The answer is NO. There, I got it out quick, didn’t I? 😀 Although I’m a strong fan of blogging in most cases, not every kind of business needs to have a blog. Let’s see when it’s advisable to run a blog, and when it can translate into a waste of time.

When does it make sense to have a blog?

Having a blog is something I’d recommend to almost everybody who wants to start an online business. You can profit from your blog in several ways – and it’s almost free!! The “only” thing you’ll have to invest in is time.

So there are two ways of running a blog:

• If you want to be a blogger, which means that your blog is your main tool, where you start to create your business. Once you know what your audience needs, you create it.
• If you want to attract users to your website – who wouldn’t, right? In this case, your blog is a complement to the main site, where you offer your services or products.

When is it advisable to run a blog on your site?

So this is how you can profit from having a blog on your site:

• A blog helps you build an audience, and you want an audience to read your content and learn more about your brand.
• It attracts readers to your site. Google wants to see lots of valuable and new content on your site, and that means that you’re gonna have to keep on updating it if you wanna appear on the first search results pages. And what’s a better way than running a blog, right? Updating a website where you just offer your services – or where you have your portfolio – is going to be very hard in the long run.
• It shows your customers what your expertise is, so you’re going to start becoming an authority in your subject. Authority and trust go hand in hand, so guess who they’re going to trust when they’re ready to spend money 😉

When is it a waste of time to run a blog?

Running a blog only makes sense if its target audience is your potential customer. If you’re writing to your peers, you should really ask yourself the reason for that. Let me give you two examples:

Example #1– As a web designer, you have a website where you offer web design services for small companies. One of the pages of your website is a blog, where you help other web designers like yourself figure out any design struggle they may have. What do you get out of your blog?

• You’re attracting users searching for “web design” or any other related keyword.
• You’re showing your expertise.
• You may also be helping DIY-ers who are trying to build their very first site.
• When a customer lands on your page and finds out that you’re the go-to person for people struggling with their web design – even for other web designers, who do you think they’ll want to hire?

Example #2 – As a freelance translator, you have a website for your customers to check your portfolio. You also write a blog helping other bloggers find customers and use some tips and tricks to update their software know-how. What do you get out of your blog?

• It’s possible that you’re only attracting other translators, not potential customers
• You’re showing your expertise, but only to your peers. Customers will hardly see any value in you telling another translator how to win customers.
• After landing on your page, your blog content isn’t going to let him or her know if you’re actually a good translator. A customer needs you to be a translation master – and that’s all. Besides, it’s more than common for translators to write in their own language, so how is an English-speaking customer going to understand your blog posts written in German anyway?
• This example will only make sense if your goal is to sell resources to other translators, such as courses or books.

Recap – When does it make sense to run a blog?

#1. There are 2 main ways of blogging:

• As a blogger who’s going to convert that blog into a business sooner or later. In this case, your blog is your main business tool.
• As an entrepreneur who’s using the blog to attract more traffic to her portfolio website. In this case, your blog is an additional tool for your online business.

#2. A blog is mainly useful to:

• Build an audience who knows and loves your brand.
• Update your content regularly in order to appear in Google search result pages.
• Gain authority and trust among your audience.

#3. Having a blog on your website makes sense if:

• You’re attracting customers, not competitors.
• You’re able to show relevant expertise to your potential customers.
• You’re attracting your peers because your goal is to make them into customers.

And that would be all for now! How about you? Do you have a blog? Are you considering starting one? Leave a comment below!