Photo by Nick Morrison
With the ever-increasing popularity of social media, it’s easy to wonder if maintaining a blog is worthwhile. In fact, not many years ago, tech experts predicted that social media platforms would replace blogging entirely. Unexpectedly, instead of competing for attention, social media and blogs have found a synergy that boosts traffic to both mediums. Even if your social media presence is booming, here are some key reasons you should consider making blogging a priority.
Create Content That Lasts
The snappy, relentless pace of social media means that information travels quickly and far. The flip side of this ever-changing flow is the loss of content in as little as 12 hours. Blogs allow for in-depth, quality writing that will stick around. Think of each blog post as an investment. Clients can be drawn in months or even years after the original publish date.
A Chance to Dive Deeper
Social media is the perfect platform to drive conversation and gain visibility. At the same time, proving your company an authority in the marketplace is essential to gaining and keeping customers. A blog is an ideal place to answer recurring questions and provide informative, practical content.
Search Engines Probably Won’t Find Your Instagram
Nothing beats beautiful photos, snappy slogans, and interactive platforms to draw readers into your brand. However, more often than not, customers begin their purchasing process with a Google search. Google currently processes over 40,000 search queries per second. A blog is the best way to ensure that your company shows up at the top of those search results.
Google uses algorithms that rank search results by relevance, determined by keywords, images, links, and more. Blogging offers a natural way to add a variety of up-to-date and related information to your website, earning you more visibility. Blogs can also be SEO optimized, meaning that your blog can drive significant traffic to your website via Google searches.
Blog Posts Become Social Media Posts and Vice Versa
It may seem daunting to create original content for a blog. In reality, blogs and social media have an excellent reciprocal relationship that eases the creative process for both. Popular topics on social media or questions raised in online conversations are great places to glean topics for blog posts. At the same time, blogging can relieve the constant need for fresh content on social media by filling in the gaps with links, images, and teasers taken from recent posts.
A social media presence is key to success, but it is not enough to drive maximum traffic (and ultimately business) to your door. Social media allows for exposure, but only a blog enables your company to give higher quality, search-engine-friendly content that will reap rewards for years to come.