In this article I will detail the main differences between a static business “website” and a dynamic “blog”. I will also cover why adding a “blog” to your current business site can actively increase your sales and add to your bottom line.
It is a fairly simple thing to add to your current business site and maintain, but will require a bit of focus and commitment. If you don’t have a website for your business yet then you can start one by using a blogging CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress.
How Does Blogging Put Money into Your Business?
There are a couple of ways to use blogging to bring cash flow into your business. One is passively by affiliates (more on this further down), But primarily by directing digital traffic from your “ideal” customers (meaning people searching for your product or service online) straight to your website page addressing or answering their search term.
Then, once the potential client is on your website, they will see (read) from a particular blog post, written by you, that YOU are indeed the business that has the solution they are looking for. As a matter of fact, by writing that blog post you have already performed a good service for this customer. Now they feel like you actually understand what they need.
What is the Difference Between a Website & a Blog?
The words “website” and “blog” are often used to mean the same thing. Technically there is a difference where a “website” refers to a online site that is “static”. Essentially you or a web developer will build it and that is that. Once it is up you leave it alone until you need to add information or upgrade it and then you have to hire someone again.
Whereas a “blog” is a “dynamic” web platform, more user-friendly, and you can add to it whenever you want to and most blogging CMS’s will automatically upgrade when required.
Here is a post with a further explanation regarding the differences.
Some of the confusion surrounding origins and the usefulness of blogging for business comes from the way the word was first introduced into our language.
A Brief History of the BLOG
In its early debut, blogging was the activity of adding information or stories to a Weblog. The term Web Log was a way of logging ones activity online by writing to an online website. In other words, keeping a Web Log was simply ~ “online journaling”. Within a short time, the term Web Log was abbreviated to the word “blog”.
Some of the first and more famous Weblogs were inspirations for movies like Julie & Julia. If you haven’t seen it you might find it interesting.
How Business Blogging Brings Customers into Your Shop
Having a website means you are able to reach out online to a potential customer that you are what they need. Having a blog means you can update it or add to it so your potential customer will more likely find your site and business before your competitor.
Having a website with a blog allows you to frequently update the information available online to the public. It also lets you write articles that will resonate, educate, and inform. A simple example of this approach would be like this:
On your blog you then write out a simple and proven procedure for unclogging the toilet. It is important to be mindful when writing, to use the precise keywords that will be used by your prospective customer.
Include keywords and phrases that are specific to your business too; like the locality (ie. How to unclog a toilet in
⚠️ WARNING: Don’t over use the same keywords and don’t try and jam a tonne of different keywords together. This is what is so great about a blog for your business. You can have one post about “Unclogging your Commercial Toilet in Cleveland” and another about “Commercial American Standard Toilets Rarely Clog Up”.
Business Blogging & SEO
Here is where the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) needs to be introduced. By adding blogging to your business website you are in effect “optimizing” your website for the search engines.
When you write a keyworded post (a post is what you call an article written to your blog), you provide the search engines (like Google, Yahoo, and Bing) with relevant keywords so it can discover what your business is about. As a matter of fact, blogging can play a large part in local business SEO.
Be Relevant:The more relevant articles you have about your business, the more likely someone who needs what you are selling will find you when they are searching on the internet. You might think that your website is self explanatory, and that you are already paying for advertising and that should be enough. Blogging is not only ADDITIONAL traffic bait, it also helps your advertising efforts, and keeps advertising costs lower, and can help close a sale!
Plus it’s FREE!
You may also be concerned that giving away free “how to” information is a bad idea. What if you tell people how to unclog their toilet on your website and then they never call you?
It is true, you may solve the simpler problems and not get a service call. But frankly, if you don’t tell them how to fix it, someone else will. YouTube is full of “how to” videos. However, if you have one too, on your website, and they recognise that you also live in their town, they now will associate YOU as the local business that helped.
In a way, SEO blogging can spread good karma and bring in customers! Because, the next time they have a problem that is too big for them to fix themselves, you are much more likely to be the one they call.
This is just a small sample of how blogging on your business website brings money directly into your business.
Passive Income Business Blogging
Passive income is a way to generate money without doing any actual labour after the initial product or network is built. This can be done by selling an online product of your own or as an affiliate. The product can be physical or digital.
This blog generates both direct and indirect (passive) income. Direct is when someone buys one of my services that requires active involvement:
Direct Income from Your Blog
- eCommerce – where you refer and sell physical products that require you pack and ship or deliver.
sell a service – people buy an online service like web development, digital design services, or business consulting.
