Should my website have a blog?
I'm not sure it makes sense for me to add a blog to my website. I'm an accountant and I wonder how many people are really looking to read accounting resources. However, I am looking for ways to give myself more credibility in my field. Is adding a blog the right approach?
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Mar 22, 2016
Hi Deborah, if you are capable of writing on a *continual basis*, as in, several times per week - by all means, a blog is never a bad idea.
While it's true that many might not read accounting resources, you might discover a niche that does. For instance, many small business owners are confused about accounting/filing/claiming practices for LLCs, so, that might be a good niche to get into.
However, if this is unreasonable or adds too much labor to your life, there's nothing wrong with writing and offering a few downloadable whitepapers. They're basically free pieces of content for potential customers to download and print, and should be branded to your business. It helps give your business credibility, while adding some valuable content to your site.
Nov 19, 2015
Yes, you should include blog on your website. Blog is great way to benefit your business. Most business websites have a number of pages and the content on those pages rarely changes, which means there is very little new information for the search engines to find. Creating fresh, relevant content for your website on a monthly basis is the most effective way to drive traffic and building stronger relationship with your customers.
Apart from this, there are many benefits of adding blog on your website:
1. Improve Search Engine Visibility
2. Control Over Online Reputation
3. Boost Credibility
Nov 12, 2015
Yes yes yes. A blog establishes you as a 'thought leader' and a true expert. It helps to deepen connections and enhance others perceptions of your value. I absolutely love blogging - if you need help with blog writing don't hesitate to touch base!
Nov 12, 2015
I believe that you should be blogging. People are always looking for explanations of tax laws and trends. Your field needs more information to be published. By posting a blog that provides information on your changing industry you become more of an expert. There are tons of topics for you. Rate online accounting software, what are new changes, where are the best and worst states to do business tax wise? A blog also increases your SEO. As you can create articles heavy in search terms that your web site may be lacking. It makes your site more dynamic and helps with return visitors. It also provides the search bots with new and relevant content to explore on your site thus giving a much broader keyword base to index. By blogging even once a week you are adding 52 new pages and key search terms to your web site. I would be glad to discuss this further.
Wally Barr
Nov 12, 2015
A blog would be better in my opinion, I have found that the Google will give a good blog more traffic than a website ( Blogs are more user friendly.
Nov 11, 2015
Technically when ask should there be any blogs the answer should be yes. Now it's not rear to see any popular site without 140 long characters written blogs and content attach to it. This depends on the individual needs.
Nov 11, 2015
Yes - having a blog provides fresh content to your website regularly. This is helpful for SEO purposes. You can provide a lot of great starter information to people while improving your visibility online.
Nov 11, 2015
If you have a blog, then you should link it to your website. Why not?
It doesn't have to be a list of accounting resources. Anyway, the fact that people don't want to read accounting resources means that a competent distillation of stuff the y don't want to read into something they might want to scan would be a big hit.
If it's just an exposing link, it won't count as an update activity on your website (for Google scoring purposes), but so what? The point is to drive traffic to the website, and you're much more likely to get fans of the blog than of your homepage.
Nov 6, 2015
Treat a blog as you would an invitation to speak to a group at a conference or workshop. Do you have good information and advice to offer? Do you have the time to research and write often? If so, a blog may be a great way to expose possible clients to your expertise. If you don't feel comfortable writing the blog yourself, you can hire a ghost writer to help you write your posts. The key is to have good content at regular intervals.
Nov 6, 2015
Having a blog means you are also setting up the rules for many things: the way on what topics you would be talking about, style uses, specific clients you are targeting, success stories of clients you worked with, promotions for future months, and even events in where you would be in and would be giving a 30-60 mins free consultation in groups. Just simple things like that. Don't worry about filling out blog posts people won't read and may find boring at some repetitive point. Just use it with the idea to let people know exactly what you are looking to get, what you are giving to them next month, where and how.
Success,
Sol.
Nov 5, 2015
Hi Deborah, I presume you're asking with a view to improving your business development & sales functions? That being the case, having a blog - where posts are added to your website and then syndicated over to your Twitter & LinkedIn accounts etc - are one of the best, easiest and cost-effective ways of building credibility with potential clients and helping them to go with you on the journey from looking for answers to selecting you and your business as the solution. Even when you get recommendations from existing customers, your blog/news roll will help to affirm what others are saying about you.
Also, writing blog posts about whatever you believe is important or breaking or current in your business is a really good way to improve your website's listings on the search engines. Essentially if you're writing about stuff that contains the words & phrases that people are searching for answers about, it's more likely that they'll find your website - and you! - as the potential answer to their problem.
Like all good 'relationship'-focused marketing, it takes time, but it's worth it...
Good luck!
Nov 5, 2015
Deborah,
I have worked with clients of all sizes and industries in regards to their overall online presence and marketing. There are several things that every great website has and a blog is definitely one of them.
Keep in mind that a blog's main purpose is to give a business a voice to to engage with it's target audience. In addition a blog can be posted to many different sites and help to create a higher number of quality back links that can in return help to boost your rankings. Another added benefit of having a blog is that it can help to establish your business as an industry authority, build brand awareness and loyalty.
In short, a blog should definitely be an essential piece of your overall online marketing plan and if utilized to it's full potential it can serve your business in many different ways.
