It is safe to say that most businesses have by now invested in a proper website (unless they wish to commit commercial suicide). They have spent time and money putting together information and services they hope will please their online customers and ultimately result in sales. The problem is that creating a website is only half the story. The other half involves strategies to bring a steady stream of people to the website; otherwise your website investment risks bearing no fruit.

Different businesses adopt different strategies such as paid advertising (PPC), search engines (SEO) and social media. Blogging is emerging as one of the most effective ways to hit many birds with one stone. The use of blogs as a way to generate and maintain traffic to your website is now a key component of any online strategy. This is because blogs have become an integral part of the buying process, followed by customers to arrive to a purchase decision. Here is why:

SEO

Lets start with the obvious. Good quality, relevant blogging can have a massive impact on your search engine visibility and SEO. Creating content that contains the right keywords and tags will inevitably improve your search engine ranking. Of course, it is easier done in some market sectors than in others, but content remains the surest way (and cost effective) to get found on Google.

Social Media

We all know how social media is built around word of mouth and how people like suggestions from their friends. Good quality blogging combined with simple social media techniques can spread your message faster than any other medium. It can literally turn your brand into an industry authority in a very short time. It is a fact that good blogs are shared and liked on social media platforms such as Facebook and increase your audience. In turn, well designed blog content will direct the traffic generated to your website.

Call To Action

Many blogs out there do a great job at attracting and maintaining visitor interest. However a critical success factor is often overlooked. A Call To Action (CTA) is the precise point when the blog content leads a customer to take some kind of action, such as place an order or enquiry. An effective blog should maximize the value of its viewers by providing strategic CTAs to convert readers into online sales leads or customers.

Copywriting

This is a hard one, but it is true that writing content for the Internet is still a rare skill. Unfortunately this little detail can make the difference between a boring and engaging blog. If you do not have the proper skill in-house, you should consider outsourcing. This will also enable you to better manage quality and frequency with your selected content provider.

Webcraft provides a powerful blogging platform that provides all the tools and services you may need to run your own blog.