Each month, 409 million people read around 20 billion blogs. While that might seem like an oversaturation of content, it doesn't change the fact that marketers who prioritize blogging experience 13x more ROI than marketers who don't.
As the third most popular marketing strategy today, blogging has changed the way people do business. So, if you're struggling to generate new leads or even increase traffic coming to your website, then you might want to reconsider what blogging can offer you.
Below, we'll go through 9 pros and cons of blog marketing to give you an idea of how to tap into this lucrative marketing strategy. Read on!
See Related: What Is Domain Rating And What Is It Good For?
Blog marketing is a digital marketing strategy that reaches your target market through the use of a blog. Before the true golden age of the Internet (now), it was fairly common for business owners to have a blog separate from their business websites.
But nowadays, most online users expect a business have to a blog on its website in order to consider it trustworthy, to begin with.
In fact, 71% of marketers report that content marketing has become more important to their organization in the last year.
And with the amazing benefits that blog marketing has to offer, there's truly no questioning why. So, what exactly are the pros and cons of this inventive new digital marketing strategy? Keep reading to find out!
Producing blog content in and of itself tends to draw newcomers in. But businesses that produce relevant content have far more in store for them than customer engagement alone.
Aside from purchasing the domain name, blogging makes for a cost-effective digital marketing strategy. Plus, offering both existing customers and potential customers valuable content can actually produce a positive ROI when you consider that you can start a blog for free.
44% of buyers say they typically consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a vendor.
And this is because website visitors click on your blog to get to know you as a brand. Offering them quality content in return simply earns you their trust and business.
WordPress is by far the most popular blogging platform out there. And if you don't believe us, consider this staggering statistic:
WordPress powers over 43.2% of the Internet.
But the reason it's managed to accrue such digital authority is that it's an incredibly user-friendly platform. You don't need any prior experience with web design or coding to start blogging. All you need are some ideas and a willingness to jot those ideas down.
Search engines love blog posts. After all, most people flock to search engines for the sake of obtaining valuable information.
And when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), blog posts can similarly help you rank higher on the search engine results page (SERPs).
The average top-ranking page also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords.
You read that right. A person blogs once using SEO best practices and they can make sure their blog content gets seen across 1,000 different search queries. That's a pretty good ROI when it comes to creating custom content.
SEO is all about trying to dominate Google search through organic traffic. And when you rank highly, your click-through rate increases exponentially.
71% of bloggers say SEO is the most important source of traffic.
The blog may get readers on your website. But who's to say they won't stick around and browse through your business too?
Blogs have major sway when it comes to a reader's purchasing decision.
In fact, 61% of online shoppers in the US say they made a purchase after getting a recommendation from a blog post.
But just as blogs can boost your credibility amongst readers, so too can spam posts break their trust with a single post. So, when you create content, make sure that readers gain as much value as they can from your content. Don't take their trust for granted!
Bonus: 8 Customer Profile Analysis Methods That Will Boost Sales
As a digital marketing strategy, blogging has plenty to offer. But that's not to say that there aren't some significant drawbacks to the practice either.
Running a blog often means you need to craft several posts and publish them on a consistent basis. But if you're already a business owner with plenty of other things on your to-do list, blogging may be too much of a commitment for you to fulfill.
Bloggers who publish two to six times per week are 50% more likely to report strong results.
But again, that comes with an extreme level of consistency. And you might find your energy is best directed elsewhere like lead generation or email marketing, for example.
Posting regular content also means you have to come up with new ideas constantly. And this level of creativity and generation can lead to blogging burnout.
Roughly 70 million new posts are published on WordPress each month.
That's a lot of blogs to compete with! A blog helps your business in a number of ways, but if coming up with new content is draining all of your energy, then you might need to focus on more manageable marketing strategies.
Everyone loves immediate gratification. But blogging definitely does not deliver anything "immediate."
38% of bloggers who spend at least 6 hours writing a post report great results.
But again, that's at least six hours crafting a single post for your website. Blogging can certainly produce positive results, but it can come at the cost of your time.
A blog might drive more traffic to your website. But what's driving traffic to your blogs?
Social media is the most popular channel for driving blog traffic.
And that means taking the time to craft a digital strategy across social media platforms. Social media channels can do wonders for driving traffic to your blogs, but if you're already struggling to keep up with the content you create, then it can feel all the more overwhelming to have to market said content too.
The benefits of blogs don't have to rest solely on your shoulders. At Up Inc., we've developed a proven and effective four-step process that can help you drive traffic to your website with blog content, all while effectively scaling growth.
From 2020-2021, we managed to 35x one luxury beauty company's organic visitor growth, resulting in 605 unique organic sales in 10 months and ranking them for 6,500 keywords in Google's Top 100 results.
So, even if you don't have the time to create blogs on your own, know that there's an SEO team ready to take on that challenge for you - and with plenty of SEO expertise to boot!
Keep Reading: The 4 Types Of SEO: A Complete Guide
--
Up Inc. eCommerce Agency is a digital marketing agency based in Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 2021, Up Inc. specializes in eCommerce, generating growth for brands by focusing on visibility, customer loyalty, and digital revenue. For more SEO tips and industry insights, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
