Is blogging still a valuable strategy for businesses, or are there more effective ways to reach and engage audiences?

Blogging is absolutely a viable strategy for businesses in 2023, if done correctly.

Long gone are the days when a business can write about whatever they think is important that day and expect to get any meaningful traffic out of it. Businesses should have a well-thought-out content strategy, with blogging as a core component.

Where it makes sense, perhaps as you grow, those blog posts can be used for reaching audiences off-site, on social platforms, video platforms, and even traditional print media.

I’ll always remember the first blog I wrote. It felt like my teenage diary had finally gone digital and I couldn’t wait for people to read it. Fast forward to the world of business, my skills in blogging soon earned the title of content writer and I grew my career as a writer using best practices for SEO, smart placement of backlinks, and helping businesses place contributor articles. Suddenly, a so-called blogger was a well-paid content professional who would know no bounds.

However, today’s consumers have spoken. They don’t have the desire or need to spend time on your website hoping that it’s properly optimized for mobile, or read an 800-word blog intended to sell them on a business or idea. They want content that enriches their lives. Every moment that a business shares a blog read by their end user, consumers are considering the ROI. They’re investing their time and want to feel that they’re walking away with valuable information and feeling something.

That’s right … your work needs to give your reader “the feels,” which is why influencer marketing has taken the world by storm. Influencer marketing is your best friend telling you about their favorite (insert product or service here) — that is, if your best friend was an influencer making a killing on TikTok, Instagram, or even utilizing LinkedIn.

How does this relate to blogging? Well, it means that while A.I. tools help you provide the internet with more words to make blogging easier than ever, a successful blog will reach people on multiple levels. Your content writer is no longer a blogger — they’re a personality with a story to tell about your business. Adding the voice and recommendation of seasoned professionals to your piece will give it authority. While this might feel like more work (as it is), the first page of Google is a competitive place to live.

Your best blogs will move to multiple platform promotion and become social posts that your audience wants to read or share.

Blogging is the creation and curation of content to be published online, usually, onto a primary website belonging to a company or individual. Content may include articles, photos, statistics, infographics, market trends, etc. Content may also include opinions and testimonials.

Blogging will always be a valuable strategy for business if quality content is provided regularly over time because it builds credibility, trust, and visibility. Companies and individuals can leverage blogs to build, brand, and control their online identities. Information should engage audiences and, ultimately, foster supportive communities.

Other benefits of blogging include:

• Directing traffic to websites
• Generating leads and conversions
• Educating customers
• Building thought leadership in an industry
• Unlocking opportunities for collaborations
• Strengthening brand recognition
• Sharing news and announcements
• Improving long-term SEO

Blogging is an effective way to reach and engage audiences, but it does not, and should not, be the only method utilized. Content can, and should be, repurposed for other facets of a larger campaign, which would include major platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Be sure to tailor and adjust content for each social media network.

In the fast-paced digital era, businesses are constantly seeking the most effective ways to reach and engage their target audience. While video content and interactive formats have gained immense popularity, there is still a strong case for blogging as a valuable strategy for businesses.

Indeed, videos and interactive content have proven to be attention-grabbers, attracting people from all over the world. However, it is essential to recognize that blog posts continue to play a significant role in building an effective SEO strategy. A well-structured blogging approach is often the key to unlocking organic traffic success.

It is true that simply writing a blog post and waiting for an avalanche of readers is an outdated approach. Today, businesses must invest time and effort in promoting their content and ensuring it is SEO-friendly. By combining high-quality content with strategic promotion, businesses can attract the readers they desire and effectively compete with other forms of content.

Blogging remains a valuable strategy for businesses, as it complements other content formats and contributes to overall digital marketing success. A well-executed blogging plan, combined with a focus on promotion and SEO, can help businesses reach and engage their target audience in meaningful ways.

Blogging is, without a doubt, still a valuable strategy for businesses.

Depending on your business type, there may also be different ways to reach and engage audiences, but having a blogging strategy as part of your marketing mix is still better than not having it.

For the simple reason that there will always be a percentage of your audience that prefers reading information versus watching a video, engaging with your social media or listening to a podcast.

Even if “readers” are just 10% of your potential target audience, would you want to see this 10% end up on your competitors’ websites instead?

In an ideal world, you are discoverable on all the platforms your target audience uses, and this includes search engines.

Blog posts are an excellent way to target SEO keywords, but avoid only publishing content about topics that have already been beaten to death in your industry.

In fact, even as an SEO professional, my first piece of advice for businesses starting a blogging strategy is often to ignore SEO keywords, at least initially. 

Instead, provide real value that addresses your client’s pain points. Really take the time to understand what drives your clients and how your services or products solve their problems. Write about every angle you can think of.

With an initial set of blog posts live on your website, you can now start analyzing data. Which of your posts is being discovered, read and engaged with the most? Why? Through which channels?

Those are the topics to expand on further, and the more content you publish about them, the more you will start being viewed as an authority by both readers and search engines.

It only takes one blog post appearing before the right set of eyes, and you may just have landed your next client.

Blogging is the heart of content marketing and will continue to be at the center of all efforts. In this age of instant gratification, it is hard to aim for long-term benefits that blogging provides.

But we need to remember the importance of blogging before we strike it off. It helps you

• Share valuable and relevant content with an audience,
• Engage and inform them on specific topics,
• Establish authority,
• Build relationships, and
• Drive traffic and conversions to a website or business.

Now how can this go out of style?