Most businesses will benefit from having a blog, but in 2021 there's still some confusion about the purpose of a blog and how to make it beneficial to your business growth plans. So what is the purpose of a blog and how does a blog drive leads and sales?

Back in 2016, I wrote a blog post entitled, What Is the Purpose of a Blog. It's one of the most popular blog posts on our website and 4+ years on; it's still gets lots of traffic. In fact, in most months it receives between 100 and 150 views.

If I had a tenner for every time I've seen a blog where the latest post was added about three years ago, I'd be writing this from a villa in the Bahamas. It happens all the time though. Great intentions fizzle out when time is short and it can be really hard to get back on track.

In this short video Julie explains the three ways that blogging is a lot like running.

You keep hearing that you should be blogging but it sounds like a lot of effort for just another page on your website that nobody is going to read. You're busy and you have better things to do with your time, like getting more customers, for example.

In our popular article on the subject of what a blog is actually for,  we covered the compelling statistics around the benefits of doing it, they are compelling. If you're using your website for lead generation, or at least you want to start the process of creating a website that attracts potential customers, start blogging. In this post, I'll outline why.

When I talk to business owners about blogging they often pull a face and tell me they find it hard. They tell me they don't know what to write about, they tell me they haven't got time, they tell me they think it's pointless. Well, in my opinion, it's not hard or time-consuming and it's certainly not pointless unless tons of great web traffic is of no interest to you. Here's how I approach it.

As we mentioned in our last blog, many business owners are wasting time looking for cheap and quick ways of creating traffic to their websites. In so doing they're potentially killing their businesses instead of building something with staying power that can deliver valuable leads for years to come. Agencies like us who are involved in the delivery of inbound marketing services spend a lot of time trying to convince others of its capabilities. Are you convinced?

In a previous post, I spoke about the purpose of a blog. It addressed the practical questions around blogging such as keyword research, linking etc. However, in my view, there's another reason to write blogs: write them because it's fun.

Clearly, if you don't enjoy running your business or your role within the business, if you don't enjoy helping people, if you don't do what you do because you love it, you might not relate to this. I get that. In truth you'll always struggle with blogging, it will always be a pain and you're not likely to benefit from it. But if you do love what you do for a living, no matter what that is, get blogging, it's fun.

When you are setting your inbound marketing or social media objectives, one of them may well be to establish your expertise in a particular industry niche, otherwise known as thought leadership. It's not easy but it is possible to achieve if you have enough patience.

It's Christmas Eve, which in my day meant the big double door on the advent calendar, and these days means an extra big chocolate and tracking Santa as he whooshes around the globe on a sleigh laden with pressies.

When I talk to people about blogging (and I do, quite often!) the comment I hear most frequently is, "But I can't get started!" To help, here are a few tips that I have used over the years to help me confront that blank screen and start writing.