Over the past two years, I’ve been asked numerous times by agents and financial advisors how they can increase their online presence. The first thing I always ask in return is whether or not they have a blog. The responses always range from “No, blogging is for hipsters who wear pajamas all day and live in their parents’ basement,” to “I have a blog on my website, but I only update it a couple of times a year.”

If you fall into either of those categories, or if you’re looking to make more of an impact with your content marketing, then I highly recommend that you consider blogging at least once a month, if not once a week.

Here’s why:

Benefits:

Boosts SEO

Every time you post a blog, it adds one more indexed page to your website, letting Google know that your website is active and has fresh content. Google’s algorithm can detect whether your content is original, fresh and whether or not the person who clicked on your blog stayed around to read it. The more active and relevant your website appears, the more Google will rank your website higher in searches.

SEO used to be mostly determined by key words and phrases, but that is not necessarily the case anymore.  It’s all about providing new, relevant content!

Converts traffic into leads

At the end of every blog, you can (and should) add a call-to-action. By offering readers a free handout, quote, e-book, etc., you create an opportunity for the reader to give you their information for something they want in return.

Blogs don’t die

The beauty of blogs is that they can last forever. What you post to social media today can still be found tomorrow. Or next year. Or the year after that. A large percentage of your website’s traffic might not even come from your most current blog, but from blogs you posted long ago that remain relevant. Every time an old blog is clicked on, it increases your website’s authority on search engines because it shows them that your content is still valuable, even after time has passed.

You can also continue to post your older blog posts to various social media sites as often as you want. Just because you wrote something last year doesn’t mean you can’t re-use it.

You can test out new campaigns

If you’re considering paying for online advertisements for a particular service or product, try writing a few blogs about it first. You can use your blog as a test drive to see which social media platforms drove the most traffic to your website, what time of day had the biggest reward, and which days worked best. Your blog can help you understand your buyer persona before you invest your money.

You can find prospective clients

People who are unfamiliar with your products aren’t going to automatically search for your name or company.  They’re more likely to type in phrases like “Do I need to buy disability insurance?” or “Who needs long-term care insurance?”  If you have blog titles and content that match those types of searchable phrases, you’ll be more likely to appear in search results.

It’s free advertising

Assuming you’re not paying a social media strategist and you’re blogging on your own, your blog posts are essentially free advertising. You can post your blogs to social media, attach them to email blasts or even link them to others’ blogs in the comment section.

For tips on writing blogs and finding content, tune in next Friday!