One of the most helpful SEO practices a marketer can do for a business is to blog once a week. As an inbound marketing agency, we recommend this practice for every client. The clients that take us up on this advice and let us implement a weekly blog for them see traffic to their site increase within 6 months. Most see traffic double within a year. As this graph shows, the organic traffic to one client site nearly tripled last year:
Why do blogs have such an impact on SEO and your brand authority? Here are 6 reasons:
1. Creates Fresh Content for Search Engines
Search engines value fresh content that provides their users with answers to questions. Search engines exist for this reason. When marketers create relevant and useful blog posts that solve problems, search engines reward them by giving a “thumbs up” to the content and displaying the post in a search result.
2. Increases Opportunity to Rank for Keyword Phrases
The more blog posts you create, the more chances you have to boost your SEO rankings for a variety of keyword phrases. Because of blogging, the number of keyword phrases our clients rank for typically doubles within a year.
3. Positions You as a Credible Resource
Blogging on a consistent schedule improves the chances that your readers will see you as a credible brand they can always trust and look to for guidance on industry related issues. If a company is sporadic with their blogging, they might be sporadic with other elements of their business too. When you blog consistently, you create the impression that your brand or business is here to stay.
4. Holds You Accountable
Getting on a regular schedule makes it less likely that your blog will fall by the wayside. Planning and scheduling blog posts a month or even a quarter in advance is like making a list before going to the grocery store. It’s much more likely that you’ll actually make a meal when your ingredients are planned out ahead. And, it’s much more likely that you’ll actually write a post when the topics, keywords author, and publishing day are scheduled in advance.
5. Improves Your Trust Level
Blogs allow you to educate potential customers, not just sell to them, which is important in today’s age of transparency. Forbes reports 32% of online consumers trust a stranger’s opinion on blogs more than they trust branded advertisements. According to the Science of Marketing, 60% of respondents click on paid search results either “never” or “less than once a month,” which means most people click on organic results from web pages and blogs first.
A long-term blog plan results in a library of useful resources to educate customers and gain their trust, which ultimately positions you a thought-leader who has authority within the industry.
6. Enhances Your Google Authorship
Google is constantly changing its algorithms to find quality and relevant content related to the search terms people enter. Consistently posting original blog posts on your website and Google+ page makes you more credible to Google and increases your “AuthorRank.” As your rank improves, your blog posts have a higher chance of being found on the first page, which could be the first step toward a new sale if that person clicks on the link, reads the posts and likes what they see.
In addition to building authority with Google, a good “AuthorRank” can improve authority with people too. Search results have more impact when the content is linked to a picture of the actual author.
Which listing would you be more apt to click on?
Are you challenged with keeping your blog updated consistently? Try this free guide to stay inspired.
