Do You Need A Blog?

The question of whether you need a blog has been coming up a lot lately with clients.

It’s a great question. We all have limited time, so it’s always important to be clear on where you should be focusing your energy.

And if you are going to put time and energy into something, I think it’s vital to understand why and how it’s going to help your business grow. (This is how you stay motivated to take action!)

Today I’m going to explain who I think should have a blog. I’ll also share my opinion about who it may not be necessary for.

And, don’t worry; if you’re not technically inclined, I’m going to break this all down in words you can understand!

First of all, what *is* a blog?

There are many different ways to describe what a blog is, but for health and wellness entrepreneurs like you, it’s a component you can add to your website that contains articles and/or recipes that you write and want to share. Each article or recipe is called a blog post.

What you’re looking at right now is my blog. And this article that you’re reading is a blog post.

Website platforms like WordPress make it very easy to incorporate a blog into your site. And, you can create new blog posts without many technical skills.

What are the benefits of having a blog?

There are several reasons you may want to consider adding a blog to your website (or creating new blog posts more frequently).

1. It can help you get more clients.

Really, Amy? A blog can help me get more clients? Yes, it’s true and let me explain why…

Imagine that a prospective client lands on your website. They start browsing around so they can learn more about you. While they’re doing this, what they’re really wondering is…

“Can she help me?”
“Does she seem to know her stuff?”
“Do I like her style and personality?”

If the potential client answers “yes” to these questions, they are VERY likely to get on your list and/or contact you to learn more.

Your blog can help them answer “yes”, because each of your blog posts provide an opportunity for you to share your knowledge, personality, and areas of expertise.

Imagine that your area of focus is working with clients who have a thyroid imbalance. A potential client with a thyroid imbalance lands on your site and starts browsing through your blog. The first 3 posts they see are…

“Could a thyroid imbalance be causing your weight gain?”
“3 Foods that help balance your thyroid”
“How I healed my thyroid naturally”

This potential client will immediately feel like they are in the right place – and that you’re someone who could likely help them.

2. It can help you drive more traffic to your site.

Again, I know this seems wild, but it’s true. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in…

One of the best free ways to get more people to your site is to show up in the search results when people search for things (using Google or other search engines) that relate to your business.

Twenty-five percent of the traffic to our site is from search engines. Pretty cool, right?

Blogs help with this for 2 reasons:

• Search engines rank sites higher when you have a blog that you update regularly. Not to mention that Google ranks new content higher, because they want to send people to fresh, relevant content.
• One of the ways search engines rank websites is based on the keywords contained in the sites. Each of your blog posts contain keywords that your ideal clients are likely searching for!

Using the thyroid example from earlier, if you wrote a blog post about “3 Foods that help balance your thyroid” and then people searched for “best foods for thyroid”, they might find you!

I’m not getting into this today, but there are also ways to research the best keywords for SEO. And, there are ways to optimize your posts for SEO. I promise to cover that in another post :).

3. It helps you leverage social media to drive traffic and grow your list.

Social media can be a very powerful tool, when used strategically.

It’s important to post a variety of things on social media – personal content, promotions, quotes, other people’s content as well as your own content.

If you don’t have a blog, you don’t have a way to post your own content. This means that you’re not able to use social media to drive traffic to your site (unless you’re promoting something, which you don’t want to do too often).

Sharing and linking to your blog posts is a way to add value to your followers and have them come to see you as an expert that they know, like, and trust.

4. It helps you keep your audience engaged.

Your audience is primarily the people on your email list, but it also includes people who follow you on social media or visit your website.

When people find you and decide to join your list, it’s important to keep them engaged. By “engaged” I mean that they think of you as a valuable resource – and they open and read your emails. Even if they don’t open and read all of your emails, just seeing you in their inbox keeps you “top of mind.”

How does your blog keep your audience engaged?

By writing and sharing new blog posts, you’re providing them with free valuable content. The better and more relevant your content is, the more engaged they’ll be!

When I was a health coach, I sent a long email newsletter to my list. This newsletter always included an article or a recipe. What’s more effective now is to send a shorter email to your list, with a link to your blog post.

Now that you understand the benefits of having a blog, you still may be wondering if you need one right now.

I recommend you incorporate a blog into your website if you…

Are focused on growing at least part of your business online (or want to move in this direction soon)
Want to grow your list of subscribers (or already have even a small list)
Want to drive more traffic to your website

I recommend you wait to incorporate a blog into your site if you…

Are a brand new coach
Have very limited time to work on your business
Are focused on getting clients offline (in your local area)
Want and need to focus your time and energy on bringing in 1:1 coaching clients

 
Now I’d love to hear from you!
If you have a blog, what benefits have experienced from it? If you don’t currently have a blog, what’s holding you back? As always, feel free to share any questions you have so I can support you.