Do you consider a blog to be social media? Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t associate a blog with it. Instead, they think of popular platforms like Google+, Twitter and Facebook.

However, a blog is part of your social media campaign. In fact, it’s one of the most beneficial. Companies who blog on a regular basis have over 90 percent more inbound links compared to companies that don’t (and if you didn’t already know… inbound links are important; the more you have, the more search engine traffic you receive.)

The Benefits of Blogging

1. Barry Feldman (frequent blogger and president of Feldman Creative) recently discussed on Social Media Today:
1. 61% of consumers have decided to make a purchase based on a blog they read
2. 60% of consumers say they feel more positive about a company after reading its blog
3. 70% of consumers learn more about a company by reading its blog versus seeing ads

2. Blogs are also great for generating SEO (search engine optimized) traffic. You can easily insert relevant keywords and phrases that are important to your audience into a blog post. When you take the time to prepare blog posts that cover current topics your potential customers relate to, you open a door to extensive marketing opportunities. By discussing the topic in a blog, you show the audience your credibility, authority and value. They will be more likely to buy from you.

If you need help niching your practice and writing to a market, check out the book Accounting Firm Owners: The 7 Secrets You Know To Increase Profits in 2014. 

3. Blogging expands your brand and reputation. People enjoy reading relevant content from company blogs. When you blog regularly, you regularly converse with your audience and build a sense of trust and loyalty. Blog posts give you the opportunity to open up about your firm. You can better highlight your firm’s:

• Values
• Principles
• Best practices
• Benefits

Blog Facts

Check out these blog facts too see why your firm should get more serious about creating a quality blog:
• The average person reads 5-10 blogs/day
• Companies with 51 or more blog articles saw a 77 percent lift in median monthly leads
• When it comes to making a purchase, 31.1 percent of consumers using the Internet felt a company’s blog was the second most influential factor in their decision

When to Post

A science exists behind when to post your blogs. You obviously want to post when your peak readership is ready to read.
Research indicates that:
• 65% of people prefer to read blogs in the morning
• The most popular time for reading blogs is around 10am
• The average person prefers to read blogs on Mondays and Thursdays
• Over 40 % of people prefer to be notified by email every time a new blog post is added (so give them an option to sign up by email)

Blogging is one of the best ways to gain exposure for your firm. It’s the perfect avenue to connect to your consumers and encourage your client base to continually grow.