One of the best ways to improve your online rank is to regularly write a blog using keywords relevant to your business and the services you offer. Marketing is changing rapidly, but one thing that remains constant is that content is king, and one of the most effective and inexpensive marketing strategies is to blog regularly. How often should you blog? Well, some businesses blog daily, but let’s be realistic: small businesses don’t have that bandwidth. Once a week is ideal, but we find that most small businesses can manage two blogs a month, or if you are short on time or have budget constraints, once a month. But don’t take our word for it. Here are some statistics on the impact that blogs have on businesses. 

• 80% of internet users interact with blogs and social media sites (DemandMetric)
• Websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages. (BKA Content)
• Websites with active blogs have 97% more inbound links than those without. (BKA Content)
• 80% of bloggers report that blogging drives strong marketing results. (Orbit Media)
• Companies that blog receive 55% more website traffic than businesses that don’t. (Hubspot)
• 70% of people prefer to learn about a company through articles rather than advertisements.  (DemandMetric)
• Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads each month than companies that don’t blog. (DemandMetric)

If we have whet your blogging whistle, you are likely wondering how you can incorporate regular blogging into your marketing strategy to improve your search rank. Here are five blogging tips any small business should easily be able to manage.

1. Find the time or hire help. The biggest hurdle for most small businesses is finding the time to blog. Blogs shouldn’t be a burden. At MindStream Creative, we schedule weekly blog writing time for our clients to ensure it gets done as planned and that we stick to our schedule. If you want to try blogging for your business, we encourage you to schedule it in your calendar. Set aside about three hours to research, write, and edit a blog.
2. Choose content that is of interest to your customers. Blogs should be interesting and engaging. People will skip reading if your content is a boring regurgitation of information written without personality. Instead, choose content that people want to read about. What are the most common questions you receive? Each question can be one blog. What are the services you want to rank for? Choose a topic for each and find an interesting angle to share the deets.
3. Create a publication calendar. At the end of each year, we create a 12-month publication calendar for clients for whom we blog. This helps us have a sense of what is coming down the pike. Do the same, or let your marketing agency create one for you. Be open to pivoting to a different topic if a topic relevant to your business has gained media attention. 
4. Create a voice that is authentic to your business. How do you want to be perceived by your audience? Do you want to come across as down-to-earth and humorous, or are you shooting for a more formal tone? This voice you choose should align with your other marketing strategies for consistency. 
5. Use keywords with a strategy in mind. SEO keywords are phrases that people type into search engines. Avoid “keyword stuffing” and use a keyword or keyphrase three times in a blog. Google’s keyword planner can help you identify keywords based on search frequency. Here’s a great page to check out from Google with best practices for finding new keywords. 

If you have questions about integrating a regular blogging strategy into your business, we are here to help. Call us and let us know how we can help you grow.