PR pros are constantly looking for metrics to gauge the efficacy of their communications efforts. And while social shares, mentions, likes and comments tell an important story, often the main metric a client is looking for is website traffic. Here, the lines between PR, marketing and sales get a little blurry, as the main goal of PR is to establish awareness about a client’s product, whereas other departments are responsible for turning that awareness into leads. That being said, there are some effective methods PR teams can employ to help drive additional traffic to a client’s website. One of the best ones? Blogging.

Not only are blogs essential tools for establishing thought leadership and consumer trust, they also offer tangible sales results. One HubSpot survey found that 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers. If that alone isn’t enough to convince you of the power of blogging, we’re taking a deeper dive into three of the top reasons a blog is an essential part of any business/PR strategy.
1) It establishes brand identity and tone.
It can be difficult to capture the identity and tone of your brand in 140 character tweets or other brief promotional efforts. Chances are you probably have a lot more to say about what you can offer consumers, as well as a wealth of industry experience and knowledge to share. A blog is your platform to do exactly that. With longer pieces typically ranking higher in SEO, you have plenty of space to delve into the nitty-gritty industry insights you’re dying to geek out over. A blog can also be a great way to establish tone – are you fun and playful, serious and informative, a little of both? All those subtle nuances you seek to convey about your company can be communicated in this medium to great effect.
2) It drives traffic to your website.
Hubspot found that companies that published 16+ blog posts per month received almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published 0-4 posts per month. While 16 monthly posts may seem like a daunting number to achieve, the basic premise is important to keep in mind: the more organic content your company creates, the more traffic you’re going to drive to your website. Another study notes that “marketers who prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.” While it may seem impossible to publish 4 blogs posts a week, it’s good to know that the time you do put into creating posts will have quantifiable benefits for your business.
3) It offers fresh content to post on social media.
Social media is another excellent vehicle to drive traffic to your site. You can share anything from company news to special promotional coupons to keep your followers engaged and in-the-know. But sharing too much product news can make your social media presence feel spammy and aggressive, which could ultimately deter potential customers from engaging with you there, never mind clicking to your site. So how can you make the most out of your social channels without coming off too strong? You guessed it – by posting content from your blog. Maintaining a consistent blog schedule ensures you always have fresh material to share and offers your followers valuable information related to their interests. By creating engaging content relevant to your industry (but not necessarily directly related to your product), you will earn your followers trust, keep them engaged and ultimately establish your brand as an industry leader. Not to mention the increased web traffic you’ll see with every blog post you feature on social.
In short, if you’re not blogging, you’re missing a huge opportunity to stand out in your industry and provide your audience with valuable (and shareable) content. If you already have a blog, or realize you need to start one, check out this article on some best practices to increase the visibility of the content you create.
Need an example of how all this comes together? Check out Iceland Naturally’s page, which  features tons of organic content, or poke around the BIGfish Blog for some more PR insights!
Has blogging had a positive impact on your business strategy? Let us know in the comments below! And to stay up to date on all the latest PR trends, follow us on Twitter at @BIGfishPR!