Doing a Business Blog?
If you are not doing a business blog, you could be missing out. And a new survey suggests you should. According to The 2012 State of Inbound Marketing by HubSpot,
Businesses are increasingly aware their blog is highly valuable. 81% of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.” An impressive 25% rated their company blog as “critical” to their business.
This survey of 972 professionals familiar with their business’s marketing strategy revealed that
Blogs had the highest instance of being reported as “below average cost.” 52% of companies who blog indicated leads from this channel were “below average cost.” Trade shows, direct mail, and telemarketing were most frequently ranked as more expensive.
The small businesses polled also said they plan to spend dramatically more of their marketing budgets on blogs – about 11% of their budgets in fact.
A key to successful blogs that drive traffic is to optimize them with appropriate search terms. Why is that important?
In order for your business blog posts to be found by searchers, they need to contain the keywords those searchers are using in the right places.
Is this really important to leads and conversions? Absolutely! HubSpot’s survey also reveals:
SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound sourced leads have a 1.7% close rate.
SEO leads are eight times more likely to close into customers than outbound leads.
Leads from inbound links (referrals) are five times more likely to become customers than outbound leads.
Ok, but how often should your business write blog posts?
The survey also shows that there is a direct correlation with blog posting frequency and the number of new customers acquired. You should write a minimum of once per week.
So just how important is a blog to your business?
25% of blog users polled rated their company blog as “critical” to their business, while 81% rated their company blogs as “useful” or better.
If you aren’t doing a business blog, now is the time to start one. No time? Don’t know how to optimize it? Call on your Search Engine Optimization and Blog Post Writing professional to help.
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