Want more visits to your website? Let’s talk about the Power of Blogging.

At Network Build Grow we talk about personal development, business growth, and marketing management. I don’t know about you, but my journey as a business owner has been filled with ups and downs, a-has and oh-shoots. I’ve grown up in the digital marketing industry and it has been a wild ride. Today I want to share my best practices related to the power of blogging to drive visits to your website.

When it comes to driving traffic to your website, it’s not the number of visits but the quality of visitors. In this article, I share the benefits of blogging and guest blogging, search engine optimization tips, and free resources for keyword research.

Blogging is an effective way to build the online presence of your business.

One of the reasons blogging is effective is that you own your website and its content so you control what happens to it. While you may have social media accounts and share original content on those platforms, you don’t own them so your account can be removed at any time, even for the simplest of violations of terms of service. I’ve seen it happen for what seems like no reason.

If you’re solely relying on social media for lead generation, you’re missing other opportunities to drive traffic to your website, generate, and convert leads. How do you do this? Keyword-focused content on all the pages and consistent blogging on relevant topics will drive that traffic. Keep in mind it’s a marathon and not a sprint and it starts with a well-designed website.

Second, blogging piggybacks on the content that is on the main pages of the website. When you have a page for a certain service, you can create related content for the blog. Where you have a contact us page, you can link that page in a call to action. Your website should have a clear call to action. For nonprofits, the call to action is probably a Donate button. For businesses, it may be an opt-in to an email, schedule a consultation, or enter your email for a free resource.

Third, blogging positions you as the expert in your industry or field of work. You have the opportunity to share information related to your business. You stand out above others.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly related to the power of blogging is that Google loves when we add pages to our websites. Our site shows up higher in search engine results. There is more traffic to the site and with a clearly defined call to action, visitors, when ready, will enter their email, schedule a call, and read the content you’ve provided.

Blogging is proven to drive traffic and increase lead generation.

• Blogging is an affordable way to update your website, which Google loves, provide relevant content to your target audience, and position yourself as a leader in your industry.

• “Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t blog.” (“31 Business Blogging Stats You Need to Know in 2021 – HubSpot”)

• “Marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that did not in 2019.” (“31 Business Blogging Stats You Need to Know in 2021 – HubSpot”)

Statistics from Hubspot, an industry leader in content creation.

With these compelling statistics, tell me again why you aren’t blogging on your business website.

Where to Begin Blogging

If you don’t know what to blog for your business, start with the basics.

• What inspired you to start your business? What problem do you solve for your customers or clients?
• What are the most asked questions about your business?
• What is an email you send over and over and would rather refer people to your blog for information?
• Have you hired new people to your team? Are you expanding services or product offerings?
• What should clients expect at their first appointment with you?

Begin creating content with these ideas. Keep track of topics that come to mind as you are in meetings and write them down. Those become fodder for your blog. Keep the articles on topics related to your business because it signals to Google that you’re a bona fide business and website.

The power is in the website optimization as well as content that is optimized for search engines.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing website structure and content in order to rank higher in search engine results and to drive traffic to the website.

• On-page SEO refers to page structure, backend coding, page titles and descriptions, internal links, alt text and image descriptions, metadata, and blogs.
• Off-page SEO refers to building relationships with other websites through backlinks, directories, speaking engagements with website links back to your site, social media, and guest blogging.

My SEO niche is in understanding keyword research, using keywords in content, interlinking content, and adding links to outside sources. You will notice in this article I’ve linked to the NBG homepage, my website, my website partner’s website, and to outside resources. Those are all good practices for search engine optimization.

FREE SEO and Keyword Resources

• Ubersuggest
• Keywords Everywhere
• SEMRush
• Others Want to Know (Google search and scroll you will see this section)
• Thought Leader websites Hubspot, MOZ, Badass Web Goddess

Researching keywords and implementing them on website pages and blog posts will signal what your website is about and drive visitors from your target market.

Be specific about your target market and create content that speaks to them. Focus on one market for a quarter in content creation and then another market the next quarter. That type of strategy will drive traffic and attract the right people to your website. You don’t need thousands of visits; you just need the right ones.

NBG, Power of Guest Blogging, and Google Love

Guest blogging expands your audience beyond those who know you and visit your website and social media profiles. Blogging on the NBG site like this gives you the entire NBG community having eyes on your content and getting to know you. When I ask someone to guest blog on my website, it is typically a website designer or marketing expert writing about a topic that is related to my business. They get a link back to their website and I get a new page of content on mine, so it is a win-win.

As a member of NBG, when you complete your online profile, you have a link back to your website in your listing, also called a backlink. When you write a blog post like this one, it is considered a guest post because NBG isn’t your business website. Google LOVES both and will give you a bit of Google love just for contributing to this platform.

Google love, and better search engine rankings, is a combination of on-page SEO like well-structured and coded website with a clear call to action, use of relevant keywords in web pages and blog posts, as well as off-page SEO like guest blogging and directory listings. You don’t need a lot of visits; you just need the right people visiting which is where the power of blogging can be your best marketing tool.