The word ‘blog’ is now part of our everyday vocabulary, but even if you know what one is you may not fully understand how having a blog on your website can benefit your business.

Here are the top 10 business benefits of blogging.

1. Search Engine Marketing
   Spidering search engines like Google love websites that are regularly updated with fresh, well written, keyword-rich content. People will be able to find your website more easily (because Google will list more pages), Google will re-index your site more frequently (meaning new pages you put online will appear in the search results more quickly) and it will also give your rankings a boost.
2. Direct Communications
   Over time will you will build up a readership of people who have subscribed to receive updates to your blog because they are interested in what you have to say. Every time you publish a new article it gets pushed out to all your readers giving you the ability to communicate directly with your target audience. For example we are primarily a web design company so we write about web design and everything relating to it.
3. Brand Building
   A blog is a great way to get your brand in front of thousands of people who otherwise would never know you existed.
4. Competitive Differentiation
   How will your potential customers know what makes you different from your competitors? You will tell them on your blog! Show them how you work, what sets you apart and how your solution to their challenges is unique.
5. Relational Marketing
   Successful selling is all about building relationships. By posting honest, transparent, heart-felt articles on your blog you will instill trust and respect in your potential customers. The best blogs are a 2-way communication where your readers can comment on your articles. This interaction gets them more involved and more engaged.
6. Social Media Marketing
   Community sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and social bookmarking sites like delicious, Stumbleupon and digg can produce astounding results. If you are lucky enough to have one of your blog articles go ‘viral’ on one of these sites you should brace yourself for a surge of new website visitors and possibly some high quality inbound links.
7. Media & Public Relations
   The chances are if you are running a blog but your competitors are not the media will contact you, not them.
8. Position Yourself as an Expert
   Are you an expert in your field? Well tell the world on your blog. If you really know what you are talking about people will pay attention and before you know it you will have a dedicated following of readers who hang on your every word! These people are also far more likely to buy from you.
9. Reputation Management
   Do you know what is being said about you online? Do you have a platform to counter any negative press your company is receiving? With a blog you do. It is one way you can help to manage your online reputation.
10. Low Cost
    Setting up a blog doesn’t cost very much and maintaining one costs practically nothing.

There are probably more benefits that I have missed off this list. Can you think of any? If so why not leave a comment?

Special thanks to The alpha Marketer and Luis Suarez who provided the inspiration for this article.