Expectations vs. Reality of Business Blogging

Now that we've cleared up some misconceptions, let's tackle the issue of what to expect from  online business

We all want results yesterday, so our expectations often need a reality-check. Here are four of the biggest. 

Expectation #1: Our customers don't read blogs

Reality: Not all of your customers read blogs, but they all use Google to find answers and information. If your blog has the information they're looking for, they'll find that information and discover your brand. 

IMPACT Plus

It's extremely difficult to do internet research for a product or service and not end up reading several blog posts. Your customers might not be avid blog readers intentionally, but they'll definitely visit your blog site to read a post if it delivers the information they're looking for.

 

Expectation #2: If I build it, they will come

Reality: Waiting for blog readers to find you is a waste of time. Business blogs need a solid promotion strategy to get their content in front of their buyer personas.

Over time, yes, they will come -- but you'll grow your blog readership faster by actively promoting your content.

Expectation #3: Every post I publish is going to be awesome because I'm awesome

Reality: As Former IMPACT Content Marketing Manager, Carly Stec, explains: 

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"You're right. You are awesome, but the truth is, some posts simply miss the mark. Sometimes it's the content and other times it's a lackluster headline. In worst case scenarios, it's both."  

Carly Stec, Staff Writer at HubSpot (Former Content Marketing Manager at IMPACT)

Every blog post isn't going to be a hit, but the good news is they don't have to be for your business blog to be successful. You just need to get it right most of the time.

Expectation #4: Blogging will take up too much of my precious time

Reality: Time invested in your business blog is time well-spent, but blogging is a time-consuming endeavor. If you don't have the time to dedicate to blogging, you should seriously consider hiring someone to do it for you.

 

Strengthening Your SEO With Frequent Blogging

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for success when blogging for business. Every brand wants to own the first page of Google for their industry, but only a few can.

 

On-Page SEO

In order to be fully optimized and help your blog articles rank higher in search results, your focus keyword should appear in all of the following “On-Page” SEO areas: URL, Page Title, Section Header, Subheaders, Main Content, Image ALT Text, and Meta Description.

To illustrate this, let’s say you are creating a new article centered around the keyword: “Organization Optimization”:

Page Title (H1) (Max. 70 Characters): Organization Optimization Through [Your Company’s Name]
Section Header (H2): How Can [Your Company]’s Technology Help Your Organization Optimization?
Main Content (Within the first 200 words): “Effective organization optimization can help improve your employee experience, company culture ..”
Image ALT text: organization-optimization-through-technology Meta Description (Max. 150 characters): Learn more about how [Your Company]’s technology for organization optimization can benefit your business.

In addition to these on-page elements, one of the most effective (but often underappreciated) ways to dominate SEO is to blog more frequently than your competitors.

Frequent Blogging

As any online marketer will tell you, every customer started simply as a visitor to their website. According to HubSpot, 78% of Internet users conduct product research online.

 

By frequently blogging fresh, relevant content focused on solving the problems of your consumers, you’re effectively producing more indexed pages to be picked up by the search engines.

Why is this significant?

Well, simply put, when close to 80% of all Internet users are searching for product information through search engines, wouldn’t you rather your blogs to be a resource for these users rather than your competitors?