Blogging’s been around for so long now that it’s had enough time to be trendy, go out of style and come back into favor — and repeat that cycle at least once.

There was a time when everyone I ran into had a blog. Or wanted to start one. The Blogger platform came on in 1999 and dominated for years. Then Tumbler. While they still have their fans, I don’t see those platforms used by anyone I know.

Then WordPress burst onto the scene. Bloggers loved the features it offered, even as they cursed the platform’s learning curve.

Soon Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest arrived which made micro-blogging a thing that yanked the spotlight away from more time-consuming blogs.

Then podcasts started to take off and everyone went from saying they wanted to start a blog to say they wanted their own podcast.

Once Instagram arrived, funeral arrangements were made for blogs. But blogging refused to die.

Blogging Benefits to Bank On

Whether you call it a blog, a news page, “Perspectives” or another creative name, a page on your site that communicates new, timely information is like no other on your site.

If you were on the blogging bandwagon and fell off — or if it’s been a while since you last published a post — it’s not too late to tap into these benefits of blogging that are good for your business and brand.

Your Blog is Your Sales Rep

Blogging gives you a chance to sell your products, services and expertise when you write about challenges you solve and the confidence and passion you bring to your work.

When you make a sale, thank your blog’s content for the Benjamins.

Google Loves Blogs

When you add new content to your site, this keeps Google and other search engines interested in and indexing your content. Google’s webmaster guidelines confirm this: “Keep your content updated and relevant. Fresh, on-topic information increases the likelihood that your content will be crawled by Googlebot and clicked on by users.”

When Google sniffs fresh content on your site, you get SEO simoleans.

People (STILL!) love blogs

More than three-quarters of internet users say they read blogs regularly. (Quoracreative, 2019) Side note: I subscribe to dozens of blogs and Feedly is my favorite tool to keep all those subscriptions out of my email inbox.

Blog readers have bucks to spend. Your blog content gives them a reason to spend some on you.

Think Keywords FTW

Publishing target audience-focused content on your blog is a legit way of emphasizing keywords and terms important to your business. This not only helps real-deal humans who read your website to learn more about what you do, Google and other search engines index those keywords so you’ll be found online.

Effective use of keywords is like kash — er, cash — in the bank.

Blog Content is Perfect for Social Media

Your blog articles — both the new and the worth-sharing-again evergreen posts — are prime content for social. When I share a blog post on LinkedIn or elsewhere, I take the time to write a custom blurb to encourage people to pop over to my site to read more. If I share the post more than once, I change up the share text to bring a new thought to the table.

I’m banking on the fact my blog content will get people in “tell me more, Melanie” mode.

You’re Da Boss of Da Blog

You don’t own your social media channels even though your name is on them. You must play by Facebook, Instagram and the others’ frequently changing rules and algorithmic whims. But you call the shots on any and everything that happens on your blog.

This might be heresy since I’m a social media manager but, for most people, spending more time on a blog and less on social will generate more money for their business.

A Blog is Your Help Desk

If what you’re selling is clear to people who visit your website and read your blog posts,  your content is pre-qualifying people. Don’t make people hunt for the good stuff. Organize your blog content for the reader’s benefit, using descriptive categories and great headlines. Then your blog will answer questions on your behalf 24/7.

Great blog content pays off, captures your best prospects and screens out those who aren’t.

Blogs Tackle Clients’ Pain Points

Writing audience-focused content for your blog shows prospects and clients you understand their problems and needs. If I talk with a prospect and hear them mention a topic I covered on my blog, you can bet I send the article link in a follow-up email to them.

When prospects see that you understand their issues, they’re happy to write that first check.

Need to Make Bank? Get Blogging

Some people make 100% of their livelihood from their blog, like my vegan-blogger cousin who gets paid by the number of monthly views on her site.

That’s not the case for the marketers, copywriters and small business owners I talk with every day.

We blog to:

• Share our perspectives and expertise.
• Show our creative work to the world.
• Become more prolific and confident writers.
• Shine the spotlight on key products and services.
• Win clients who pay us what we’re worth.

If it’s been too long since you hit Publish, flex your blogging muscles, say I can do this! — and get writing.

Blogging Podcast Interview

And speaking of blogs (shameless segue) … I recently spoke with Ilise Benun of Marketing Mentor on this podcast episode, “Should you still be blogging? I think so. Here’s why.”

I hope you check it out to hear our shared thoughts on the business benefits of blogging. And if you’d like to see the personalized license plate holder I mentioned on Ilise’s show, you can see it here.