Is a blog worth it for your business?
If you’re a business owner, there’s a good chance you’ve wondered whether maintaining a blog is really worth it. With so many other marketing tactics available—like social media, paid ads, and email campaigns—blogs can sometimes feel like they’ve lost their relevance. However, the truth is that blogging still has the potential to be a powerful tool in your marketing strategy.
In this article, we’ll dive into the reasons why a blog might still be one of the best ways to grow your business, what’s required to keep it going, and some tips for making it as effective as possible. Whether you’re just starting or thinking of ramping up your efforts, we’ll cover everything you need to know to decide if a blog is worth your time.
What a blog can do for businesses
A well-maintained blog can deliver a lifetime of value to your business. From building trust with your audience to driving traffic to your website, here are the key benefits:
Builds authority and trust
A blog is an opportunity for your business to demonstrate expertise. When you consistently publish helpful, insightful content, you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Over time, your audience will begin to see your business as a go-to resource, which can lead to more trust and, ultimately, more sales.
For example, if you run a marketing agency and regularly publish content about SEO best practices, social media trends, or case studies from successful campaigns, potential clients are more likely to trust your recommendations and view you as an expert.
Boosts SEO
Search engines love fresh, relevant content, and blogs give you the chance to create it regularly. Each blog post is an opportunity to rank for new keywords, and over time, this can significantly improve your website’s visibility. The more optimised your blog posts are, the more likely they’ll attract organic traffic.
By covering topics that your target audience is searching for, you increase the chances of them landing on your website. Plus, blog posts can be updated and repurposed over time, ensuring they continue to deliver value long after they’re published.
Engages your audience
A blog can help you connect with your audience in ways that other forms of content may not. Blogs offer space for you to address your audience’s pain points, answer common questions, or offer in-depth insights on industry topics. This can lead to longer website visits, higher engagement, and more loyalty from your readers.
Supports your marketing funnel
Blog content can be vital in guiding potential customers through the various stages of your marketing funnel. From introducing them to your brand (awareness) to educating them on your solutions (consideration), and ultimately convincing them to take action (decision), blog posts play a key role at each stage.
For instance, a home goods business could write about "How to choose the perfect couch for your living room" in the awareness stage, while in the consideration stage, they might offer a blog post comparing different materials or styles of couches.
Blog best practices
Now that you know why a blog can be beneficial, let’s talk about how to set it up for success. These best practices will help you ensure that your blog delivers maximum value.
Length
Not all blogs are created equal, and the ideal length depends on your goals and audience. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of blogs and their recommended lengths:
Short-form blogs (300-800 words): These are ideal for quick updates, simple tips, or addressing a single question. They’re perfect for readers who want fast answers without too much detail. However, short-form content can sometimes struggle to rank well in search engines unless highly optimised.
Standard blogs (800-1,500 words): This is the sweet spot for most businesses. These blogs are long enough to provide in-depth information without overwhelming the reader. They’re ideal for how-tos, lists, and most industry insights. You can cover a topic comprehensively while still keeping the reader engaged.
Long-form blogs (1,500-3,000+ words): Longer posts are typically used for guides, deep dives, or cornerstone content. These are often favored by search engines because they tend to offer comprehensive insights. However, they take more time to create and require a strong structure to keep readers interested.
The key takeaway is to match the length of your blog with its purpose. If you’re writing a guide or in-depth analysis, longer posts are best. For quick tips or news updates, shorter posts can do the job.
Timing
Consistency is crucial to building momentum with your blog. Posting on a regular schedule—whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly—helps keep your audience engaged and returning for more. The timing can depend on the size of your team and your resources, but the key is to stick to whatever schedule you set.
For example, a smaller business might start with bi-weekly posts and gradually move to weekly posts as they build up content ideas and resources.
Topics
One of the best ways to come up with topics for your blog is by identifying the questions your audience is already asking. You can also look at industry trends, common pain points, and your own expertise to guide your content.
If you’re struggling with ideas, think about the conversations you have with your customers. What are they asking you? What problems do they have that you can solve? These are great places to start when brainstorming blog topics.
