Why Every Local Business Needs a Blog

Every year, it seems like a new social media app takes over the digital world and claim to be the new “it” platform for digital communication and marketing. And while it is true that earlier adopters can benefit from leveraging a new platform, local businesses want to make sure in addition to the latest social media trends, they’re continuing to use this essential tool from their website – a blog!

Blogging is such a scalable and affordable approach that it’s the third-most-common content marketing strategy for businesses. Adding a blog to your website allows your local business to create content that boosts your SEO, drives traffic to your website and increases lead generation and conversion. In fact, SEM Rush’s growth statistics estimated businesses with blogs generate 67% more referrals each month than businesses without blogs. But the benefits of blogging don’t end there. Below are five ways a blog can increase your online presence and attract customers to your local business.

1. Getting Local Rankings Organically

Search engines suggest websites based on search queries they think users want to see. Businesses with large budgets usually use paid advertising to ensure that their brand is visible in top search queries. However, smaller businesses can rely on organic listings. Regularly posting relevant content to your blog increases the likelihood that your site will rank among the top search results for keywords targeted to your area.

Combined with an advanced content strategy these posts can support a businesses main service pages and focus on answering specific questions a potential buyer may have as they are researching about a product or service.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

Every business wants to drive traffic to their website and local businesses are no exception. Publishing educational blogs is a great way to attract users to your website. A HubSpot study found that businesses with consistent blogs received 55% more traffic than businesses without blogs.

More traffic means more leads, orders or purchases, regardless of industry. Whether you’re selling a product, marketing a service, or just trying to create brand awareness, a blog can drive traffic to your website and bring you one step closer to achieving your goals.

Attracting new customers

Blogs are a great way to introduce your local business to new audiences and customers. Most customers begin their customer journey with research before hiring professional services and making purchases. Business blogs provide customers with the training information, feedback and assurance they need to convert. In fact, according to Demand Metric, 70% of consumers said they prefer to learn more about a business through a blog or article post than through paid advertising, confirming the fact that blogs are a valuable asset for attracting new customers.

Regular value-added blogging can also help establish you and your business as an expert in your field, giving consumers confidence in your expertise and the quality of your products/services.

Creating New Sales Channels

Blogging may not seem like a profitable business, but posting useful call-to-action topics can get even readers even very high in the sales funnel to engage your business by watching a video, downloading a resource, subscribing or even contacting your business for a quote.

By sharing your blog on social media and optimizing your content for quality keywords, you create a new touchpoint that can drive potential customers to your website. From there, you can give users options in the page content, header, footer, and sidebar to get in touch with a form fill, order field, or buy button—and don’t forget to include a strong call to action!

Get Lasting Results

The benefits mentioned above can last for weeks, months or even years after the blog post is published.

And while it’s important to keep creating fresh new content, HubSpot estimates that over 75% of blog views and 90% of leads come from older blog posts.