3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Have a Blog
I’m a huge advocate for blogs. Huge. I can’t say enough good things about them.
I’m also realistic. I don’t believe anyone should partake in anything – whether it’s a blog, social media, etc. – unless it’s going to be worthwhile in the long run. Because, let’s face it…time is money.
So, while 90% of businesses out there would benefit from a blog, there are three major circumstances when having a blog is just a waste of time.
1. If you aren’t going to post regularly
By naming something a “blog”, you are insinuating that updates to it will be relatively frequent. Posts don’t need to be published once a day, or even once a week. Ideally, however, there should be a minimum of at least one post a month. If that is too much of a time commitment for you, then simply name that section of your website something else, like “News” or “Articles”.
To take it a step further, think of “blogs” you’ve been on where the last post was from 6 months ago, or worse – over a year ago! Perhaps it’s just me, but I start to lose a little faith in that company. The takeaway: don’t be the site with the abandoned blog!
2. If each post isn’t its own page
I’ve seen a lot of blogs that are a one-page stream of consciousness. In other words, each post appears one right after the other, with no way to view just a single post. This is bad for two reasons.
You’re totally losing out on the SEO benefit of having a blog. When each post has its own page, think of all the opportunity you have for optimizing each page for specific terms in your posts. The more blogposts you create over time, the more opportunity you’re creating to capture potential customers.
You’re not helping your readers. Let’s say by some miracle my Google search lands me on your blog page. More than likely, the post I’m trying to find is going to be hidden amongst all of your other posts. Do you think I’m going to spend the time to find that post if I’m the average searcher? Probably not…I’ve already left your site for one where I can easily find the answer I’m looking for.
Ensure that each of your posts are able to be viewed as individual pages.
3. If you are just going to be salesy
Blogs, by their very nature, are meant to be resourceful. Sure, you can throw a “look how awesome we are” post in every once in a while. But the real goal? Share the information your audience needs in order to eventually convert them to customers.
The reality is…if potential customers aren’t getting the information from you, they’ll find it elsewhere. So…be the go-to source in your industry. That way, when potential customers need your product or service, they’ll come to you first.