Tone
Your blog should reflect your brand’s voice, but my opinion is that it’s always best to aim for a conversational tone. Readers don’t want to wade through jargon or overly formal language—they want information that’s easy to digest and feels approachable.
For example, if you’re a financial consultant, you can still write about complex topics like investing or budgeting, but try to explain them in simple, everyday language. This helps make your content accessible to a wider audience.
SEO considerations
While your focus should always be on providing valuable content to your audience, optimising your blog posts for search engines is a must. This includes:
Using relevant keywords naturally throughout your post.
Adding meta descriptions and alt text for images.
Structuring your blog with clear headings and subheadings.
Including internal and external links to relevant content.
The goal is to make your content as readable for search engines as it is for your audience.
How to come up with a blog strategy
Starting a blog is easy—maintaining one is where the real challenge lies. Here’s how to create a strategy that ensures your blog remains consistent and aligned with your business goals.
Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with your blog? Is it to drive traffic, educate your audience, or convert readers into customers? Having clear goals will help guide the type of content you create and how you measure success.
Audience research: Know who you’re writing for. Understanding your target audience will shape the topics you cover, the language you use, and even the length of your posts.
Content calendar: Planning ahead is crucial. A content calendar helps you schedule topics in advance, ensuring consistency and reducing the risk of running out of ideas.
How to come up with ideas/topics for a blog
Struggling with blog ideas? Here’s how to keep the inspiration flowing:
Customer FAQs: One of the easiest ways to generate blog topics is by answering the questions your customers are already asking. This ensures your content is relevant and addresses real-world concerns.
Industry trends: Keep an eye on what’s happening in your industry. By writing about trends, new developments, or upcoming challenges, you stay relevant and position your business as forward-thinking.
Competitor analysis: Look at what your competitors are talking about. How can you cover similar topics but add more depth, a fresh perspective, or more actionable insights?
Use marketing tools: Tools like Google Trends and SEMrush can show you what people are searching for in your industry, providing valuable topic ideas.
The resources required to create a blog
Maintaining a blog takes time and effort, and this is where many businesses stumble. Here are a few challenges to consider:
Time commitment: Writing quality blog posts requires research, drafting, editing, and SEO optimisation. A single blog post can take hours to produce.
Consistency is hard to maintain: Keeping a blog going over the long term can be challenging, especially if your team is small or juggling multiple responsibilities.
Measuring success is a slow process: Unlike paid ads or quick promotions, blogging takes time to deliver results. It’s a long-term strategy, and you need to be prepared for the slow build-up of traffic and engagement.
What to do if you don’t have time to create and maintain a blog
If you don’t have the time or resources to keep up with a blog, that’s where a freelancer (like me) can help.
Hiring a freelancer means you can get expert-level blog content without having to manage the day-to-day creation process. Here’s how a freelancer can support you:
Blog strategy: I can help develop a blog strategy that aligns with your business goals, target audience, and industry trends.
Content creation: From idea generation to the final draft, I can handle the entire blog writing process, ensuring your posts are engaging, SEO-friendly, and ready to publish.
Consistent output: When working with me, you won’t need to worry about the commitment of writing posts regularly. I’ll take care of it, so you can focus on running your business.
So, is a blog worth it for your business? The answer largely depends on your goals and resources. A well-executed blog can bring huge value—boosting your online visibility, building trust with your audience, and supporting your marketing funnel. But it’s important to remember that blogging is a long-term investment. You won’t see results overnight, and maintaining consistency can be challenging if you’re short on time.
If you have the bandwidth to produce regular, high-quality content, then the benefits are clear: better SEO, increased website traffic, and more meaningful engagement with your customers. However, if you find that time and resources are stretched thin, it’s still possible to reap the rewards of blogging by outsourcing the work to a freelance content marketer. This way, you can maintain a high level of content output without sacrificing your own focus on other parts of your business.
At the end of the day, a blog is a powerful tool that can transform your digital presence, but only if it’s done right. Whether you take on the challenge yourself or bring in a freelancer to help, the key is to stay consistent, provide value, and always keep your audience at the heart of your content strategy.
Looking for help with your blog? Book a call to see how I can help.