By Cory Falter
There’s no doubt about it, in today’s online-centric world if you aren’t blogging then you’re simply pouring revenue down the drain. Business blogging is essential, your business blog is a place to share insights, current events and general useful information.
Invest in a content publication strategy starting with a blog, and reap the rewards. Search visibility, leads, sales and so much more will improve with a successful blog. To help drive home our point, here are our top 5 reasons why blogging is essential.
REGULAR BLOGGING FOR HOTELS DELIVERS….
New Search Engine Ranking Heights
How are you supposed to attract fish if you’ve only got one piece of bait in the entire ocean? You’ll be lucky if you catch a single fish. The same goes for only having a website. Blogs serve as extra bait in the giant ocean that is the world wide web. Everyone is online, people are more bombarded with things to read and look at than ever before. If your site isn’t at the top of the search then it’s unlikely you’ll get many visitors. Every single blog on your site is a chance to rank higher in certain searches. The more strategic phrases and keywords laced into each and every blog, the better. Think of it this way – lots of blogs = lots of bait in the ocean. Once your bait is placed, sit back relax and wait for the fish to get hooked.
A Self-Driven Ship
Simply having a website isn’t enough on it’s own, especially when it comes to attracting new business. Blogs are the vehicles that carry your target audience to your website. For example, your hotel just wrote a blog about hidden spots to discover in your city. As potential tourists start doing research on what to do and see in your city, they stumble upon your blog on Pinterest. Now, that tourist is on your hotel’s website reading your insightful information, potentially gearing up to book a stay at your hotel, all because of one blog! Imagine the possibilities with hundreds of blogs!
Not to mention other businesses that might share or promote your content to their audiences because it’s so relevant. Now you could be getting possible leads from other sources all because you spend the time strategizing and writing useful, shareable and interesting content, that eventually lured new clients to your website to convert them into buyers. Congratulations.
Hand-Delivered Leads
Ahh, the magical word – lead. How much money is your business currently spending on generating leads? Let us guess – ad space and a PPC campaign or two are running the lead generating fund pretty dry, right? A well-strategized blog is going to be working on generating leads for you all day and night. Unlike paid advertising campaigns, your website blog doesn’t stop working when it’s not being paid for. As long as your website is up and running, so are your blogs. A strategic blog crafted with a specific target audience in mind, and then promoted across the appropriate social media channels, will do some serious work for you to generate leads. Once the leads are generated, the ball is in your court.
A Humanizing Experience
In a world full of big businesses, technology and a general increasing lack of human contact, it’s crucial to seem, well, human. You’re not just a giant building full of luxury rooms. You’re more than an OTA promoted 4-night stay. At the end of the day, you’re a hotel filled with real-live guests, real-live team members and your own brand personality. Blogs are your online chance to humanize. Let the blog illuminate your brand’s personality. Share your passions! It’s very likely that your passions are quite similar to your target audience. The business blog is an opportunity for clients to see your personal side. This is a chance to simply be likeable, so take it!
Social Media Support
Sharing other people’s content will only get you so far for so long. Every social media strategy you have will be much stronger with the ability to promote your very own content. When you promote your own content there are plentiful opportunities to direct leads to your own site, instead of someone else’s. Has your business been sending out email newsletters? Use blogs as content for those! Especially if you craft a really attention grabbing blog from time to time, that will be the perfect newsletter content to inspire people to open it up and click around.
Authority
Last, but certainly not least, your blog is a chance to build industry authority. This is your own private space to show the world that you’re experts, innovators and industry leaders. Share trends before they’re mainstream. Provide insight that other industry professionals will share down the road. Your blog can be the place people visit when they want a trusted, reliable and updated source.
To sum it all up – start blogging today, and never look back! Always analyze and adjust of course, but content is the way of the present and the path of the future. Your blog will translate to revenue if you put in the time and energy. Since you already have a website, might as well make the most out of it! Besides, at the end of the day blogs are just plain fun. They’re a chance to do all of the above, while smiling, laughing and showing off just who you are along the way.