The indirect way to generate income from your website is by some of the means suggested here:
Passive Income for Your Business Blog
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sell your own digital product – make something people want in a specific niche and sell it.
advertising income – this is where people pay to put ads on your site.
affiliate marketing – a very popular passive income tool where you may mention or review a particular product and then link out to that product using an affiliate link.
Passive Income from Advertisers that (Don’t) Pay
I can tell you from first hand experience – this is one really great way to get ripped off! Be cautious when looking for advertising companies as a publisher (“publisher” is a term for someone who blogs and puts advertising on their site ).
The most familiar one is AdSense by Google but there are many of these advertising agencies out there.
If you are going to use your website as a publisher for an advertising company, be sure to pick one that’s been around for awhile. Many online advertising businesses open just to close up shop and never pay out the commissions they owe you.
Important Things to Check Before Signing Up as a Publisher
Find out how you are getting paid and what is the minimum payout. If you are only getting pennies-a-click it can take a long time to add up to $20.
AdWords/AdSense does payout but – BUT – you have to follow
If you are a novice to blogging it might be best to sharpen your teeth on another PPC company like BidVertiser.
Deal Directly with Advertisers
It is more profitable to deal directly with the company that wants to advertise rather than getting a few cents from a PPC company. You can do this by selling prime banner ad “advertising real estate” on your site.
Once you start generating traffic you will become attractive to other sites in your niche. If they are a complimentary business but not a competitor you can contact them with an offer or put an ad on your own site with “This Space for Rent” and your contact information.
Product Reviews for Alternate Income Streams
Reviewing or referring to a particular product in a blog post can generate an income in several ways. You can actually get quite innovative about it if you are willing to put in the effort.
Affiliate reviews on digital or physical products is a common way to generate passive income. It’s a dog-eat-dog world using that method but there are ways to get your website to rank higher than your competitors so this method can be profitable. If you build your business in a profitable niche, that isn’t highly competitive, then you have a better chance. Or, you may be in a common niche but can target a micro-niche affiliate product in a post. Or create categories. For example you could blog on all the different types and brands of toilet snakes. You could even buy and demonstrate all of them in video. Like Shawn Woods does with rodent traps.
Adding an eCommerce Business to your Local Business by Blogging
In the past couple of years the line between eCommerce sites and blogging sites has become blurred. Once you have your business chosen (whether or not this has been your business for one week or ten years) and have started to blog about it, why not add an eCommerce site to your creation?
Blogging brings in the traffic, and finding physical products that you can resell, or dropship, is pretty easy.
Simple Methods to Finding Products to Sell for Additional Income
The first method I suggest does require that you have a working knowledge of your marketplace. For example; when a product in my niche goes on sale for a ridiculously low price, I will buy a bunch. I then hold onto them until the sale is over and resell them later at a profit. This method helps my business in a couple of ways; First, I make a few extra dollars. Second (and most importantly), I get to find out first hand how well this particular product sells. If it’s a good seller then I look for other, related ways to profit. Either I bring in inventory or build a competing product, or maybe just spend some time researching for related opportunities.
Another way to stock your eStore and test for products that sell well, is to visit your neighbourhood retailer who carries the products you are interested in selling. Ask them “Do you want to sell more of those?” If they say yes then this will give you a supply of products to LIST on your site. ECommerce sites with an array of related inventory will rank higher in the SE’s. You do NOT need to buy any inventory in this instance. The retailer is maintaining the inventory for you.
Building an eCommerce Site
Setting up and eCommerce website is REALLY easy to do. PLUS it has the added bonus that you will then be able to take credit cards anywhere. If you decide to use Shopify you get a eCard reader to plug into your smartphone and can process a person’s credit cards anytime you have your phone with you.
There are other eCommerce platforms that are good but I am most familiar with Shopify. You can start for free too.
Why Blogging for a Business Website is Effective
The reason why blogging is so effective is because it is a content creator. The SE’s (Search Engines) LOVE content. They REALLY love new content. This is their bread and butter so if you are feeding their money machine with content, you will be rewarded with traffic.
When relying on organic traffic you want to be constantly creating new and unique content. NEW content is always good but make sure it it relevant too. Some people will tell you there are “tricks” to gaming the system for fast traffic. Yes, it is true you can trick the SE’s for traffic, but only for a brief period and eventually it will harm your site. Slow, honest, informative, helpful, and steady; wins this SEO race.
So get prolific and watch your site rise to the top. Here are some ideas on how to generate article topics to write about on your business blog.
