Whether or not blogging is a waste of time depends largely on your intent. The question to ask yourself is “why am I starting a blog?”
- Do you want to start a blog to make money from ad revenue?
- Is blogging a part of your organic SEO strategy?
- Will your blog establish you as relevant, up-to-date on industry trends, or an expert in your field?
- Does your blog teach people about your products?
- Will your blog build brand awareness?
- Do you want to share specialized knowledge with the world?
Individuals and businesses have different reasons for blogging. Reaching a wider audience can be a challenge. If that’s your goal, you need to learn SEO and content marketing.
Unique Selling Point
To determine how to most effectively leverage your blog, you need to identify your unique selling point (USP). Your USP is the one thing you have to offer that is unique. What will have people coming to your blog? That specific thing is your USP and you need a USP to succeed in any type of business.
The Value of Blogging: The Data
Statista reports on internet trends and statistics, and their research shows that blogging has significant value. Moreover, another survey shows that blogging works, but it can be challenging to drive big results.
The fact is, blog posts are some of the internet’s most shared content. Specifically, more than 75% of bloggers have reported that their blogging efforts drive significant results. Also, bloggers who invest more time and content, see stronger results.
The Benefits of Blogging
Below, we have listed some of the benefits of blogging. Know what content you need and why you need it. Establishing a Baseline of Content, Organic SEO Strategy, Google’s Algorithm and Ranking System, and Being Seen as Up-To-Date and Relevant all seem rudimentary. However, consistently executing important aspects of blogging and, therefore, getting to these accomplishments can be a winding and confusing road. Having an agency like Black Tie equips you with a winning strategy and an experienced team to get your blogging where it needs to be.
Establishes a Baseline of Content
A baseline is the starting point with which other content can be compared. With this baseline of content, you can branch out and talk about other aspects of your business. It gives you the foundation you need to build the ultimate content strategy that works best for you.
Organic SEO Strategy
Blogging gives your business additional exposure. Even if you run a local company, chances are you won’t be found if you don’t show up in Google search. With more blogging content, more eyes will see your page based on their searches for various topics and keywords.
Google’s Algorithm and Ranking System
Google values high-quality content that is original and easy to skim. Longer posts get better results in Google. Don’t just write a long and boring article to get to a certain word count. You need original and engaging content that draws people in to discover more about your business.
Being Seen as Up-to-Date and Relevant
A blog adds trust. Let’s say you’re searching for a product or service and you find two companies offering exactly what you need. If one has a robust blog with reference information and tutorials, but the other has nothing but a payment processor page, which one are you going to trust? Likely, you are going to be more comfortable with the company that gives you more information.
How Much Time Investment Is Needed for Effective Blogging?
If your goal with blogging is making money from ad revenue, memberships, subscriptions, or product sales, you must be willing to invest time into your blog. If you abandon your blog after a few months or years, blogging is a waste of time.
Surveys have shown that bloggers who invest more money experience better results. You should be willing to invest at least five hours a week into your blog, but more is better.
The Verdict: Is Blogging a Waste of Time?
The reason inconsistent blogging is a waste of time is that Google ranks content by relevance. Most blogs will only rank well if new content is added consistently. If you don’t have time to keep your blog up-to-date, you need to hire someone who will do it for you.
We believe that blogging is essential to the success of businesses so you should start blogging now! The more quickly you begin to blog consistently, the sooner you will see results from your efforts.
Call us at 800.316.8030 or fill out our contact form, let’s talk about what we can do for you!