Do Blogs Help SEO?

Few companies today completely eschew having a blog on their website, though there are several of them that may not be using blogs to their fullest potential. But does blogging actually help with SEO? The clear answer is yes, it does.

Here are some of the reasons why blogging is useful in SEO:

• Blogging Regularly Keeps Your Site Current. Often, if we visit a site and find that it hasn’t been updated in quite some time, we tend to move on. A site that is not keeping up to date lacks authority as any information presented may no longer be accurate. It also gives the impression that the owner is not interested in maintaining it and may even leave visitors wondering if they have gone out of business. By blogging on a regular basis, you are keeping your site current, showing your audience that you are active and engaged in providing them quality, relevant information.

• Visitors Will Stay Longer. Google is always watching, looking for ways to improve the user experience. If a user searches for something, visits your site, and then almost immediately goes back to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), Google will know and may assume that your page isn’t as relevant as they thought. If someone is visiting your site because their search suggested your blog post, they are more likely to spend time reading than if they had come to a page with less text or information.

• Internal Links. SEO often concerns itself with links, and what easier way to get links than by creating your own internal links? Chances are, you can already find ways of linking internally, but by blogging, those opportunities will begin to grow as you find yourself able to link to related topics. As you do so, you can use your anchor text to inform Google about what the linked page is about, creating a stronger connection to your target keywords.

• You Can Target More Keywords. Blogging allows you to target more keywords, including ones that wouldn’t sound natural in your landing pages. You may already have a number of optimized landing pages, but blogging will allow you to continually add new search terms and long-tail keywords that are more targeted, easier to rank for, and which will draw in new users.

• Opportunities for Natural Link-Building. Maintaining a blog full of high-quality content gives you an opportunity to increase the authority of your site. Other bloggers might see your content and link to it, something unlikely to happen with your product or service pages. Statistically, companies who blog will receive 97% more links to their websites.

• Brand Mentions. This is an often-overlooked off-page SEO technique. Blogging can help you put your brand out in front of more viewers, which can, in turn, lead to social media engagement, as well as mentions of your brand in places that you cannot reach without blogging.

All of these can prove advantageous to your SEO. Being able to engage and interact with your audience will prove valuable to you. After all, connecting with them is the entire purpose behind enhancing your SEO.