I took a bit of a different approach to the previous blog, and while I really enjoyed doing it, I would like to now talk about blog strategy because I've started to offer 30-min and 1-hour blog strategy consultations that are fully bookable on my website. I'm offering these because clients and colleagues frequently ask me whether or not they should have a blog. The answer is yes and this blog will talk about why you should have a blog and how you should go about it. For now, I'll start with some of the whys. 

Why #1: Your website will rank higher

That's not clickbait, it’s fact! If you have a website with a regularly updated blog, your site will rank higher in search engines than if you update the content on your site every six months or year. Not only that but you will be able to drop a lot more of your relevant keywords into your blog than into your web copy. 

The key thing here is that blogs are a natural way to include your keywords, which will help with your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). You might be thinking: well I could put the keywords on my home page and all my other pages. Think it but don't act on it. This is known as 'keyword stuffing' and search engines are wise to it and will overlook your site if you do this. 

Why #2: You can showcase your expertise

A blog is another way to market yourself and your knowledge. It's a space to share longer-form content and tell your readers why they should hire you or buy your product. A blog is a soft sell, but it's a sell nonetheless. Social media is a bite-sized platform for snippets of content, but having pretty posts isn't as worthwhile as a well-thought-out piece of writing. 

There's more space for research, content and opinion in a blog than in a social media post, allowing you to create large pieces of content that you can reuse. Where possible, include images to break up the text and use real-world examples. It's an exercise that takes time and effort but you'll feel better for it. 

Why #3: You can engage with your readers

It should be worth remembering that a blog is a way for you to show your readers that there are actual humans working behind the scenes. By writing blogs, you'll be able to speak directly to the reader (yes, you) and you can then pique their interest in both your brand and your people. This is a crucial part of bringing clients and customers on board with your brand and what you’re selling, whether that’s a product or a service.

A great way to engage with your readers is to pose questions and food for thought in your blogs and encourage them to interact with your posts. This can also be applied to social media posts and comments. If you don't get comments or likes, don't get too disheartened. We're all guilty of reading something we really like and then not commenting on it or liking it, we just enjoy it and retain some of the information. It’s how we’re wired to interact with media: we consume it. If it really grabbed us, we’ll tell people about it - but often we’ll do this privately.

Remember: you can always get someone in to do it for you.

This might not seem like much, but these are three very useful and worthwhile reasons as to why you should have a blog. If you feel you're not a writer, you could consider outsourcing your blog writing to someone else. If you're comfortable with writing, but want to have someone else to check it makes sense and is grammatically correct, you can get an editor to look at it. 

Copywriters, content writers and editors all exist to help people who want a bit more encouragement or support with their writing. It's our job, so don't be afraid to reach out and just ask: is this something you do? Or have a look for workshops and online courses about blogging. Trust me, we all love a good blog post!