As an SEO marketing firm, we’ve been extolling the virtues of having an active blog since our incorporation, and we’ve helped many companies not only establish a blog presence, but keep a steady flow of fresh, nicely optimized posts. We’ve worked with our clients to share and promote these posts through social media networks, opening their thought-leadership and insights to prospects, customers, and partners. But all too often, blogs reside over there… in the ‘blog’ section of the site; while product and solution pages reside over here… in the ‘corporate’ section of the site.
In fact, we could add that the ‘social media’ section of typical site also has its own section, separate from the ‘corporate’ section and often times separate – although usually more integrated – from the ‘blog’ section. Why is this? Given the established fact that blogs and social media networks play a strong role in the sales cycle – be it exploring, comparing, or gathering opinion – why then aren’t blogs and social content more visible throughout websites?
Some are of course, but more often than not a huge opportunity is being neglected. It would stand to reason that if ABC Company that sells various pens and writing utensils has A) a blog, B) a social media presence with a YouTube Channel and maybe a Twitter account, and C) a corporate site, then mingling content would help their cause.
Imagine… your on their site examining the latest mechanical pencil, when down the right sidebar there’s the last two blog posts that discuss the value of mechanical pencils, a video featuring the latest breakthrough in mechanical pencil design, and the last several tweets that they sent around the same pencil. You could easily explore content that is often less salesy and more informational by nature, gather public opinion via comments and retweets, and make an informed buying decision.
Okay… there would be the potential for opening up possible negative blog comments and other public opinion, but I’d argue that’s okay! In fact, I’d argue that these negative comments could also help push your products and solutions into favorable light (a blog for another time perhaps).
Put that social media and blog content to work for you! It’ll not only make your SEO marketing firm happy, but it’s your best ally when it comes to sales cycle closure.