Sure, this is a bold statement, but now more than ever is the time to seriously evaluate your game plan for blogging if your business isn't already. Leading minds in the marketing world have been preaching this for years, but many businesses continue to ignore the growing warning signs. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, folks! Times are changing quickly in the online search world and there are no signs of things slowing down.
If you're still looking for some compelling evidence to stray from your dinosaur-age marketing practices, here's an abbreviated overview that should motivate you to jump start your blogging efforts and avoid the extinction of a favorable online presence in the coming year.
Forget what you've read, been told or seen work in the past when it comes to getting your business at the top of Google's search results or instantly becoming a search engine optimization (SEO) master. The reality is, Google has taken drastic efforts in the last 12 months to continue its goal of being the top search engine in the world, and that starts with providing users with the best content that satisfies a specific search query.
If you want to be part of the club of credible content providers in your industry that Google looks to, well, you need to start creating it through blogging with a strategic focus and ongoing discipline. You can't fake this, so yes, it takes work!
Your business may or may not be actively leveraging some form of social media, but you likely have heard the following storyline -- social media is here to stay. Not only have we faced a cultural shift of mass social media adoption, but social media's impact on search results continues to grow in importance.
One of the best ways to fuel your social profiles with fresh content is from your blogging efforts. Making your blog content social also allows others to share your content, which is a signal to Google and other search engines that you're providing quality and credible content. These recognized signals then have weight on how you'll be ranked in search results.
For more compelling insights on the need to seriously embrace blogging in 2013, take the time to read You Must Blog and Blog Smart in 2013 from Brad Shorr on the Search Engine Journal blog. It's what inspired me to write on this topic and also reminded me of the many businesses still dragging their feet when it comes to taking the importance of blogging seriously.
We've seen the power of blogging for our own business and our clients' businesses, so to say we're passionate on the subject is an understatement. If you're struggling on how to get started, download our free tip sheet "10 Ways to Keep Your Blog Stocked with Great Content."
