The cold hard fact is that blogging works and if you want your website to see more traffic (and convert more leads) then your website needs a blog. According to HubSpot 92.35% of companies using inbound marketing increase their traffic. And if you are curious about what inbound method is the best way to increase website traffic, look no further than blogging. Yes, blogging increases your website traffic, even more than SEO.
This is undeniable, especially when you consider this fact from the Content Marketing Institute.
8 out 10 people consider themselves to be blog readers. That's 80% of internet users.
It's not just that people are reading blogs, it's that 78% of those readers believe that companies who provide custom content, like blogs, are interested in developing a relationship with them (Manifest). You see, your blogs build trust in your company, they 'warm up' your potential customers and they convert those customers into leads.HubSpot was able to determine that real world B2B marketers using blogging as a marketing tool achieve 67% more leads than marketers who do not (source).
Relevant and useful blogs live on the internet despite their age, when you’re consistently producing high-quality blogs you give your potential lead a reason to continue to return to your site. The more they return and build a relationship with your content and products the more you increase your chances of a sale.
Inbound marketing costs 65% less than other traditional methods, it also costs less than paying for your traffic. The bottom line is that blogging only costs you, your marketers time; if you are using the right keywords throughout your blogs, you won’t need to use pay per click to attract new leads.
Your website is infinitely better with a blog. Blogging helps your website get found; it builds your organic traffic, your potential for links from other websites and your social media engagement. According to Business 2 Community, companies with active blogs enjoy, 97 percent more links to their websites, and their pages get indexed a ‘whopping’ 434 percent more often.
Building indexed pages and links is an important tool for building traffic. According to Smart Bug Media websites with over 50 pages generate 48% more traffic than sites with less than 50. HubSpot too has research that demonstrates that once a website reaches 51 blog posts their leads start to increase significantly.
Blogging works, but it works best when used as a part of your inbound marketing strategy. Inbound focuses on generating your company leads and then converting those leads into customers. At Hughes and Co. we combine a number of online tactics including premium content, social media and blogging to encourage lead generation, find out how inbound marketing it is working for businesses like your own.