The benefits of blogging for your business

I write about my web development practice experience, with web design tips to help my audience promote their businesses, attract more customers and close more sales.

After a few years building custom websites with my webdesign studio  and one year of blogging regularly, I often get invitations to writing jobs, which I politely decline.

Because I actually hate writing.

The fact that I write about a topic that I know very well and is part of my day-to-day to job makes it a lot easier.

But I'd rather, in a decreasing order of preference: do a face-to-face meeting, phone or skype, chat message or email, write a blog post

So why do I blog?

I used to do a lot of non-billable consulting calls with my clients, which provided tons of valuable information on design, development and online marketing aspects of running a successful online business.

I was soon to jump on phone calls with clients - or even prospects - and I enjoyed doing so, but that was hurting my business because I wasn't billing for those hours.

A lot people would recommend turning your services into a consulting business, but I didn't want to do so with web design for one big reason: the results of do-it-yourself website design are awful and I don't believe in it as a path for achieving online business' success that I'd recommend for my clients;

The existing offer of this kind of service is based more on a market distortion and redirection of workforce than on its efficacy and ability to generate real results.

And as a business you must present yourself professionally to your customers right from the start.

Wise business owners are often way too busy with activities that are the core of their businesses to waste time playing with do-it-yourself page builders.

Besides that, I also love getting things done and hands-on development.

It was a hard measure to reduce - and later cut off - the phone calls with clients but it had to be done.

By sharing those tips on a blog post I can reach a broader audience, help and connect with more people, and attract new customers that can get to know about my expertise via my posts.

So here are some key benefits that blogging can bring to your biz:

1. It helps humanize your business

Potential clients want to know who is behind your company before doing business with you.

Although people can find a lot about your personal details on social media; more than your name, gender, city and preferences, ultimately, what your customers want to know is if they can trust you with their businesses, if you are capable of solving their problem, and where you stand regarding topics pertinent to your area of expertise that would affect their buying decision.

By writing a post and sharing your thinking process, you give your potential clients the opportunity to know you better before you even meet them, so it can help them decide if they'd like to work with you.

They also can get intelligence about your level of expertise and get reinforcement that you really know your business.

It pushes yourself in front of new customers or potential new clients.

2. Blogging can skyrocket your business' online visibility

Your posts can be seen by an audience far beyond than mouth-to-mouth marketing could help spread the word about your products or services.

It can be particularly invaluable when you're reaching for new audiences and targeting a new market.

3. It positions you better on search ranks

Constantly updating your website with new content is a strong ranking factor, so by creating and updating your blog posts, your company's website will get ranked higher and show first on search engine results.

4. It keeps your audience coming back

It gives your audience a reason to be constantly checking your website and that increases your chances of they seeing your new promotional banner or clicking on your new product launch, so it will also have a positive impact on your sales revenue.

These are the main benefits that blogging consistently can bring to your business.

Why do you blog?

EDIT: P.S.: While it's highly recommended for business owners to have a self-hosted domain with custom website design, sometimes the situation we face when being self-employed or starting a business is less than ideal, and Blogspot, also known as Blogger offers free basic blogging features and is a popular blogging platform that's been here for a long while. 

Keywords:

business tips

blogging