Why I Still Blog For Business

Blogging may seem like yesterday’s word and a trend gone by. You may even have heard of it spoken of pejoratively. With air quotes. But blogging, beyond the hobby sort, is smart business. And income from blogging for businesses can be good.

I got my start as an entrepreneur in web development, which naturally led to SEO and consulting. But my passion has always been writing content, specifically for small businesses and creative brands. So my business model today is offering websites for a low cost, with the goal to garner recurring income through SEO and content creation for those sites. Yep. “Blogging.” Websites, SEO, and content creation work together for businesses that want to grow. Sprinkle in social media… and voila. You’re in business. That’s why almost every website I develop has a blog component. That’s why I still blog for business.

Here are 3 more reasons.

1. Blogging is smart for SEO.

The most legit way to make it to the top of search is by demonstrating to Google’s bots that you have a ton of authoritative content. Google has one mission: To be — and stay — the king of search and the way they do that is by rendering the best search results for the user. Google wants to render authoritative results that will be most relevant to search terms. Of course there are a lot of other factors that go into SEO, but content is still — and will always be — king. Googlebots are constantly scouring the web to determine what sites are the most relevant to users and the businesses that are always adding new content make their way to the top.

Even if you aren’t a great web developer, you could still make a living pitching blogging services to businesses who already have websites but still want to rank in search.

2. Blogging establishes who the gurus are.

One of the best ways to keep adding content to a business site, perpetually, is a smart, well-written and optimized blog that makes your brand the guru in your niche and tells Google’s bots that you’re the best choice for organic search. Of course, a thoughtful blog also garners respect from frequenters in your given niche. But even if only a very few people read a website’s blog, Google’s bots read it, regularly, and reward the site for it by placing it at the top of search. And shoppers use search. So if you want to be the best choice for shoppers, you have to be the best choice for Google.

3. Blogging is creative.

There are at least a million things to write about for any business client: Products, process, events, business or industry history, trends, innovation, progress, business growth, promotions, and I could go on. Even in the most “boring” niches have much to write about. Yes, I write for cool clients like innovative wineries and restaurants, but I’ll also write for cool clients like plumbers and cleaning services. They’re all cool. Blogging is as fun as you make it. Since I also love photography, I add that as a component to my blogging by going on location for local businesses. (For those who have that package.) Then I optimize these gorgeous images for search. Content is more than written words. It’s imagery. It’s video. Infographics. E-books. Podcasts. You get the point. It’s all creative.

Bottom Line

So call it whatever you want: Blogging, freelance writing, ghostwriting, content creation, whatever. The bottom line is that blogging can increase your bottom line. I know it has for me. And that’s why I still blog for business.