Still wondering if the time, energy and invested brain cells are worth the ROI of a blog?  I think so.

According to Small Business Trends, bloggers see:

Photo by Kristina B

• 55% more visitors to their website.
• 97% more links to their website which is a primary factor in where your website shows up in search results.
• 434% more indexed pages – this is the number of pages that show up in search engines.

But what’s that you say? You’re not a prolific writer?  You don’t have to be.  If you have a passion on a subject, no doubt you read a lot about it (or if you don’t, you probably should).  Rather than creating your own content, you can find brilliant nuggets of wisdom from other writers and reference them on your blog with a few of your own insights  (be sure to give proper credit to the original source, of course!).

Is your subject matter visual? Consider a picture blog that will require few words, beyond a ton of great pictures.  Some of my favorite blogs are entirely based on images.  I rarely ever read the blurbs attached.

Perhaps you don’t have the time to post regularly.  Some argue that no blog is better than a sporadically updated blog.  I disagree.  Even if you can only post twice a month, someone will at some point come across the content you’ve compiled and find it interesting.  They may even contact you.  I do believe however, that a blog with one well-intentioned welcome post created in 2007 looks abandoned and unprofessional.  So if you have a sad little one-post blog with your name associated with it, just take it down as it screams volumes of “I love to start and not finish things” about your personality.

Personally I think everyone should have a blog, business related or otherwise. It can add tremendous dimension to your brand, and it’s truly a great venue for building a community of like-minded people.

Here are a few key things to consider when creating a blog for your small business:

• How can you use a blog to bring your brand to life?  Remember to be authentic, consistent and purposeful.
• How often can I contribute a post?  Twice a month is probably the least amount of work you can get away with.  If you need help with content, consider an intern, a guest writer or hire someone to create your posts for you.
• What is the call-to-action for my readers?  Is there an obvious way to sell your services/products?  Can you incorporate affiliate sales in your blog posts?  What sort of advertising would you put on your site, if any?

Blogs are a great way to create a name for yourself.  If you are a good writer, and you’d like to get a little more mileage out of your posts, check out these ideas for repurposing your blog content.

Happy Blogging!

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