Introduction
When it comes to starting up or growing a small business, the #1 priority for that business is to follow leads and book clients or sell products/services. As someone who has been working with small businesses for some time, I’ve learned that the best way to get leads is through your company website. The question, however, lies in how to get visitors to come to your site.
People most often use Google, or some other search engine, to find what they’re looking for. The best way to make your site visible on these search engines is to have a well-designed, functional website that leverages the power Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
The best way to get SEO on your site is to provide pertinent text (keywords or topics) in your site that visitors are looking for. That’s where your blog comes into play. As a small business, you should not discount the website blog by any means. It is an excellent way to achieve SEO success and enable your site to show up in search results. Your blog can also provide you and your company with authority.
According to Hubspot, 60% of people read blogs more than once a week as a way to determine the company’s or individual’s authority in the industry. Blogging is still a very sound marketing strategy for companies of any size. If you have questions about any of the content discussed today, shoot me an email. I’m always happy to help!
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville
Prerequisites
If you want your company completely devoted to your website blog, you’ll first want to designate a person or a small team to help produce the content for the blog. These people can be in-house and work in the creative areas of your business or they can be hired out as freelancers to help you and your team manage your blog content. Think of your blog as a publishable piece of material. You are, in a sense, the publisher. As the business owner, you determine the tone and atmosphere of each post. The content creator can work with you to figure out the content, the visual assets, and other parts of the blog.
In order to have people read your blog, you’ll need a platform on which to host your blog. Generally, if you have a site through Wix, Wordpress, or Squarespace, a blog is super easy to add to your site. The choice is really yours. If you already host your sites with one of these, simply do a bit of research to find out how to add a blog to your site. Whatever you choose, make sure you’re comfortable with your selection.
Don’t forget to set a goal for your blog. Help any visitors who stumble upon your blog. One of the top three reasons people read blogs is to learn something new. Also, people like to be entertained and to learn about the product or service that your company is offering. Do a Google search of some companies and read their blog posts. What do the posts have in common and how do you think it helps, entertains, and/or instructs its readers? When you help your readers for free, they will remember your brand and perhaps one day pay for your services. If what you’re offering for free is stellar, what you’ll offer with pay will presumably be enough for them.
Make your blog reflect the culture of your company. If your company prides itself on being comical in their marketing, throw a few jokes in the posts. Having an established culture helps your business identify what kind of content you will publish to your site, so have a good idea of what this is when you or your writer begins drafting content.
“If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.” – Zig Ziglar
Focus on Your Business Blog
Get Readers to Your Blog
If you want to get readers to your blog, don’t forget to create links to your blog in the header and footer of your website. Also, it might be wise to create a lightbox for when people land on your page to subscribe to your blog with a clear Call-To-Action (CTA) like “join” or “subscribe”. Don’t forget to give visitors a reason to join, subscribe, or read your blog. Include text like “Learn more about DIY plumbing” or something in that vein.
Also, use your company’s social media accounts to promote blog content. Post links to these posts and do so in a way that entices people to visit your blog.
Cater to Your Audience
In order to cater to your audience in your blog, make sure you’ve done your research. Know what types of people visit your blog on the regular. Know how old your readers are, where they live, why they visit your blog, and other relevant information. Consider the products and services you provide and widen your view of who might make use of these products and services.
Always refer to the audience as “you” in your blog posts. Speak to the audience by showing off your stuff:
Things you do
Use your blog as an opportunity to show your readers what type of services you provide OR give show them your company’s expertise at providing a service or product to customers and clients.
How long it takes
Leave no stone unturned as you tell your readers about the service or product you provide. Tell them the step by step of what you do while also entertaining and educating. Letting your clients know how long your service takes to provide will create an opportunity to let potential customers or clients know that your service or product can save them time and/or money. And maybe even calories (prevent exhaustion from taking on the task on their own).
What problem you’re solving
Remind your audience that your service or product can solve a problem that the reader has. Perhaps they need an editor to solve a problem with a manuscript, or maybe they need a product that will save them from a headache of a job.
You want your potential customers and clients to see value in your company’s expertise, insight, and usefulness. Use your blog to showcase your company and introduce what possible value your readers can get out of your company’s product or service.
All in all, your blog should answer the following questions for your readers:
Does this company know what they’re doing?
Does the product or service they offer save me time, money, and frustration?
Does this company have authority and agency in their industry?
Can I trust this company?
The Obvious Stuff
It should be obvious that with whatever blog posts you or your team produce, make sure they are without grammatical errors and well-researched. Create high quality posts and take your time to create them.
Think of other lead generators as well such as guides and pamphlets. Consider using video and audio as well to complement the text on your blog posts. There are many ways to do this, but always think of your company blog as a lead generator and a way to show potential clients and customers that your company is reliable and will bring value to their lives.
“Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers.” – Learned Hand
Conclusion
At the end of each blog post, don’t forget to create a CTA that asks the reader to take action. Think of “contact me” or “click here for more details”. Create an invitation for engagement in order to get new leads for your company.
I found that making it easy for people to contact me has greatly increased people’s trust in me. My blog posts show my expertise and give me authority in the writing and editing space. So, use this blog as a quick reference to how to grow your company blog and get new leads quicker.
When beginning this process, don’t forget to determine the voice, frequency, and audience of your blog. Use reverse psychology (by showing your readers your full process) to deter others from feeling the need to go at it alone. With each post on editing that I write, I know my readers will think, gosh, doing that alone will be exhausting and take up so much time.
I welcome autonomy, but I also understand what value I bring by being a person who provides a service that many people would prefer not to do alone. Therefore, the time and energy that I save brings value to my service. Use that in your company as well. How will you save the client or customer time, energy, and/or money? Make sure that that is clear in your blog and across your site. Clients and customers want to know the value and the return on their investment. Your job is to not disappoint, and be crystal clear about how you won’t do just that.
If you need anything, shoot me an email. I’m always happy to help.
Other Resources
Hubspot Academy (from Hubspot) – Free courses on blogging, marketing, etc.
Building A Brand Story by Donald Miller – An excellent resource on branding
The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni – Understanding what makes a great team player
Know What You’re For by Jeff Henderson – Show your customers and clients your company culture
Blogging For Your Business (LinkedIn Learning Course) by Martin Waxman – A great course on business blogging