blog is a great way to build trust and more customers. Even when people complain, you can interact with them, find out what is wrong, and work together to find a solution.

 

It is also a great way to engage with your audience by asking a question in your blog and letting them provide their opinion. It will not always be what you want to hear but it is a great way to find out of there are problems in your company or product.

 

Marketing Blogs

 

A blog takes no time at all to write up. You can provide all kinds of useful information to let people know about a new product or service you are providing.

 

You can add pictures and videos showing your products in use and in action. You can add links to your website or other useful articles and information. It is a great way to connect and stay connected.

 

Blogs started out as a personal online diary but they soon took off. Once bloggers started to get followers, people saw it as a helpful marketing tool for their business.

 

People also saw blogs as a way to generate income. Whether that is by reviewing products, becoming an affiliate, or using it to sell your own products, blogging is commonplace now on any website.

 

Providing useful information is key. Once you start getting your information out there and people start to listen, you will see an increase in your website traffic and sales.

 

Blogging may have started as an online journal but it is now one of the most powerful marketing tools a business can use.