Why do companies blog

             


      Why do companies blog

No matter what you want to call it: whether it's a corporate blog or other news sites with titles like "Press Releases", "Current News" or "News" - post sites like these are among the most important tools for digital corporate communication.

What they all have in common is that a company regularly creates and publishes digital content to inform readers about updates or other important things.

However, business blogging is anything but new. More and more companies are writing company blogs – even in B2B marketing! But why blog? There are only a few reasons not to blog as a company, but there are many advantages in favor of a corporate blog. We have summarized them here for you.

What is a corporate blog?

Why blog? – 10 reasons for the company blog

1. What is a corporate blog?

The first private contribution pages, previously also called “weblogs”, emerged as public diaries around the year 2000. It was not until 2005 that companies began to create the first contribution pages of this type. Daimler, for example, was one of the first.

Today, more and more Fortune 500 companies are among the hard-working writers: While in 2016 it was only 36%, in 2020 77% of Fortune 500 companies already had blogs.

Corporate blogs are also popular with SMEs. In 2020, 52% of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the US already had various posting pages on a wide variety of topics. But…

… what is a corporate blog?

What is sometimes referred to on the website as “news”, “magazine” or “current events” can now function as an integrated element of corporate communication on the company website. Some of the dynamic pages for online posts also have a separate URL. 

These are contribution pages on which relevant updates about the company or other important information on specialist topics, events, awards or current trends are published on a regular basis.

... and what function does a company blog have?

Companies that write blogs usually want to bring more visitors to the website and thereby attract new customers, generate leads or sell more products. This also makes company or brand names better known on the Internet.

In addition to emotional content to strengthen the brand, helpful checklists, tips or compact guidelines with explanatory videos can also be part of a company's communication strategy. You maintain customer relationships and provide loyal customers with free added value.

 and what makes a company blog successful?

PageTracker data shows that post pages are particularly successful when they tell interesting stories. Modern storytelling has little or nothing to do with classic press releases. It's more about content that offers readers added value and quality in a variety of forms.

But as diverse as the digital content and content marketing strategies can be, the advantages of corporate blogs can be summarized quickly and easily, because they are particularly convincing reasons for a company blog. If you properly expand these advantages, you will also pave the way for the success of your corporate blog.

What are the disadvantages of a company blog?

2. Why a company blog

1. Corporate blogs bring more website traffic.

A company blog can help you generate more website traffic. Instead of a static website with content that rarely changes, new content is regularly published on post pages. This gives existing customers and interested parties the opportunity to visit your page again and again every time a new post is published.

Additionally, you will also receive more website traffic from search engines. These can also be potential new customers that you didn't even know up until this point.

However, there are other strategies for content recycling than just promoting your content on various platforms. For example, if you have written an entry with 15 tips on your specialist topic, you can turn it into a whole series of posts on social media: 15 tips = 15 posts in 15 working days.

The same applies to video content or even vlogs (= video blogs). You can upload complete videos to YouTube or Vimeo and embed them in your posts. You can then prepare several short sequences for TikTok or Reels on Instagram from long videos.

Why not on social media instead of on a corporate blog? After a few days, your content can no longer be found on almost all social platforms. Your post will get you a few likes in the first 12-48 hours, after which it will only be seen sporadically or not at all.

This doesn't happen so quickly on a good company blog, because search engines like Google work a little differently than social media platforms.

2. You can reuse content, e.g. on social media.

Content on the corporate blog can be easily reused. You can, for example, post this on social media, e.g. with a short note and a link to the post on Twitter. Or, for example, you can use the introduction of your post as text for a LinkedIn post. You can of course also insert a link to your new publication there.

However, there are other strategies for content recycling than just promoting your content on various platforms. For example, if you have written an entry with 15 tips on your specialist topic, you can turn it into a whole series of posts on social media: 15 tips = 15 posts in 15 working days.

