Welcome Back! This is a DoFollow blog using using both KeyWordLuv and CommentLuv, so please leave a comment and get a link-back to your blog. Ana
When I am asked a question “How do I generate more leads for my business?”, my answer is always the same.
Start with social media networks and a blog – these are the best ways to start generating quick traffic and cash.
I am not saying that a blog will make you rich.
However, it CAN and WILL play a huge role in promoting you and your business and generating traffic and leads for your primary business.
Here are some of the questions and concerns I get in response:
- People wonder if all this effort I tell them to put into blogging will pay off.
- They wonder what their return on investment (ROI) really is.
- They want to know whether all this new content I tell them to post will really make a difference in the search engine ranking and blog traffic.
- Will all this posting really generate leads for their business?
- Will it REALLY ultimately translate into a bigger downline and money in their pocket?
All valid questions.
To answer them, I will need some help from The State of Inbound Lead Generation study by HubSpot.
How Do You Achieve Double Digit Lead Growth?
This study analyzes 1,400 companies – quite a significant research pool, I would say – and shows a direct correlation between how many blog pages are indexed by Google and the amount of blog traffic the site gets.
As a matter of fact, increasing your pages by 50-100 can bring as high as DOUBLE DIGIT blog traffic GROWTH!
The graph below shows that traffic generation jumps significantly once a site achieves 300+ indexed pages.
It’s quite evident that the more blog posts, which make up “pages” in your blog, you create and get indexed, the more blog traffic you’ll get, and the more business leads and money you will ultimately generate. As simple as that.
How do you generate a large number of indexed pages?
- Start a blog and build page volume by posting regularly – every day or at least 3-4 times a week.
- Work on your page optimization to maximize chances of having more of your pages including in Google’s index.
–On-Page Optimization: do your keyword research before you write a post; make sure you use proper title and description tags with your keywords included for each page. Use Scribe SEO to help you.
–Off-Page Optimization: one way link building is the key – this demonstrates your popularity to search engines. Use SEO SpyGlass to find the best links.
–Download my free 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination workbook:
66% of the companies that HubSpot included in their research have a blog and they generated on average 67% more leads than companies without one.
67% more leads!
Blog Traffic Generation Increases Once Blog Reaches 20+ Posts
The graph below shows that once you write 24-51 posts, your blog traffic generation starts to grow. That’s probably how long it takes to build a blog with enough pages to get indexed by Google and attract links from other sites as well as visitors.
So, blogs can help marketers attract traffic and leads quickly, and marketers who are choosing not to start blogs are simply leaving the traffic for their competition.
Also, the higher post count showed 77% higher lead generation than the lower count.
There are 2 obvious conclusions here:
1. Blogging works to generate traffic and leads.
2. The more you blog, the more blog traffic you will generate.
So, Why Do You Need to Start a Blog?
- It’s much easier to grow a number of Google indexed pages through a blog vs a static website – a very important factor in how much traffic you will eventually generate.
- Blogs have a tremendous capacity to increase the number of keywords you have high search engine ranking for. The more keywords you rank for, the more traffic you get.
- Link building opportunity: other sites are much more likely to link to you if you provide interesting and fresh content on a regular basis.
- Recycle traffic: blogs give visitors a reason to come back again and again – it’s much less expensive to keep an existing customer than generate a new one!
- Blogging is the best platform for you to generate traffic, then leads and build trust with them and later grow your business.
How Did This Blog Kick-Start My Business Success?
“It all sounds nice and good in theory, but did starting this blog changed YOUR business, Ana?”
Glad you asked!
I started this blog in September of 2009 and my original theme was Attraction Marketing.
This was my first ever attempt to write a blog, so needless to say, I know how scary it is to start one without having a slightest idea as to HOW to do anything.
My initial failures:
- I had no clue what to write about or how to write.
- I had no direction for my blog.
- I had nothing to offer to my readers.
- I had not clue what SEO was.
- As I started learning more and more about blogging and generating blog traffic, I had to redo many things on my blog, which took a lot of time.
My initial successes:
- I started this blog on the right platform – self-hosted WordPress.
- I had enough sense to outsource some post writing until I figured out how to do it myself.
- I used outsourcing resources like ODesk.com, GetAFreelancer.com to inexpensively do some tweaking with the plugins, themes, and such until I learned how to do it myself.
- I read other blogs DAILY to see what they were doing, what ideas I could adapt on my blog, and what to avoid. Got some great inspiration this way!
