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Blogging has become an essential component of digital marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes, and it is an excellent way to increase brand visibility and establish thought leadership.
However, according the Benchmark Groups data, the average B2B business in the UK is only publishing three blog posts per month.
1. Frequency matters
One of the main reasons publishing only three blog posts per month might not be enough is that the frequency simply isn’t regular: that’s not even one per week. Blogging is a great way to keep your website fresh and up-to-date, and higher up the SERPs.
If you only publish three blog posts per month, that's only twelve new pieces of content per quarter. If posting is irregular, it can start to look like no-one is bothering to update your site, and subscribers can’t rely on your content arriving in their inbox with a consistent cadence.
In unpredictable times, businesses need to be doing all they can to rank highly on search engines and attract new customers to save energy chasing down leads and sales manually.
- Missed opportunities for engagement
Another reason why only publishing three blog posts or fewer per month is not enough is that it may lead to missed opportunities for engagement.
Blogging provides a platform for businesses to engage with their customers, share information, and build relationships. When you only publish three blog posts per month, you're limiting the opportunities for engagement with your audience.
With more blog posts, you have more opportunities to provide value to your readers, answer their questions, and get invaluable feedback.
- Inadequate coverage of topics
When you only publish three blog posts per month, you may not be covering enough topics. Blogging is an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in your industry and provide value to your readers. With only three posts per month, it's difficult to cover all the topics your audience may be interested in, and which will show you in the most positive light as thought leaders.
By increasing the frequency of your blog posts, you can cover more ground and demonstrate your knowledge on a wider range of topics, building trust with users.
- Low brand awareness
When you're only publishing three blog posts per month, you might not be doing enough to increase your brand awareness. Blogging is a way to extend your reach and increase your brand's visibility.
The more frequently you publish blog posts, the more opportunities you have to get your brand in front of potential customers. By increasing the frequency of your blog posts, you can increase your brand's exposure and establish yourself as a trusted authority in your industry.
Blog posts can be used in your social and email marketing campaigns as valuable collateral, so the investment goes beyond building your organic audience and can be hugely beneficial in nurturing existing leads.
- Missed opportunities for conversion
Finally, when you only publish three blog posts per month, you're missing out on opportunities for conversion. Blogging is an excellent way to attract potential customers to your website and provide them with valuable information.
By increasing the frequency of your blog posts, you can attract more potential customers to your website and provide them with more opportunities to convert, as HubSpot observes:
‘Like every blog post you write is another indexed page, each post is a new opportunity to generate new leads.
The way this works is straightforward: Just add a lead-generating call-to-action to every blog post.
Often, these calls-to-action lead to things like free e-books, whitepapers, fact sheets, webinars, trials, or basically, any content asset for which someone would be willing to exchange their information.’
With more blog posts, you have increased opportunities to provide valuable information that can help your readers make informed purchasing decisions.
So, what can businesses do to improve their blogging strategy? Here are some tips:
Tip 1: Set realistic goals
The first step is to set realistic goals for your blogging strategy. If you're currently only publishing three blog posts per month, aim to:
- Add one or two more to make it a weekly cadence
- Consider splitting long blog posts – such as those that are 1,200 words or over – into shorter 800-word posts so you’re still doing the same wordcount but making it go further.
By setting realistic goals, you can gradually increase the frequency of your blog posts without overwhelming your team.
Tip 2: Create an editorial calendar
Creating an editorial calendar can help you stay on track with your blogging strategy. It can help you:
- Plan out your blog posts in advance
- Assign tasks to team members (and showing a range of faces across your blog – proving you have multiple experts on hand)
- Ensure that you're covering a variety of topics.
An editorial calendar can also help you maintain consistency and avoid gaps in your publishing schedule.
Tip 3: Focus on quality
While increasing the frequency of your blog posts is important, quality should always come first. It's better to publish fewer high-quality blog posts than to publish more low-quality ones.
Make sure that each blog post:
- Provides value to your audience
- Is well-written, well-researched, and visually appealing.
Quality blog posts are more likely to be shared on social media and attract more readers, which can lead to more engagement and conversions.
In conclusion, publishing only three blog posts per month is not enough for most B2B businesses in the UK. Increasing the frequency of blog posts can help businesses:
- Attract more readers
- Increase engagement
- Establish thought leadership
- Drive conversions.
By setting realistic goals, creating an editorial calendar, and focusing on quality, businesses can improve their blogging strategy and reap the benefits of this powerful marketing tool in difficult times. Allow your business to focus on sales, safe in the knowledge that there’s plenty your content is doing for you in the background.