I love blogging – I fell in love with it almost straight away – so it stands to reason that I recommend blogging to anyone who’ll listen.
However, if you run a small business, or are looking to start one, having a blog is one of the most important thing you can do on the marketing side of things. Even if you live a little bit outside of town where the internet signal isn’t great, there are plenty of internet options for rural areas to help you get your blog off the ground. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started on your blog.
Let’s Talk Money
Before we talk about why your business needs a blog, let’s consider the costs as that’s something that can put off a lot of small business holders from starting a blog.
Web Hosting Costs
- Hosting: You want your blog to be self hosted when it’s for your business. Right now, you can get a year’s web
hosting through Blue Host for £36.72 - Domain name: You can get any UK domain name for 99p for the first year now from 123 Reg (it usually goes up to around £10 per year after that)
So for the site itself, you’re looking at £37.71. You probably won’t even need to spend that as you’ll already have a website and domain name for your business and you can incorporate your blog onto that site.
Time Costs
Now let’s factor in your time.
Let’s say an initial time of ten hours to get all set up, plus three hours a week for writing blog posts and promoting the blog. We’ll keep it simple and work on a rate of £10 per hour for your time.
That’s £1,660 over the year. If writing isn’t your thing, or you really don’t have the time, you can even hire a freelance writer (like me) to write your posts for you. Obviously this will cost more than doing it yourself, but investing in your business is always worth your consideration.
Overall Costs
Total cost = £1,697.71
While that sounds like a large chunk of money at first glance, break it down and consider this:
Where else will you find advertising on a site that can reach an audience that’s perfectly targeted to your business all day every day for that price? If you find anywhere, let me know.
Why Your Small Business Needs a Blog
Chances are, you already have a website for your business. It might be super sleek and well designed, but if it just sits there never updating and never changing, it’s not going to rank highly in search engines unless it’s a very niche thing that hardly anyone is doing. It will also look rather impersonal to any visitors.
Let’s talk about why you need a blog:
Visibility
As we mentioned above, chances are your website isn’t getting a huge amount of views. Now add a blog to it – one that’s
updated regularly with good, useful content and suddenly you will have a stream of visitors to your website.
Every one of those visitors will see your brand and what you do. And as you gain regular readers that enjoy your content, there’s a good chance they’ll share it on their social media, giving even more people a view of a your brand.
As your site gains more traffic and is regularly updated, your search engine ranking will go up which in turn leads to even more visitors to your site.
Brand Recognition
You will find that your readers don’t immediately rush to buy your product or services. This isn’t a bad thing. It just means that they perhaps don’t have a need for it yet.
When they do have a need for it, as regular readers of your blog, you’ll be one of the first names to pop into their heads when they do need what you offer.
Trust
Carrying on from above, when your readers do decide they need whatever it is that you’re offering, they’ll find themselves having to make a decision on where to buy it from.
Who are they more likely to trust?
Someone they have been interacting with and receiving useful advice from that helps them solve problems in their lives relating to your business or a faceless website they haven’t visited before? It’s a no brainer isn’t it.
Targeted Marketing
By sticking within your business’s niche for your blog posts, you are attracting people who are interested in what you’re offering. You are building up a following of people who care about your product or service and the solutions you provide. No other advertising platform can do this as well as your own blog can.
Aa you can see, any small business owner who doesn’t have a blog is missing a serious trick. It’s the best pound for pound advertising you will ever get. If you haven’t started a blog yet, get it on your priority to do list and get on it.
If you need some help in setting up your blog the right way, you can download my book, Start Your Blog Like a Boss: 10 Steps to Set Yourself up for Success. It will guide you through the entire process from branding, to social media, to the actual set up process in easy to understand language.
Do you run your own business? Do you have a blog for it? Let me know in the comments 🙂
You can find me here: Twitter Facebook Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!
It really is an amazing way to promote yourself. Nothing beats the blog community!
#anythinggoes
Lots of great info here! The blog community can make such an impact! #anythinggoes
I think it’s a brilliant idea for small businesses to have a blog on their site. As a blogger myself I always head across to the blogsection now if I notice one just to have a nosey around #anythinggoes
Oh me too!
Great post and you make some really important points. Thanks! #AnythingGoes
Great post. A blog immediately makes a business feel more personal and real, and thus more trustworthy. #anythinggoes
Thank you 🙂 I agree – its much more personable than a faceless website
Really interesting read,and good recommendations.
Thank you 🙂
Great post and so informative! I think a blog running along side a small business is an excellent idea, it’s a great way to get yourself out there! #anythinggoes
Me too – it’s a great way to get yourself seen by people who otherwise may have missed you 🙂
Great post! Any website that has a blog I will always pop over and read it. Seeing someone’s passion for their business makes it more personal, and you feel like you can trust them more! Also the blogging community is super friendly! All businesses need a blog, corporate (faceless) mumbo jumbo websites are quickly becoming a thing of the past! #Anythinggoes
Interesting points I hadn’t considered. I enjoy reading blogs by companies to see the ‘real’ face behind the brand #anythinggoes
Completely agree. It’s amazing still how many big businesses still don’t have a blog. I remember the struggle I had at my last place persuading them they needed a blog. But it paid off!
Haha, I had the same issue at my last place – it took me around five years to convince them to have a Facebook page!
great post, very informative.
#bloggerclubUK
I totally agree with this. My father in law has a small business that has been around for a very long time. He has just added a blog to his website and its added such a different perpective on them rather than just the product they sell, it can only be a positive move forward for them!
That’s great news 🙂 I’m sure he’ll see some real growth because of the blog
Hi, agreed a blog is a great way to promote a business it’s time well spent #bloggerclubuk
Before I started taking blogging seriously, I had no idea that a blog could be used as a marketing tool for companies. Now I do, I see them in the most surprising places. I also see how companies using blogs and simply putting a tab on their website saying “Blog” is in itself a marketing tool.
#bloggerclubuk
It’s funny how you don’t notice half of the little tricks until you become a blogger yourself!
It definitely makes a business seem more personable. The advice and information provided in their blog is a nice added extra, without pressure to buy their product or service. #bloggerclubuk
I think blogs and also instagram accounts are great for small businesses. It make them feel more personal.
Ooooh I know this wasn’t your intention but you’ve just reminded me one of the things I want to get into to make some damned money is put my blogging experience on my own site to use and try and blog for companies. #WheresTheTime #BloggerClubUK
I’m just happy to help, even if it was in a weird sort of way haha! And if you find any extra time, do let me know where to look 🙂
It’s certainly great to build up relationship with potential buyers via a blog. #BloggerClubUK
It sure is!
Good advice! Though I am always impressed by how anyone finds time to run a business and have a blog for it! #AnythingGoes
True! It’s hard enough finding the time to do one or the other isn’t it!
Returning from #BloggerClubUK
Ѕuperb blog! Do уou have any helpful hints fоr aspiring wгiteгs?
I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a
littⅼe lοst on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like Wordpreѕs or go for a paid option?
There are so many choices օut there that I’m completely overwhelmed ..
Аny ideas? Cheerѕ!
Thank you 🙂 If you’re planning on blogging seriously, I would advise you to go straight in self-hosted otherwise you’ll end up having to move everything down the line.
If you click the link at the bottom of the post and get my book, it talks you through how to get all set up
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