5 Reasons why your Small Business needs a Blog

And you thought time was already tight. Now you hear you need to start a small-business blog or else. Just what you need – another time-consuming task to add on top of all your other time-consuming tasks.

Why Small Business Needs a Blog?

You’re probably asking yourself, “Do I really need a blog? Isn’t what I’m doing enough?” Unless you’re making more money than you’ll ever need, the answer is yes, you need a blog. And no matter how much money you’re making now, you still need a blog. There’ll be tough times ahead. You have to lay the groundwork to survive.
Creating a small-business blog can help you do that. Here’s why.

1. People are NOT in Love with Your Business – Yet

The problem for small businesses when it comes to finding customers online is the lack of face. Your business is one of many.

People aren’t going to search for your business name or trust your business just because you have a website and appear legitimate. They’ll need reasons to form a relationship with your company and trust you enough to do business with you.

A blog is, along with social media, one of the most valuable tools to build relationships with the online public. When people see that your blog posts are relevant, informative, friendly and helpful, they begin to see your business as a legitimate and trustworthy entity. Readers are more likely to become customers once trust is established.

2. Your Blog and Search Engines – A Love Story

You probably have a perfectly lovely website. It’s probably indexed in the major search engines as well. The problem with your website, however, is that it just sits there. It’s static. Over time, your static website actually hurts your standing within search engines. Google, in particular, punishes websites that never change.
Here’s where a blog can really help. Your two-times-a-week blog posts provide updated and changing content. Google loves that. Sites with blogs rank higher than those that don’t. Blog posts are also indexed for searches. Say, for example, you sell flooring. Your recent post about caring for your new hardwood floor shows up in Google. People who’ve never heard of you but are searching for information suddenly find their way to your online door.

3. People Expect You to Have a Blog

Remember the old days when people thought companies that didn’t have a website were behind the times? That’s how blogs are thought of now. If you don’t have a blog, people become suspicious. They wonder why you don’t. They wonder if you’re real. That’s not the perception you want to leave out there.

4. Statistics for You?

If you’re still not convinced, think about this:

• 60 percent of consumers feel more positive about businesses that have custom content, typically a blog, on the company website.
• 81 percent of U.S. consumers say they trust advice and information on a company blog.
• 94 percent of those who share posts with others do so because the content is informative, something blog content does very well. Sharing is the “word-of-mouth” advertising in the online world.

You can’t ignore the facts, right?

5. It’s Give & Take

A small business blog gives you a way to welcome people into your “store” even if yours is only online. Readers get to know you, and you get to know them. Or, you should make an effort to get to know them.

How? Read the comments on your blog posts – you absolutely should allow and encourage comments – and reply.
Open a dialogue. Make it a conversation, not a lecture. Responding to comments, asking questions and engaging in conversations with readers gives you a chance to better meet customer needs and may even give you insights about new products or services to offer in the future.

Isn’t it time you gave small business blogging a try?