One of the first steps I take when checking out a company’s website is looking at their blog (if they have one) and discovering whether it’s being kept up to date. It may not seem like a big thing, and my perception may be jaded given what I do for a living, but I think it’s a good indicator of whether a company is committed to digital marketing and how effective they are at it.
I remember when blogs were a new entrant onto the marketing scene. People had a hard time figuring out what they were and what they were supposed to accomplish.
Today, for companies who have invested the resources, blogs have become a vital part of their online presence in several ways:
- Blogs can be very effective in demonstrating industry expertise and thought leadership.
- Blogs have the potential to rank well in Organic search and drive quality website traffic that isn’t occurring on a cost per click basis.
- Blogs are a great platform to share ideas from people within a company who aren’t typically heard, but may have excellent insights to offer.
The hardest part of blogging for most companies is creating the content on a continual basis. Some companies are able to effectively handle this internally and others outsource their content creation, which can be extremely effective if tackled properly.
Regardless of how you make it happen, the upside of maintaining a blog that speaks to your audience (prospects and customers) should significantly outweigh the effort involved.
