With the end of the year rapidly approaching, and 2016 planning underway, business owners are assessing where they are with respect to B2B search engine marketing goals and objectives. Hopefully your organization is well ahead of performance benchmarks this year.
One of the most effective content marketing tactics we recommend, for SEO and broader online marketing performance, is a B2B blogging initiative. If you have not already engaged in a blogging initiative, or are looking to re-evaluate the objectives in your existing program, here are ten reasons B2B blogging could be important for achieving your goals with SEO, social media, and online marketing in the new year and beyond.
1.) Create opportunities for new SEO keyword strategies
Content fuels keyword visibility and what better way than through regular blog posts. Matched with keyword research, develop an editorial calendar that tackles topics related to keyword strategy that your site’s SEO strategy is lacking visibility for.
2.) Support existing SEO keyword strategies
Support existing keyword targets by providing cross-links through new blog posts generated. By establishing connecting, relevant keyword-centric hyperlinks, you are allowing search engines to crawl what most likely is more static, less frequently changed material (such as product or solution pages) that also is likely (or should be) optimized for a primary keyword target.
3.) Provide thought leadership in support of business development initiatives
Thought leadership and the sharing of professional knowledge in social media channels help influence the B2B decision making process. Blog posts can address common issues and challenges, or tackle current trends in the industry. These posts can often be used in reference, before or after business development discussions.
4.) Create an ongoing communication stream with customers and prospects
Ongoing communication is important for keeping prospects and customers connected with the organization. In addition to the online newsletter, B2B blogging provides a subtle way to routinely stay connected to the subscribed prospect, via RSS, email, and social media distribution.
5.) Provide an opportunity to support lead nurturing campaigns
Many B2B organizations require a greater number of touch points to close leads. The website most likely will not be the final place closed sales occur. An organization’s blog is a place to aid in lead nurturing initiatives by providing ongoing communication designed to establish credibility and support efforts in driving attendance to webinars, tradeshows, events, etc.
6.) Provide content for distribution in social media platforms
One of the first questions we get from organizations looking to adopt a social media strategy is what content should they provide in those platforms. As I eluded to above, regular blog writing efforts provide a piece of the conversation that can be created and distributed for social media sites, further enforcing relationship development in these platforms.
7.) Create an opportunity to acquire backlinks
Not necessarily as obvious as one might think. Quality blog posts provide a reason to reach out to potential link partners (site owners and bloggers for example), by showcasing relevant information or expertise, and developing connections through cross-collaboration, and supported thought leadership.
8.) Create an opportunity to develop a relationship with industry sources
Establishing credibility is critical, not only in developing good links but in connecting with the right people in the industry. Blog posts help strengthen existing professional relationships and potentially establish new ones through traditional communication, blog commenting, and discussions based off of blog content in social networks.
9.) Provide a reason for search engines (and users) to revisit your website more frequently
Search engines like fresh content, and blog posts are a perfect way to create this freshness. The same probably goes for your customers and prospects. Regular updates and new blog posts (of quality) provide a reason for Google and other search engines to come back to the website more often, either directly or through third party links and social media mentions. From a SEO perspective, the end goal is to improve the frequency and depth search engines crawl, index, and access additional material through cross-links.
10.) Improve the overall depth of website material
As I indicated earlier, new blog posts provide more opportunities for keyword integration and ways users may find your organization’s content through search engines or as they navigate through sales collateral. A more robust website, with information that supports the education of the buyer, as well as validate vendor expertise, ultimately builds trust and brand. While this process might seem intimidating to start, we quite often see year over year results improve dramatically when a consistent new content development strategy is executed over time.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully at least some of these reasons provide the justification to get your B2B blog strategy initiated or revitalized as the holidays and beginning of the new year draws closer. What other reasons have worked for your organization? I would love to read your thoughts and opinions via the comments below.
