26 March 2015 Comments Off on 4 Simple Reasons Why Your Company Must Have A Blog Business
Author: Ray Hunter
In my 15 years of IT experience, including IT consulting, I’ve set up and monitored many blogs for various companies. I’ve also spent a lot of my time helping companies identify the wrong reasons for having a blog, from technology to social. Companies tend to focus on generating traffic and SEO rankings, forgetting their audience and providing boring and general content.
When asked to write this blog post, I thought a lot about what has been successful with the blogs that I read on a regular basis and where I see our blog taking us in the near future. I wanted to find 4 reasons why our company must have a blog and how that would be beneficial to our company.
So what are the right reasons for having a company blog?
Let me share my top 4 reasons.
Blogging….
1. builds confidence, credibility and trust with customers
Blogs are an essential way for a company’s top employees to demonstrate their skills and share their expertise and knowledge with current and future customers. In the IT industry, we call top employees “gurus”: engineers who promote trust and confidence among their peers and strive constantly to help other engineers through collaboration and mentoring.
As you share experiences, trust grows. As customers read your blog, their confidence in what you are sharing increases. This confidence is the foundation of a relationship. As they come to trust you, they are more likely to do business with you.
2. is the focal point of your brand, vision and marketing
With all the buzz around social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), it’s important to recognize that a blog is the primary driving force behind those social outlets. Your blog keeps you focused on your marketing strategy, sharing your vision and helping you pinpoint the content necessary to promote your brand.
Most social media outlets are superficial. Only a blog lets you share deep insight into your company, your culture, your amazing employees, and your fantastic ideas. By creating and maintaining a blog, you must define who you are and consistently think about the content that will best promote your brand.
3. accelerates communication
Blogging is not just a one-way street! Blog comments enable instant communication with customers. They’re a way for the reader to become part of the experience, to share their thoughts and ideas with you. Encouraging comments on blogs is a way to see different points of view and share your own.
Replies and interaction provide a voice for the company, a persona if you will. Readers want to hear about new services, technologies or products as they come to recognize your brand and relate to it.
4. strengthens your team
I love delicious and amazing foods from many different cultures. I invite friends and colleagues to lunch whenever I can. We talk, share experiences, tell stories or just get things off our chest.
Your company blog can have the same impact! As employees become part of the blogging experience, they feel like part of the team. Sharing their expertise increases their confidence and trust with customers and fellow employees. Contributing to a public blog encourages them to stay ahead of the curve on technologies and skills. Writing regular posts improves employees’ communication skills and personal knowledge base to benefit the company and customers alike.
Most people might think that blogging is a cool thing to do for SEO. There is way more to it than the SEO benefits. A company blog can provide so much more to the company, customers and employees alike.
Before you head off and get moving on your blog, what are some of your reasons for a company blog?
How has commenting on a company’s blog helped or not helped you communicate with that company?
How has a company’s blog helped you gain trust in their skills and expertise?
Please leave your thoughts in our comments below! And if you need consulting on your blog, then be sure to contact us today at STG Consulting.
Author: Ray Hunter
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