The same is true of video content as well as vlogs (also known as video blogs). You can embed complete videos in your posts by uploading them to YouTube or Vimeo. After that, you can make several short sequences from long videos for Instagram's Reels or TikTok.

Why not post it on social media rather than on a company blog? Your content will no longer be accessible on nearly all social media platforms after a few days. Within the first 12 to 48 hours, your post will receive a few likes, but after that, it will only be seen occasionally or never at all.

Because search engines like Google operate slightly differently than social media platforms, this doesn't happen as quickly on a good company blog.3. Blog posts are more sustainable than social media posts.

Company blogs represent a more sustainable communication strategy compared to social networks, not only thanks to content recycling.

Posts that perform well in search engine rankings continue to be visible months later and, with a successful SEO strategy, can still be displayed on page 1 of Google even after several years.

While content on platforms like Instagram or Twitter is usually only seen for a few days, a top position in the Google rankings can bring you new website visitors in the long term.

Even a viral social media post can't compete with a well-founded content strategy that regularly brings in a small number of website visitors, because it only has a short-term effect and if it does, it's usually a coincidence.

3. Blog posts are more sustainable than social media posts.

Company blogs represent a more sustainable communication strategy compared to social networks, not only thanks to content recycling.

Posts that perform well in search engine rankings continue to be visible months later and, with a successful SEO strategy, can still be displayed on page 1 of Google even after several years.

While content on platforms like Instagram or Twitter is usually only seen for a few days, a top position in the Google rankings can bring you new website visitors in the long term.

Even a viral social media post can't compete with a well-founded content strategy that regularly brings in a small number of website visitors, because it only has a short-term effect and if it does, it's usually a coincidence.

4. Corporate blogging helps in building backlinks.

Backlinks (= links on other pages that point to your website) are one of the most important ranking factors in many search engines. Google confirms that backlinks are still one of the top 3 ranking factors for placement in search results. For example, the number of backlinks on a website is used to rank it in search results.

Regularly publishing new posts on various topics will help you get more backlinks. It increases the likelihood that other experts who blog will find your posts while researching and use your content as a source. You will then usually receive a backlink that points to the corresponding post on your site.

Experts disagree about how strongly Google takes backlinks into account in comments. Even employees at Google have different views...

5. Corporate blogs increase brand awareness and authenticity.

Good content on the corporate blog is still the most important part – both for readers and for the ranking. Only when your content offers real added value, your tips are helpful or the content is simply interesting, exciting or heartbreaking enough will you get more backlinks, more traffic and more website visitors.

Only when your posts are really good will visitors remember your page, save it as a bookmark, or decide to subscribe to your marketing newsletter. Then visitors will be happy to come back or even recommend you.

If you don't know your product, you can't buy it. Through posts and various topics, your website can be found regularly and more people come into contact with your products.

In addition, even if it is not the main topic of all your posts, you always have the opportunity to mention your product. In this way, new visitors sometimes get to know a special aspect or advantage of your brand directly.

However, you must not try to promote your brand or products as intensively as possible. Readers don't want to get the feeling that a blog is just trying to convince them of quality and added value in order to be able to offer them penetrating surreptitious advertising. Because then the trust is lost very quickly and you have lost the readers.

Corporate blogs can do one thing better in particular: they can be much more authentic than pure advertising. That’s professional content marketing. (…of course there are counterexamples too…)

6. Customer contact and maintaining customer relationships.

Company blogs are even used again and again in B2B marketing and in the area of ​​investor relations to improve corporate communication and maintain regular customer contact.

Post pages offer a digital place to provide interested parties, customers, sponsors and stakeholders as well as the general public with specific information via a URL or a QR code and go into more depth.

For example, in the monthly newsletter you can provide information about the new entry with a short text and arouse interest. In the corporate blog you can provide more information with depth and secure the competitive advantage in the B2B sector, which forms the basis for the high content marketing ROI.

This not only helps to inform customers and strengthen trust in your brand and your expertise. Overall, it also has a very positive effect on customer relationships and customer loyalty.