- I found the tools to help me make my blog better. The most important ones were Thesis theme and SEO Scribe plugin, which greatly increased my chances with high search engine ranking.
Here Is Where I Am Now:
- About a month ago I made my blog much more topical: narrowed down my focus to Traffic Generation, as opposed to a little bit of everything.
- I changed the look of my blog (added a new heading and an optin box – thanks to Richard Bravo); got a new domain name – once again, much more targeted one.
- I wrote an ebook to offer to my readers (you are more than welcome to get your own copy by filling out my optin form). ***Side note: don’t be scared thinking that you need to write a book for your new blog. You don’t. As a matter of fact, just borrow mine – it comes with free giveaway rights, providing that you don’t change it in any way:).
- I branded my new Twitter account and Facebook Fan Page to match my new blog look – all three are a continuation of each other. Go ahead, check them out!
- Blog traffic? Since in the eyes of Google I started my blog twice (the second time was when I changed my domain name a month ago – actually even less than that), my Alexa traffic ranking (not that I pay too much attention to it) went from some 8 million to low 300,000 as of the writing of this post. In a matter of 3 weeks.
- My lead generation? Started with a lead every other day or three days to dozens on a daily basis. Plus my lead generation on my primary business website went up!
Marketing Takeaways:
START A BLOG TODAY!
Want to Get a Second Opinion?
I think it’s a great idea.
I am about to start a blog meme (What is a blog meme?) and tag the following bloggers, whose blogs you might not be reading but should, with the same question I just answered:
“How Did Your Blog Kick-Start Your Business Success?“
Jason Better, Chris Owen, Ty Tribble, Todd Falcone, Katie Freiling, Charles Heflin, Karen Newman, Peter Fuller.
If you are a blogger and would like to take part in this meme, feel free to answer the question in a post on your blog, link it back to this post, and tag more bloggers to do the same.
I look forward to compiling a post with the best answers to help people who are still struggling with whether their business needs a blog.
***We need more people to learn about this post; so PLEASE retweet, share, and digg!***
Related posts:
- How To Give Your Business Success A Kick In The… A few weeks back I wrote a post that got a great response from the blogging community. Here’s the link...
- 7 Ways To Index Your Blog By Search Engines Within 24 Hours I recently wrote a post on how to get your brand new blog easily indexed by search engines. Since the...
- Top 7 SEO Mistakes That Will Kill Your Blog Here’s my previous post for Blog Traffic: 7 ways to Get Blog Indexed By Search Engines Blog is your “window...
- 60+ Tips On How To Get More Blog Traffic The all-elusive blog traffic – how do you get more of it? Here’s a little help, some from Seth Godin,...
- Best of The Web: 30 Ultimate Tips To Dramatically Reduce Blog Bounce Rate ***Don’t forget to check out my new ultimately humongous list of blog traffic tips: 202 Bite-Sized Tips To Insanely Increase...
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ana,
thank you for this wealth of information and sharing your failures and successes freely. I find it extremely important to write about the reasons why people should blog – it clarifies that blogging isn’t a way to GRQ (Get Rich Quick), but that a lot of work is involved with blogging which can be very rewarding in the long run if properly done. Your experiences sound all too familiar to me – yet I started with a wordpress.com blog. We all know the downside of wordpresss.com blogs, but in order to get started quickly without much hassle, it’s a good avenue to use. At least, I don’t regret it. I downloaded your ebook and look forward to reading it. Have a blessed week and take care
Oliver
You said it well, Oliver: blogging is a lot of work, however it’s very rewarding and beneficial as a long-term strategy.
I am glad you got hold of my ebook; I look forward to hearing what you think about it.
Ana
Hey Ana,
I totally agree with you on the blogging topic, I also had some hiccups when I first started out. When I first started blogging, I used Website Tonight as my learning platform, which was the recommendation of a rep at my hosting site. I learned it and learned that it was very rigid and not many bells and whistles, I then switched over to Wordpress and it is so much better. I feel that we should all learn the hiccups along the way and really build a great online presence, thank you for the great post.
Thanks, Robert – I know you have a great blog and glad to see you giving thumbs up to blogging!
I agree – self-hosted WordPress is the best platform to start with. Transferring a blog to a new platform is a drag:).
Ana, first, I really enjoy reading your blog posts, always informative with some interesting pictures. I have learned quit a bit reading your blog.
