Are Blogs Dead?

It’s true: blog’s heyday is in the past.  This phenomenally popular mode of communication has peaked, and younger generations are gravitating towards “microblogging” or social media avenues, such as Facebook or Tumblr. Write more than 140 characters? Why bother? But the blog is not dead; the blog is alive and well. It all depends on who is using it. The blogosphere is particularly active and healthy for the B2B market.

Blogs are no longer really the platform for melodrama and emotional meltdowns; they’re not the online diaries that they once were, and this is good news for businesses. In other words, blogs have grown up. They now offer professionals a strong platform from which to reach into the business world and grab a hold.

Primary benefits include:

• Creating rich, keyword optimised content. Content is king; crown it with keywords, and you’re positioning yourself very well for search engines. But most importantly, you are providing relevant, interesting content for your visitors.
• Establishing expertise or authority in a given space. How to’s, tips, best of, top 10, and other formats are extremely popular, and they establish you as the go-to resource for people who need help or want to learn more.
• Building customer loyalty. Blogs tend to engender a sense of community; when customers feel as though businesses are listening, they are more likely to feel more loyal. This content puts a face to the name, so to speak, and humanises companies.
• A rich source of market research. You can see what content garners the most views and interaction; you can see what hits and what misses. And you can use this not only to create more targeted content, but to get insight into what your customers want and need from you.

Blogs are for grownups. Get one, use it, fill it with great content, and interact.