If you would like to learn more about how to incorporate a blog into you your businesses marketing plan connect with me on LinkedIn and we can set up a free phone consultation.
Nov 4, 2015
May I first say thank you for reaching out and asking this question! Many people are intimidated by internet marketing , but never try and understand or get help with it; for that, I applaud you.
Blogging is an extremely valuable way to increase your credibility in addition to increasing the search engine value of your website (thus, increasing visitor count, page views, etc.)
It is important that you truly do your research and think with a consumer-behavior mentality when you start writing or your blogs will fall short. A lot of businesses get so fixated on the sale or the "bottom of the funnel" because that is what they think is important. While getting new clients IS very important, fixating on that part of the sales funnel when blogging, is a mistake.
Tax Accountant Example:
I am a new homeowner in the Boxford, MA area. I just bought a home and got married in the same year. I know my tax situation is now completely different than it was last year and I think I need to hire a professional, but I am not sure. Like everyone else in America, I turn to Google to look for information (Information Gathering Stage of Sales Funnel)
After my research, I conclude that I, in fact, DO need to hire a tax professional, so I search "Boxford, MA CPA" or "Accountant in Boxford, MA." (Sales Decision Stage of Sales Funnel)
To me, the ultimate goal of blogging is to catch consumers at the Information Gathering Stage of the Sales Cycle where there are less competitors vying for attention.
Then, with a well written blog article that answers their original query, a professional looking website & clear calls to action on the blog page (free consultation, click here) you can actually nurture a prospect from the Information Gathering State to the Sales Decision Stage without ever leaving your website.
The beauty of this? You are catching them early, as you nurture them through the stages, they are on YOUR website without the white noise of other competitors beating you up.
Frequently Asked Questions are the BEST source of content for this and you can usually get 5-10 blog posts about these easily.
I hope this helps more than it confuses you! If you have any questions please follow up with a PM!
Good Luck Out There!
Nov 4, 2015
Absolutely! Tax tips! I worked for a CPA & the most searched for phrase was "minimizing tax liability". I'm working with another accountant now. This is the time, too. There are many small business owners who don't understand the importance of keeping track of their finances. I know the importance, I just hate to do it. Creative people usually don't. :-). It starts by defining your target market. I've got a free workbook on my site. AZSocialMediaWiz . com
Giselle
Nov 4, 2015
Hi Deborah, I was an accountant and now promoting my catering business and marketing specialist I can say you are in a great position to differentiate yourself from all the other accountants, by blogging about your industry and/or your unique offer.
Accountants are slow to capitalise on this, if you start, momentum will be in your favour an eventually Google will appreciate it and raise your 'trust factor'. Just do it.
Nov 4, 2015
No your site does not need a blog. What does your site look like? I do not see a link on your profile.
Blogging is also a fresh alternative to emails.
You can add all sorts of interactive or multimedia content to a blog to enhance your message. Using RSS feeds your content and message can quickly spread across the internet. If you already have a big email list, you may choose to post your newsletters on your blog, and simply mail a link to the post to your list.
There’s just so much more you can do with a blog than with standard email. The comments feature on blogs, for example, make it easy for your readers to leave feedback. This way you can determine what news and information your readers enjoy, and you can also get some valuable feedback.
Resource Link: http://scafidi.com/members
Nov 4, 2015
Short answer: It's a must.
Long answer: Every business owner has accounting needs, questions, challenges. Focus away from what you need from it and focus on what others need. Best way to start is the turn your posts into Q&As meaning every post attempts to answer a question that is frequent or things you repetitively do. Imagine how some have FAQs on a website....turn those into conversations where you can share your advice, tools etc...
Give away information, share your insight, changes in laws, tips on quickbooks and share downloadable forms and other useful tools.
Also attach an email signup to your blog so you can build your mailing list.
Nov 4, 2015
The real question isn't mechanical, it is emotional. Adding a blog to a website is incredibly easy to add mechanically. But it comes down to your passion. If there is something you are passionate about, could talk about all the time, you want to help your audience grow in their knowledge on certain topics, and you expect nothing in return, then you should add a blog.
Notice i didn't say anything about increasing sales, or traffic or all the other benefits you will get along the way. Those will happen. But not if you write for those reasons. If you blog for the right reasons, then you will be a blogger. Knowing that over 65% of the blogs fail in the first 6 months should give you enough rationale to decide if this is for you or not. It isn't for sales...it is for passion...sales happen.
Nov 4, 2015
Adding a blog can be a great idea. But only if you plan on posting it regularly.
As for content, don't limit yourself to just accounting topics. You are in the finance industry. Not just accounting. If you can provide relevant information for the financial industry as a whole, your readers will thank you for it.
Identify who your audience is and provide them with content that they will find useful, even if it doesn't speak directly about accounting. Your readers want to find information on all aspects of financing and they will thank you for providing it. This will only help to increase your credibility and brand recognition as well.
Basically, if you plan on posting often and giving truly useful information, a blog is a wonderful idea for your site.
Nov 4, 2015
Definitely. Accounting users have questions all the time, and self-serve content is now the number 1 resource that people turn to for answers. If you've got great answers, you will get found and start to build your credibility.
I think this is spot on Russell. The blog is a great way to gain an audience that follows your site closely and becomes your best PR team.