I've been left a little astounded this morning, not from a new time on my early morning 5k, but from the number of websites that I have seen that do not have a dedicated news/blog section on their website.

Writing news articles and/or blogs is one of the easiest ways to start gaining traffic and traction to your website.

Here at Boost Digital Media we regularly write blog posts and news updates on both our industry, problems we have resolved, marketing advice and a whole load more.

So if you're unsure why you need a blog, or this doesn't apply to me, or I just don't have the time, you really do need to read on.

What is a blog?

Back in the day blogs were seen as a personal diary, an almost journal of peoples lives, and to a degree that is still what a lot of them have remained. as.

However, as businesses you must generate a lot media worthy articles? Whether it be the hiring of that perfect employee, completing that really difficult job, completing a charity walk or something as simple as holding a cake sale outside your offices.

So a blog, essentially is where you can post anything relating to the company, staff, culture and so on. There are a lot of blogging ideas for you available online, so take a look.

Why Blog?

Blogging might sound like one of those tasks that is a complete waste of time, but I can assure you it isn't.

When you write a blog post, you're writing fresh content, that content gets crawled by search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and so on, and it then gets listed accordingly, meaning it will have some bearing on your overall rank.

It tells people, potential customers more about who you are and what you do, a blog can be used to showcase your culture, the staff party, choose your images wisely, and so on.

More importantly see your blog, and in fact your website, as your own plot of land and you're building a beautiful new castle - don't you want other people to see what you've built?

Delivers value, a blog is an exceptional tool for delivering value, giving away some free advice, knowledge, industry experience and perhaps solutions to problems. I'm not saying give away your trade secrets, I'm saying deliver some value to your potential customers online.

Blogging - its free

Despite the initial outlay of time, and perhaps a small amount of research into what you're going to write about blogging is free.

You can get started today, there really is no excuse as to why this isn't being done more regularly in your business. Whether you're the CEO or Marketing Director, blogging should be up there and part of your internet marketing strategy.

All you have to do is wire a spot of time into the working week to get those articles written up, published and shared

Blogs don't mean sales

No, you're spot on, they don't.

But what they do mean is benefits to your website, with freshly written content and some beautiful optimised imagery your article stands a strong chance of ranking for that keyword.

Hang on a minute here comes, an influencer within your industry that has just seen your article and shared it to his 1.1 million followers.

Oh look, here is a news website, they love how you've written your content and want you to contribute towards their website, are you free?

And look, here comes a customer who saw the influencers post, read your articles and has just visited your website and has placed a £2,000 order.

Do you get the point? No blogs don't mean sales, at least not straight away, and I'm certainly not saying spend the next 6 months writing blog posts.

What I am saying is, start writing blog posts at least once or twice a week for the next quarter and see what happens you may be surprised.

Blogs are so 90s

If you've been advised by an agency that blogging or writing articles on your website is so last year, then its time to ditch them and move on.

That might sound a little harsh, but let me explain why, blogs are not so last year, they are one of the major tools you can use to drive traffic, build authority and increase your Google rank.

Combine that with the power of Social media and hey presto, you've got even more traffic and more opportunities to sell your product/service.

Blogging isn't just for the 90s, its for the here and now.

I don't have a blog on my website

I was astounded when I saw the number of websites in Torbay without a blog or news section on their website.

Adding either a blog or news section to your website is really easy to do, especially if you're using WordPress, if you're not then its time to ask your website agency to add a blog to your website.