​Blogging has many benefits when added to a business. It allows you to build trust with your buyers by sharing your knowledge regarding your business. It also shows people that there is an actual person behind the scenes and allows them to connect and build a relationship with you. Another reason blogging is important is because it helps to boost your SEO results. SEO, you say? Let me explain. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and allows you to improve the free traffic that is pushed toward your site. The more you include SEO-focused content, the higher you go on the search engine results page. 

This allows your business to gain more views and will enable it to flourish. When you add a blog to your business, the chances of this happening double. So, let's dive deeper into how a blog is an excellent way to boost your SEO optimization.

Search Engines Love Fresh Content
Updating your website frequently shows search engines that your website stays relevant and fresh. The primary goal of a search engine is to give up-to-date results on what is currently the best option when someone searches for something specific. As you know, the other parts of your website remain pretty stagnant and don't need many changes once set up. This is where blogging comes in. You want the number one spot when someone searches for a product your business carries? Start blogging at least once a week. This will keep you seen as relevant and move you quickly up the search results page, and eventually, there you will be, number one!

Good Keyword Usage
Every time you write a blog post, you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to catch the search engine's attention. This is where keywords come in handy. Before you start your blog post, go to any keyword finder online and enter your topic. You will quickly find a list of what keywords are popularly associated with it. Take the top three or four and include them in your title and throughout your post. You want to make sure you do this strategically as some become guilty of keyword stuffing, which is the overuse of keywords and negates the purpose of using them altogether.

Backlinks
The wonderful thing about blogging is how it connects you to your buyers and people in the community you work in, and even other businesses. This is a wonderful opportunity to share a link to your blog with others, and you can do the same for them. When they post in their blog or on their social media the link to your site, this brings you more opportunities and also shows the search engine that your site is actively being visited by people. Just make sure that whenever you provide a link back to your site, that the person or business you are giving it to is reputable, as this could backfire and, in return, have the opposite effect that you were hoping for.

Popularity Ranking
When you consider SEO, it really is a popularity contest. They view you as popular if your site is frequently updated, people are constantly visiting it, and clicking on it often. This is why it is essential to provide your readers with high-quality and thought-engaging content. An excellent way to do this is to encourage interaction. Ask for opinions, and when someone comments or compliments you, respond in a timely manner. You can even encourage people to share your site by holding a contest for the most shares. It is a fantastic way to drive traffic.

Social Media
Something that search engines have recently started doing is adding in whether or not you have social media linked to your site. If you think about it, this is genius because it is another way for you to interact with customers as well as other business owners. You can share product reviews, business success stories and share a link to a blog post. All of this shows that you are up to date and have your finger on the pulse of what is working in today's society.

High-quality Imagery
When you make your blog post, you want to capture the customers' interest in a number of ways. Remember, some people are visual. This is where high-quality imagery comes in handy. If you provide visual content along with good writing, people will not only stop and read what you have to say, but they will keep coming back for more. Not only that, but when you share the post on social media, the image that is attached to your post is going to be the first thing they see that catches their attention. This will go a long way in getting people to your site and raising your SEO optimization.

Stay a Little While
Lastly, what a search engine will look for is how long your customers stay on your site. Sure, they might click on the link, but are they looking around at your products, and are they staying on pages long enough to read the content. This is important, and when you are evaluating your business, you will want to have a tool in place that will give you these statistics. This will show you areas where your business might need to improve. Search engines look at it the same way. If people are actively engaging, and staying on your site, and buying products, this shows them that you are the real deal.

Now that we have gone over why blogs are so important when it comes to SEO, we hope you are able to test things out with your own business. Start small, make sure you have your blog and business linked to your social media, and once you have created your first post and start getting engagement, check the search engine and see where you stand. Keep it up, and over time you will begin to see yourself moving up in the ranks. We wish you all the best!