4 ways blogging can improve your PR efforts

This is one story on the value of blogging. Read how 5 reasons blogging is important, why you should care about blogging, 3 overlooked reasons to blog, why blogging is worth it, and how blogging can attract customers for more.

Bring more customers to your door with this important device

Webinars … branded newsrooms … social media management. There are plenty of public relations tools and tactics to help your business grow. One of the most effective is blogging.

If your company is not actively blogging on a regular basis, then you are ignoring a vital opportunity to raise awareness of your brand. In this post, you will learn more about the benefits of blogging and how it can make your PR efforts more successful.

What is business blogging?

You see blogs everywhere. People writing about their travels, movies they’ve seen and even just their random thoughts. Still, there are differences between personal and business blogging.

Blogging for business is creating content for your website designed to improve search engine optimization, drive more traffic to your site and increase visibility. The posts should feature subjects related to your business and industry. Blogging acts as a tool to promote growth, like direct mail or email marketing. The ultimate goal is to steer visitors to your website, where you can then turn them into leads and eventual customers.

The benefits of blogging for PR

Improve website visibility.

PR is often charged with improving the look, effectiveness and user experience of a company’s website. However, you could have the best looking website in the world and it would be useless if no one ever sees it.

If someone types your URL into his or her browser, that person is probably already a customer. Others must find you using other means. One of the most common ways for people to find your website is through a search using keywords that are frequently used by your business. The more pages you have with this information, the more likely you are to be found in these searches. Blogging allows you to add pages without clogging up the rest of your site.

Increase social media presence.

Smart companies use PR firms for social media management. This is the best way to ensure you are crafting the right messages and reaching your target audience on the various platforms.

Having a blog gives you the opportunity to deliver valuable content that others can share and repost on social media. It’s possible to use one blog post for numerous social media messages. When prospects see that you have useful information to share on social media, they will want to learn more by visiting your website, increasing your chances for conversion.

Establish thought leadership.

Improving your reputation and public perception is one of the main responsibilities of PR. Guiding the conversation and demonstrating expertise about your product and industry will make you a trusted, go-to source, and customers need to trust the companies they do business with.

You can use blog posts to answer customers’ questions, solve problems and distinguish your company from the competition. As a result, when it’s time to make your sales pitch or offer a call to action, the prospect will have a better idea of who you are and how valuable you can be in their lives. This can help to move them through the sales cycle faster.

Make your PR firm more efficient.

Getting the most value from your PR firm helps you save time and money. Every time you post a blog, it lives on the internet forever, continually driving traffic, increasing leads and improving your ranking. Each post almost becomes its own little investment in the future of your business, without any additional resources used.

At Axia Public Relations, we can help your business reap both the immediate and long-term benefits of blogging. Contact us to learn more about our blogging services or download our e-book, Maximizing Your Public Relations Investment.

Lisa Goldsberry is a blogger for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business and technology PR. Lisa has worked for Axia since December 2013. Learn more about Lisa Goldsberry. Connect with Axia on Twitter @axiapr or tell us what you think in the comments below.