All I can think of right now is “You have come a long way baby”
Peter Fuller MBA´s last blog ..Brand yourself online with your own “Nerve” Center
From you, Peter, I take it as a huge compliment:).
Always pleasure to have you here!
Me again
(sorry)… I have to agree that blogging has to be where it’s at. I have been in this industry for just over 2 years but dug in my heels on building a blog! ((Nuts) Though I built two websites… and although they’ve served me well and I learned a lot from doing so… I truly wish I had started blogging earlier. There is a learning curve, particularly if you’re a bit of a technophobe like me… however it starts to come together. The beauty of blogging vs. websites.. is with a website, you are soon ‘done’… with regards to adding content. (my opinion). Blogging allows you to take daily knowledge and experiences and continue to add to it, as well as allow interaction. I like it… even though I have a lot of wrinkles to iron out. You Ana have been wonderful, along with Melanie Milletics and Ty Tribble. I will write a post soon and link back. Jayne (your new BFF!)
Jayne Kopp´s last blog ..Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
There is no such thing as commenting “too much”, Jayne – I appreciate every time you stop by my blog!
You are so right: blogging is a much more fluid form of communication than a static website, no wonder search engines love blogs.
I am very honored to have provided you with value, Jayne; please come back any time!
Thank you Ana!
You are sharing a wealth of information! I appreciate all that you have given us! It will be fun to follow along and we can share in success!
Linda G. Cox´s last blog ..Become a Copywriting King with Copybloggercom
I am so glad you found my information valuable, Linda.
Let me know what you think about my SEO report!
~Ana
Ana, great stats on companies that blog vs those that don’t. Now I can take this to people in my workplace and get them to start blogging for the sake of the business
Aaron´s last blog ..Free Blogs
Can’t argue with statistics!
I appreciate the comment, Aaron.
Ana I’m pretty new to reading your post but man you always deliver the goods. This is probably one of the best cases I have read for creating and maintaining a blog. If I didn’t have one before I read this I bet you I would’ve had one up and going in the near future.What I like most about your post is the same compliment I gave Oliver Tausend your one of the few bloggers who has really found their niche and I love to visit. Oh by the way congrats to Peter Fuller for getting the great mention for blogs to follow I agree 100%. Thanks to you for the SEO e-book going to be a great read I’m sure.
Steve Shoemaker
steve shoemaker´s last blog ..Socially Optimize Your Internet MLM Business
Thank you, Steve – I am glad I proved my point:).
Niche marketing is very important; it took me a while to find my niche, but I am very happy with it.
Let me know what you think about my SEO workbook!
I have started blogging on m,y site for over 2 eyars and with over 200 pages I still only have a PR3 can anyone please explain to me?
chi3nming´s last blog ..Congratulations To Spain As 2010 Fifa World Cup Champion
Good question.
First of all, don’t focus too much on the PR. Check out this post I wrote: Link Building Mistakes.
Also, your PR mostly depends on how many and what quality links you have and really has nothing to do with how many posts you have.
Thanks for stopping by!
Ana I love everything about your blog!
I think it is a great idea to narrow one’s focus as you have done. In fact I just wrote a post about this very topic. You are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to SEO and I always learn a heap from you so thank you!
Frankly I think having a blog is totally essential as it is what so easily and inexpensively can define one’s business . Mine is due for a little overhaul soon.
~Marcus
Marcus Baker´s last blog ..See How Easily You Can Target Your Network Marketing Internet Business
Thank you, Marcus.
Narrowing down your blog topic helps you stand out – it’s as simple as that. This gives your audience the reason to keep coming back, since you are the only one providing the info.
Richard Bravo helped me with my blog overhaul
.
Hi Ana,
Another way blogging helps with lead generation is it shows that you are a real person, with real quirks and attitudes.
Like you shared with your beginning challenges, I don’t call them failures because you’re still here, and the better for them, you show that you’re real.
Mike
ps, I don’t think your affiliate disclaimer has the right beat for a rap song.
Michael Cole´s last blog ..So You Generated Some Free Leads- What Now
Very good point, Michael. I really don’t like it when I meet “inaccessible” people online – no contact info, no pic, no personality. Blogs really do help with that greatly.
Yes, failures are just stepping stones for success; if you choose to learn from them, of course.
~Ana
PS How about a country song?
No, most country songs are sad, maybe Pop? Or something else upbeat?
