Make Time For Blogging:
How many different hats do we wear as small business owners? Marketing, bookkeeper, general dogsbody? It is time to add another task on your to-do list and that is blogging! Improving clicks to your business website is critical for creating brand awareness and generating sales or leads. Ok so you might not be a professional writer but don’t let this put you off the task of getting a blog together. Blogging about your business is a way to show expertise in your field and also expresses a passion for what you do. Remember that even if you are not a writer, there is no accounting for spelling errors so be cautious that your content is a good reflection of you and your business.
How do people find your website? Social media channels, paid advertising and promoting your website through email newsletters are all examples of ways people will click through to your website. Something many business owners want to hear about, is the idea of getting free clicks. This can be generated by adding good content through a free blog. Having a website that is search engine optimised means that there is a possibility that your website will be shown in a search engine’s free listings. Search engines, such as Google, look favourably on websites that have fresh, relevant content and this can easily be achieved with a blog. We recommend using a free blog site such as WordPress to create your blog but ensure that it features on your website domain. Our example is: www.mjmedia.co.za/blog
Blogging can be a way to share knowledge and people will begin to see you as someone trustworthy. Creating this identity or authorship is a way for this to be recognised by Google themselves and with this comes a few free perks. With the right code set up, your photo and name will appear with your blog post on search result pages and you will also enjoy a higher click-through-rate, according to studies. Setting up authorship requires access to your website code and then it is a few simple steps, see below for the process involved.
For business bloggers, be aware that this style of blog is different to a lifestyle blog or even a soap opera so keep things fun but professional. It may take one or two hours every month to create some unique content but it will be well worth the time spent when you are enjoying those free clicks.