Do you really need something else to do for your business? We run our social media channels, we do the actual business work, and we do all the behind the scenes. Do we really need to add a blog to it all?

Yes. Yes you do.

I truly believe that adding a blog to your business, whether you’re a photographer or not, is one of the absolute best things you can do. If you do it well, it can add immense value to you and your customers, and it can bring more eyes on your business. If you don’t already see the true value in having a blog, here are my top six reasons that you need to have a blog for your business.

Brings Value to Your Clients

If you use your blog posts to educate your current or potential clients, they will have a greater understanding of what your business is about and how it can help them. We create our businesses to serve our clients, and the best way to do that is to educate them before they even ask the questions they have (or not realize they have). If you’d like to see examples of what I do for my clients, I have a whole blog category that covers tips from planning weddings to how to prepare for your session.

Not only will your clients thank you for helping them, but you will be seen as an expert in your niche. Potential clients will see these education posts and think, “Wow, they really know what they’re doing! Let’s hire them!” They’ll feel comfortable that they’re in the hands of an expert. The best part is that this can pertain to any business, not just photographers. You can teach people how to use your product or service, tips for planning or preparing, or inspiration. The possibilities are endless.

For 50+ blog post ideas for wedding photographers, check out this post!

Additionally, you can add value to their experience with you by highlighting them on your blog. I have couples that really look forward to their blog posts because they know I’m going to tell the story of their day in a beautiful way and they can share it with friends and family. It makes them feel special to be part of something bigger, and it’s an honor to highlight them.

If you struggle with writing about your clients, check out this post!

Draws People To Your Site With SEO

The dreaded topic, SEO, Search Engine Optimization. How do we get Google to send people to our site? How do we maximize our chances for people to click to our pages? A blog will do this for you.

If someone near me searches “how to have an unplugged ceremony,” they might see my blog post titled “Why (& How) You Should Have an Unplugged Ceremony.” If they see the article and gain value from it, they’re likely to look at what else I have. Maybe they see my tips for why I include a second shooter in my wedding packages or why I gift my clients an engagement session and they decide that they like me enough to book me. They never would have found me if I hadn’t written that first blog post, and they wouldn’t have stuck around on my website if I didn’t constantly lead to other blog posts that might give value to them.

If I have many blog posts that interest this person and they stay on my site for a while, Google sees this and thinks I have a valuable site, so they bump me up on the search results list so others can see that value too. It’s a cycle of giving value, keeping people on your site to give that value to, and Google liking it.

Get my free blog SEO checklist here to get your blog posts found on Google!

Helps You See What Your Audience Wants To See From You

If I see that a lot of people click on my blog post about how to find your photography style but only a few people click on how to build a photography portfolio, I get a better sense of what people like to see from me. This in turn can help me create more blog posts that align with well-performing topics, which will in turn bring more people to my site.

If people really like your inspiration posts of what you could do with your products, do a bunch of those! Go with what your audience wants. You can even directly ask them what they want to see from you, and when you post that topic they will go see it. This is when you add true value to your customers and audience and how you grow your business. A blog for your business helps push you forward in the direction your audience most needs from you.

A Blog Saves You Time

A single blog post can save you hours of work down the road!

Getting the same questions over and over again? Make a blog post answering it and next time send them the link.

If you find that your clients aren’t seeing the value in an engagement session with you, make a blog post about it without feeling the need to write it out in email responses every time.

Do you find yourself making customized outfit plans? Make a blog post with general tips and go from there.

There’s so many things you can do with blog posts that will help you later down the road, including the next point.

A Blog Builds Up Your Social Media Content Calendar

But isn’t a blog MORE work? MORE content? How could this help your social media?

Easy.

Say you blog about how to create the best wedding timeline. You can make a Facebook post that links directly to the blog. You can create a bunch of Pinterest graphics. Your Instagram captions and stories could be snippets of the blog post for the whole week. Use the work you’ve already put into the blog post to spread it out among all your social media and you won’t have to write anything new. How easy is that?

Not only will this actually take you less time in the long run, but it will add value to potential customers when they find you anywhere on social media. If you link back to that blog post using those social channels, they will find your site and stay there.

Check out this post all about how you can use your blog posts after you publish them.

A Blog Helps Build Up Your Email List

This is arguably one of the most important things a blog can do for you. You want to get the right people onto your email list so that you can serve them, communicate directly with them, and eventually sell to them. Building your email list is absolutely the best thing you can do for your business, and a blog can help with this.

Imagine at the end of each blog post, you have a free offer for your potential customer. They get a 10% discount or they get a free checklist or something else of value, and they give you their email so they can get it. Now you can directly give them value, point them to future blog posts, and sell to them.

Use your blog to get people on your email list!

I hope these reasons for having a blog have helped you realize how much a blog can do for you. Yes it may take more time in the beginning, but in the end it will always be worth it. If you’re still on the fence, feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to help you figure out a game plan. If you’re interested in this kind of education, I have a lot more in this blog category!

Check out the rest of my blogging tips and tricks here!

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