Mike
Michael Cole´s last blog ..Do You Want Fries With That
This might not make any sense, but “Wedding Singer” is one of my favorite movies and there is a scene where some old guy says “sounds like a country song” – meaning that you can made anything into a country song.
That’s why I don’t listen to country music:).
Wow, Ana! You don’t cease to amaze me with your excellent and very informative posts!!
You’re right, many people need to read this post if they are serious about increasing their lead generation through blogging!
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information.
You ROCK!!!!!
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong´s last blog ..WordPress Blog Optimisation – Link Building Exposed-
Glad you stopped by, Mavis – you are very welcome.
Your blog is nothing to sneeze at either!
~Ana
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, I bookmarked it.
You have the data -again- to back up what you say, and it’s powerful advice. But what about the bit about changing your domain name and grabbing so much traffic? It sounds like a “must do” suggestion? I would think it might result in people losing you (or do you retain the old domain on “forward”?) Maybe worth a whole post in itself (or did I miss it?)
Richard Goutal´s last blog ..A Startling Discovery While at the No Excuses Summit
Very good point, Richard.
This was my first experience with something like this (wouldn’t it be great if we knew how to do things the first time around?
.
1. I did do a permanent 301 redirect of my old domain to the new one.
2. I installed a redirection plugin that helps me redirect deep links.
3. I made a mistake of editing my feedburner feed instead of redirecting the old to the new, so yes, I did loose a lot of subscribers. Will know better next time!
All in all, this was pretty painless. If you ever have to do it, it can be done.
Thanks for the question!
Hey Ana,
Great work on the stats. I do totally agree with the power of a blog. I am extremely busy with the projects we have going on right now, and have more or less a theme going for my recent blog activity, but I think answering your question will fit, so yeah, I’m in.
I can throw you a few examples from some tests Jim and I have been running.
As of 11 o’clock this morning when I ran the numbers, here are the stats for my blog for the first 13 days of this month:
179 opt ins for the Google Switch
81 opt ins for PPC Supremacy
41 blog box opt ins
17 opt ins for my primary business
13 opt ins for The Ultimate Sales Funnel project
$1,700 in affiliate commissions
I don’t have the numbers for sales of my primary yet because they overlap months, the Ultimate Sales Funnel isn’t taking in payments until later this week, and when PPC Supremacy Launches I get 51% commissions.
This is all from tracking stats pulled from the first 13 days of this month. Non of these numbers include any type of paid advertising, or really any advertising at all. It all came through readers to the blog, and links in the posts. And several more opt ins came through since I ran the numbers today.
I hope this helps make your point. The numbers aren’t impressive from a PPC standpoint, but hey, I can get a lot of clicks for $1,700. Not to mention the money I make from my primary, the USF and PPC Supremacy.
Bottom Line… Blogging Works, and thanks for spreading the word.
Chris Owen´s last blog ..Where You Can Put Your Funded Proposal System
Way to demonstrate the point, Chris.
These are impressive numbers by many standards; and no, $1700 is not a small chunk of change.
I wonder what you use for tracking?
Look forward to future post.
Hi Ana,
Once again you deliver high quality and valuable information. Thank you for putting all of that together and sharing so openly.
Susanna
Thanks, Susanna. I guess I came to realize that keeping the best stuff to myself is pointless; plus, it’s much more fun doing it this way:).
Ana, this is a world wind of valuable information. If anyone needs a blueprint on how to blog well this is the place to go. Also the stats on blogs that you have on here is very helpful and shows if you’re on the right track when it comes to blogging. I most definitely need to pass this information on. It would be selfish of me not to do so. Thanks for sharing Ana!!
Sherman
Sherman Smith´s last blog ..THE PSEUDO-SUCCESS STORIES…BEWARE!!!
You are so very welcome, Sherman – I appreciate your compliment and shout to your friends/followers.
Once again Ana, you over deliver on quality content!
I know that since starting my first blog my online returns have increased dramatically. So much in fact that I have been driven to start a second blog targeted at a different market.
Blogging is certainly NOT easy…bt it is certainly worthwhile!
Keep the great content coming.
Michael B Wilbraham´s last blog ..The Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Online
Thanks, Michael.
Great testimony for blogging – it’s so good you want to start another one!
~Ana
Hi Ana,
I’m a first time vistitor to your blog and found some great content here.
I certainly agree with you about blogging! How to turn a nothing business into somthing worth sharing – of course if takes time but is well worth the effort for the long term return.
I’ll be back!
Have a great weekend!
