More and more businesses are adding blogs to their websites, or starting brand new sites to complement their company website. Blogging is an excellent way to drive traffic to your website, giving you an easy, yet effective way to boost SEO, and get higher up the search engine results pages. It’s a free marketing tool, an easy way to bring more viewers in, but also a chance to share the kind of content that converts viewers to customers and sales. 

 

More than this though, a blog gives you a way to make personal, human connections with your customers, letting them in a little more, building relationships, and giving them an easy way to make comments and offer feedback. A blog can be a fantastic tool when it comes to growing a business. 

 

 

But, while many businesses are adding blogs, far fewer are making the most of them. A blog is only successful if you use it well. If you are worried that yours might be being neglected, and that it isn’t working for your business, here are some of the things that you should ask yourself.  

 

Do You Update Regularly?

 

For your blog to be successful, maintain good SEO, and climb up the SERPs, you need to update it regularly. A blog that hasn’t had a new post in years is a waste of storage space. It’s not boosting your SEO, it’s not driving traffic, and if anyone does click through to one of your posts, they won’t be impressed by outdated content and they’re unlikely to think highly of your business. 

 

As well as writing new posts, you should also be updating old content, to make sure the advice and information is still accurate, and the photos are still high-quality. 

 

Is it Secure?

 

One of the most important additions to any website, is also one of the most frequently neglected. Do you have website security? If you do, is it up to date and offering you all of the protection that you need? 

 

Do You Update Plugins?

 

Failing to update plugins is a big security risk. Plugins, like computer and app updates, are often updated to issue security patches, protecting us from new threats. Failing to update also means that your blog isn’t able to perform at its best, or possibly that some of its features are no longer working. 

 

With big updates, you may want to wait until any bugs have been ironed out, or update on a staging site first, to make sure there are no conflicts with other areas of your site.  

 

Are You Promoting Posts?

 

Blogging is about far more than writing posts and people reading them. SEO is great, but if you want your content to be read, you should also be promoting on social media, and sharing with any relevant sites and forums.

 

Do You Share Relevant Content?

 

Is your blog relevant? Are you sharing informative and entertaining content? Do your blog posts add value to your business? Do you use them to offer extra information? Ask yourself if reading your blog posts would help your customers at all. If not, consider changing your posts.