It is no longer a question of whether or not businesses should be participating in social media – it’s just a question of how they can use the new online communities to help them get the word out. This is where the confusion comes in. Social media is where the customers are – and you have to be there.
So why shouldn’t you just abandon your blog in favor of social media networks?
According to a study released by HubSpot small businesses who blog have an average of 97% more inbound links, 434% more indexed pages and 55% more visitors. Those are very important numbers, from an internet marketing perspective.
Even with today’s overflow of social media networks, blogging remains the most powerful social media marketing tool a business can have. However, with the massive focus on Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks, companies have been neglecting their own blogging platform.
It’s no surprise. Successful blogging is hard work demanding resources companies may not have. It’s much easier to setup an account on Twitter and “socialize”. Yet, blogging can make a dramatic difference in your overall internet marketing campaign.
SEO
A blogs is your best marketing tool when it comes to delivering organic search traffic. The flow of fresh content constantly attracts deep links (links to internal pages, which are very valuable) aside from bringing in return visitors.
Additionally, blogs offer great freedom in terms of ability to add new content with a slight variation in focus in order to target more keywords.
With plenty of incoming links and a variety of keywords, a blog will rank well in the organic search results for a breadth of search terms. This is something you can not achieve with a Twitter or Facebook account. Don’t get me wrong. With Google’s real time search there is a possibility of your tweet of Fan Page update appearing on the first page of the search results, but the chances are slim. A blog, however, gives you an overwhelming advantage in the SEO world.
Credibility
Blogging allows your business to position itself as an expert in a particular field. It helps you grow your reputation. By constantly sharing thoughts, insight, and information you show your own expertise on a particular subject… expertise that is then associated with your blog and Web site.
Sure, you can and should build credibility across many channels, not just through your blog. However, running a blog centralizes your work, streamlines the brand building efforts and let’s you control your own marketing messages.
Growth
With so much focus on social networks, it’s been easier for companies to shift focus away from their blog. Remember, however, that what’s hot today may be gone tomorrow. You don’t have any control over those external networks. Their services could stop being free, you could get banned for some reason, users could shift focus and move on to another platform.. just a few but real possibilities.
Your blog, on the other hand, offers you a unique space you have full control over. Your blog grows in value over time as each post incrementally adds value to your site as a whole. The content you create and post to your blog acts to build your site and your authority.
Focus on using the channels you have most control over instead of chasing the next trend.
In Conclusion
The less time you spend building content and authority for your site, the more you make yourself dependent on tools that may one day fall away. While social networks should play a role in your overall marketing efforts, your blog should be the cornerstone of your social activity.
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5 Comments
While social media is great and should be a part of your networking and marketing, I find that you really get to know others in your industry much better through their blogs. Instead of mingling through a feeds, visiting others on their own turf and leaving comments establishes a true rapport. Plus, it’s a good way to generate traffic back to your own blog.
I completely agree! All the hyperactivity on social networks (Twitter as best example) is making it difficult to focus and stand out. Blogging offers you a unique voice on your own real estate. Build your platform, bring people in, offer them something interesting and they’ll come back for more. I mean how much attention are you really getting if you are one of say 2843 people someone is following?
Since people are “shy” to comment here, I thought I’d share the comments I received through LinkedIn – some interesting, and varying, points of view: http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle?viewDiscussion=&articleID=130673028&gid=92232
Very interesting article.Thank you for it.
From my point of view, people and companies are focusing much too energy on maintaining several social related websites.
I recently read a thread saying that if you don’t really see why you should create a dedicated Facebook, Twitter,… web page then the risk of seeing visitors become confused will certainly raises.
Fantastic article, and very good advice. Blogs dovetail brilliantly with social networking sites too, so it works well as a hub. Rather than having a bewildering array of SN pages, direct them back to your blog, and people won’t be confused.