So you have heard it over and over again – “Google loves content! Content is King!” But what does it REALLY mean? The short version is this: You better be blogging, because your competitors are! But you don’t know the best practices for a blog? Lucky for you, I wrote this post!

Let’s start with the blog itself. Your best SEO benefit will come from having the blog as part of your website, and not a separate site connected to it. By having the blog on on your site, you will be adding unique and relevant content to the site, and Google will see this. The more frequently that content is added, the more Google will revisit your site and index that content. This is why you can post something on Craigslist or eBay, and then immediately do a Google search and actually find it already indexed. If your site is in WordPress, the blog can be very easily added.

The two main factors in writing an actual blog post are Content and Frequency. Your blog posts should primarily focus on the variety of products and/or services your business offers. These pages can be optimized for the particular topic, and will also show up in the SERP’s for you. Don’t be afraid, however, to write a post from time to time that simply shows your personal side, especially if you have a smaller business. Ever heard the expression, “People buy from people they like and trust”? Showing people your personal side from time to time, especially if it is humorous, will get your visitors to like you and trust you.

As far as frequency, it has been shown that the more you blog, the better, plain and simple. Hubspot.com data shows that businesses that blog every day are 80% more like to attract new customers online than businesses that don’t blog at all. If you only blog weekly, the daily bloggers have a 15% advantage over you. This infographic illustrates these numbers.