Before we answer this question, let’s firstly look at what exactly Google takes into account when ranking websites. There are hundreds of factors, but here are some of the most important ones:
- how useful and valuable your content is to the reader
- the quantity and quality of links back to your website
- how ‘fresh’ your content is
- traffic and social media shares
- your Page or Domain Authority score.
By going over each of these factors one-by-one, we’ll soon see why blogs are so important for SEO.
1. Blogs show that your content is useful and valuable
Part of the way that Google figures out how useful and valuable your content is through your website metrics. Namely, bounce rate and average time spent on page.
Basically, if Google’s algorithm sees that people are spending longer on your blog than they are on similar pages, it’ll get bumped up the rankings. If they see that fewer people are exiting your website than other websites, it’ll get bumped up the rankings.
And so publishing useful, well-written blogs should, theoretically, improve these two important website metrics. In turn, that’ll help to improve your website ranking.
2. More blogs = more potential links
Simply put, the more high-quality links you have leading back to your website, the better chance you have of climbing the search rankings. But those links come in two categories: external and internal.
External links
This refers to the number of links on the internet that point back to your website. You’ll get extra points if those links are from high-quality websites with a strong search ranking.
Blogs are another way that people can link to your website. Let’s say you wrote a bloody brilliant company blog a few months back. A lot of people read it, and some enjoyed it so much that they included a link to it in their own website. This is good news for your search ranking.
A lot of links from credible websites suggests to Google that your website is well-respected, credible and authoritative. And it’s pretty difficult to achieve that through your commercial pages alone (services, about us, contact us, product pages). That’s why blogs are so important for SEO.
Internal links
Whenever you write a new blog, it’s a good idea to include plenty of links to external, credible websites. But also internal links to other pages on your website. Because by doing this, you’re signalling to Google which pages are the most important on your site. You’re almost creating a mini page ranking within your own site.
For this reason, try to link to the most important pages on your website as often as you can. These are normally your:
- Homepage
- Service page
- Blogs that target high-volume keywords
Without these extra blogs and extra links, Google doesn’t know which pages on your website are most important. With each internal link you’re adding extra credibility to each page.
3. Google likes fresh, regular content
When you Google something, you’ll often notice that most of the search results were published recently. They’re fresh. It’s very rare to find search results from 5 or 6 years ago, because those pages get penalised by Google.
Your website is likely to get penalised by Google too - if you don’t keep adding to it with fresh content. By writing blogs, you’re feeding Google with fresh content that has a better chance of making it to the top of their search results.
It’s also a good idea to update old blogs from time to time. This updating of old content can also give it a nice little bump up the rankings.
4. They could get extra shares on social media
Another factor that Google takes into account when ranking web pages is social media shares. If a page is being shared quickly and often, it’ll benefit the search ranking for that page.
So when you write a new blog, sharing it on social media can only be a good thing for the Google overlords. It could lead to more shares, more traffic - and a better search ranking.
5. They give your company added credibility/authority
How do you normally figure out if a company is credible or not?
A lot of people use a website as a barometer for how credible a company is. And so your blogs need to demonstrate that a) you’re a real, genuine business, b) you know what you’re talking about and c) you know more than your competitors know.
But this also gives you credibility in the eyes of Google. If they see that your blogs are logically-structured with headings and bullet points, easy to read and contain the information that the searcher is looking for, you’ll start climbing up the rankings.
The more credible and useful content that your website has, the better your Domain Authority or Page Authority will be. This is kind of an overall SEO score for your website. The higher your score, the easier it is to rank.
6. (Bonus) Blogs give you more chances to rank in Google
More than anything, blogs give you the opportunity to try and rank for more search terms.
When you first write your company website, the chances are that most pages are what you could call commercial pages.
Let’s say you’re a business that sells and repairs shoes. Your commercial pages are the ones that push your products and services to your audience. They might be:
- individual product pages for shoes
- category pages for shoes
- request a shoe repair page
- contact us page
But when you start writing blogs for your website, these blogs should not be commercial. They’re far more likely to be informational. So instead of the service pages above, your blogs are more likely to have names like:
- The ultimate shoe maintenance guide
- Do your shoes need repairing? 5 ways to find out
- 6 new trainer trends to look out for in 2023
Now you’re writing about all of these different topics, there’s a better chance of growing your search traffic. That’s because informational content tends to attract more Google searches than commercial content.
You’re also giving yourself much more opportunities to rank in Google. You’ll be targeting new keywords that open your business up to a whole new online audience. Which is kinda the whole point of SEO, and rounds this blog off nicely.
Thank you for reading, and I hope we passed the audition.
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