Do Company Blogs work?

[Ali-print]

As part of our new websites we have a blog section. Which is ok for putting news such as trade shows and new products. But other than that should we do more with it?

Do blogs attract new customers? I feel I would have to get a blog copywriter as my writing is not good. Are they any good. What sort of prices do they charge.

 

[fisicx]

If you want new customers, then a company blog isn't they way do do it. New products should be on the homepage and if the trade show is an important showcase then promote this all over the site.

In other words, be far more dynamic. Don't force people to go looking for your news, put it in front of them.

 

[d3lvedesign]

Hi, blogging should be viewed as an online marketing tool as well as being an area of your website where customers can find other information about your company, new product lines, general company news and 'behind the scenes' info.

We create blog content for various different businesses ranging from hotels, and restaurants to hair and beauty salons. If anything, the blogging we carry out helps to create more traffic for the client's website. The articles become good quality content which can also be shared across multiple social media platforms too.

 

[fisicx]

But the question was, do the blogs create more customers. Increased traffic does not necessarily mean more customers.

 

[d3lvedesign]

To add to my earlier reply, no, I don't believe blogging will necessarily increase your sales regardless of a traffic increase. It's hit and miss, but as my previous reply stated, I would use blogging as a marketing tool to create unique content for search engines.

 

[Ali-print]

I think maybe blog posts 1/2 a month

 

[Ali-print]

I have found a person online who offer blogging 500words for £15.

 

[fisicx]

Noooooo!

All you will get is junk. Focus on the core pages of your site and forget blogging.

 

[Amivbridge]

Blogging is effective to get more customers, in my experience. But, as always, not an easy task. If the blogs can reach higher ranking in search engines for relevant keywords, it attracts potential customers. Also, some clients accept the blog posts as evidence that you do have relevant skills. So, totally dependent on your area and business, blogging can be helpful, IMO.

 

[alexdigital]

Noooooo!

All you will get is junk. Focus on the core pages of your site and forget blogging.

The first part of this is good advice, "forget blogging" is not. You should create quality content for your blog that educates and entertains your visitors and proves that you are a leader in your field. Ideally it should be created by someone close to your business.

Blogging is also great because:

• It keeps your site fresh
• It gives visitors a reason to come back
• It builds you brand
• It builds credibility
• It gives you content to share on social media
• It will rank better on Search engines than your service pages
• It attracts links

-Alex

 

[fisicx]

Alex, you are putting out the same old blogging myths that have long been discredited.

• You don't need to blog to create quality content - the whole siute should be quality content.
• You don't need fresh content - google like old established content
• Your brand isn't built by blogging
• Credibility is built by the whole site not by the blog
• Any content can be shared on social media
• Why would you want your blog to rank higher than the money pages?
• All content attracts links not just blogs

Nothing wrong with writing blog posts, it's just that the reasons you list aren't exclusive to blog posts.

 

[pickaweb]

A blog is a great way to show your expertise.
I can be hard to outsource your knowledge and expertise to someone else.
If you are not a good writer try recording yourself eg on your phone and then get it transcribed.
It will sounds more natural and that works best on blogs

 

[fisicx]

Why does a blog show expertise?
Surely the main content of the site should demostrate expertise?

 

[thema]

Depends on your products/services! It can help but it can also be a waste of time & money!

 

[Karimbo]

Blogging is ancilliary. It doesn't do a huge job in marketing - it's only really effective for businesses that have a really wide reach - for obscure markets - it's just a massive waste of time because you're essentially going to put content out for very few people to read.

Some people say it's good for search engines - I think there is a limited scope for this (it;s better to have frequently updated static articles for this rather than blog posts).

For marketing it's best to guest post on other websites which have the same demographic you are targeting.

 

[Amivbridge]

Why does a blog show expertise?
Surely the main content of the site should demostrate expertise?

Main content also has to be kept short. Blogs can definitely describe and explain things more. Blog is also part of the main web site and is also content in a way. I have definitely got 2 clients form a single blog post explaining how we went about comparing a few OCR packages and how they measure against each other. I cannot put each project detail into main content, surely?

 

[fisicx]

Main content also has to be kept short.

No it doesn't. Main content can be as long as it needs to be. The skill is creating that content to engage the visitor so they keep reading. Your comparison could just as easily been a page on the site rather than a blog post.

 

[alexdigital]

Why does a blog show expertise?
Surely the main content of the site should demonstrate expertise?

Credibility is everything. By writing content that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise it reinforces your sales pages.. A few sales pages can never do this, no matter how good your copywriting is.

On another note, you know your Wordpress install website is breaking theirtrademark, right?

 

[Richard Glynn]

Depends how you do it.

If the mindset of your business is to blast out turgid spammy sales pitches every chance you get then your blogging experience will be very disappointing.

If your mindset is to seek our brilliant authentic online conversations, and add value and interest by authentically sharing your business passions - aiming to help your customers with free no obligation timely useful insights, then you have a good foundation for a rewarding blogging experience.

This post bring a lot of clarity to the subject and will help you manage expectations. It's long. But it's good.

http://moz.com/blog/broken-art-of-blogging

 

[fisicx]

Credibility is everything. By writing content that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise it reinforces your sales pages.

Not if the blog posts are churned out to meet some belief that more content is better.

It's not a company blog that is needed, it's content that meets the needs of the potential client that you should create. Where you publish this content is irrelevant.

Thanks for the heads up about trademarks. I shall make amends.

 

[James.C]

I'd invest in a blog if I were you. Just make sure the content is really high quality otherwise it's a wasted exercise. I tend to agree with @alexdigital on this one, a blog correctly done will drive traffic to your website whether that leads to more conversions is another thing all together. More traffic means you'll show up more often in organic search results. My advice go the blog.

 

[ITM House]

I am convinced that news section can't bring you new customers. While answering your customers' questions is really a good way to bring traffic and increase the number of clients.

 

[PhilipEHolland]

It really does work – provided you are willing to put the effort in. There is something so inherently depressing about watching a blog just die down, especially if there are four or five good posts, only to have people completely give up on it afterwards. I think that quality and persistence are what make a good blog.

 

[fisicx]

What really does work Philip?

Are you getting loads of new leads from your company blog?

 

[consulting.uk.444]

It was already mentioned above that credibility is everything.

Blog is such a weird place where you share valuable information for free. People search for solutions to their daily problems and often get good advise from blog posts. They come to blog to find valuable piece of information that helps them. And if there is valuable information in blog post, they may notice that blog is located under company website. But this is not just one more company website, it's website that created positive impression through it's blog posts.

 

[alexdigital]

What really does work Philip?

Are you getting loads of new leads from your company blog?

It's all about giving the right impression. It's hard to measure, and leads probably won't come directly from the blog but they'll often of helped towards that person making a decision to get in touch.

It's a bit like looking around a site and finding out-of-date information,like this one,- http://wordpressinstall.co.uk/ecommerce-themes/ (Sarah stopped making themes ages ago), and thinking, "does this guy really know what he's talking about or does he just post on forums to get a rise?"...

Get you own stuff right before you preach to people on here. I've seen a lot of your posts and they're not helpful.

 

[fisicx]

does this guy really know what he's talking about or does he just post on forums to get a rise

To get a rise obviously...

 

[keyideas]

Still company blog works if a company is regularly updating informative contests which interest users.

 

[ParcelBright]

Writing a blog is definitely useful but can be more or less beneficial depending on the market you are in.

The most useful way to use blogging is to optimise every page for SEO naturally increasing your google ranking for the relevant search terms for your target market.