Warm regards
Sandy
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Glad you listened to your cousin!
wow. really never know that blogging could increase lead generation, thank you so much.
how to get a guy´s last blog ..How To Flirt With Men Without Seeming Desperate – 3 Important Keys
You are very welcome and yes, blogging is an incredible traffic generation strategy.
Hi Ana!
Wow! It’s been awhile since we’ve connected. What a great job on your new blog! It looks great. I am in the process of re-working my personal blog at his time and I have been looking at the Thesis theme. Blogging is really key for traffic generation. I am so happy to hear of all the success you’ve been having.
To Your Continued Success
Althea Martin´s last blog ..Carbon Copy Pro Explained
I am so glad to see you back on my blog, Althea – it’s been a while.
Thanks for the compliment on my new design; I love it as well.
Let me know when you finish your new design; I’d love to see it!
Blessings,
Ana
Hi Ana, great post! I didn’t know what a meme was, thanks for the information, this is definitely something I’d like to learn more about
Cheryl
cheryl´s last blog ..Building Your List Steady
Meme is a great way to get some link love… if you can get others to join in that is:).
Thanks for stopping by, Cheryl.
What a great post, so full of value! Thank you very much for sharing this post, I am definitely going to bookmark it and come back to it!
Stacy´s last blog ..10 Reasons to Appreciate Difficulties
I appreciate you stopping by, Stacy; glad you enjoyed it – tell a friend
.
~Ana
Hi Ana,
What a great post you put together here. Really informative, so thank you. This is a big reason why I absolutely love blogging and when you do it right, you can have great results.
Results speak to mountains of qualified people.
Thanks for sharing this…
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome Ratliff´s last blog ..Reinventing Your Network Marketing Business is Simple as 1-2-3
Yes, blogging is a wonderful tool for education and sharing. Doing is right is extremely important, I agree; otherwise, it’s not even worth the effort.
Thanks for stopping by, Jerome.
~Ana
Hi, I agree with you, blogging is one the greatest way to communicate with the world. You can add your vision, and everything that you like. But also you have to be good in writing and have subjects that could interest peoples. I think you doing a pretty good job!
Dave B.
Acura cl parts´s last blog ..Acura CL Parts – Performance
Thanks for stopping by, Dave.
I agree with you that you have to have good topics to talk about, things that people are actually interested in.
However, a good writer? I suck at writing. Plus I hate it:). The way I found my personal balance is writing bullet-style posts and not doing any introductions, stories, etc. I figured that way my readers can cut right to the chase, which is what I like to do, and I don’t have to write a lot of fluff that I have no talent for.:)
~Ana
Thank you so much for this post Ana, packed full of valuable information. As a newbie blogger, it’s great for me to read your story and see how your bog has evolved. It looks great and I’m looking forward to reading your 7 step report on search engine domination. Thank you for sharing this valuable information and I’m already looking forward to your next blog post.
Louise
Louise Steiner´s last blog ..Step Outside The Box – Grow Your Comfort Zone and Feel Empowered
You are so very welcome, Louise.
I am glad you found some helpful information on my blog; I look forward to sharing more tips with you in the future.
Best,
Ana
There’s some interesting information here, thanks to the writer.
Hi Ana,
Very good information, thanks for the sharing! Will try to apply some of the tips that you share here.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Faye
Faye´s last blog ..What is Your Position in Robert Kiyosaki Cash Flow Quadrant
You are so welcome, Faye – glad to hear you are going to put some of it to use.
That’s the only way to more successful tomorrow!
~Ana
Hi Ana,
I’ve read your blogs and i find this article as a big help for me having a small sized business and still learning many new things. thank you very much for sharing ideas i really love your post.
TryBPO´s last blog ..BPO Philippines- Indispensable Business Process Outsourcing Hub
You are so very welcome; thanks for stopping by.
~Ana
Great post, Peter – such wonderful results in such a short period of time!
Loved reading your blog post, Laurie; greatly appreciate your blogging reasons and look forward to reading your blog in the future.
Best,
~Ana
I can absolutely relate to all your reasons, Steve, but number 1 really hits home.
I started with knowing nothing about blogging, traffic generation, etc. and know I can even build a website from scratch, get it on the first page of Google, and generate my own free leads all day long!
Unthinkable endeavor even a year ago…
Thanks for sharing your reasons, Steve; loved reading your prospective on the topic.
Thanks for the link back, Heather; loved your post!
{ 8 trackbacks }