Having a website no one sees is just as good as running a car without petrol- It’ll get somewhere with a lot of people pushing it, but it’s not going to get anywhere by itself.

But by adding a blog to your website, you give people another reason to seek it out. Even if they don’t know they want your services, they may find your site while looking for information.

A blog makes a great Facebook post which can then be shared by your followers to their friends, pushing people back to your website to read it. If you send a regular newsletter – and you should – you can include a couple of paragraphs of your blog, with a link to your website to read more.

A good blog will lift your website – visitors will see that your business is a leader in your industry and a knowledgeable, trusted source of information. Refreshing your blog at least weekly gives people a reason to keep coming back to your site – and when they need services like yours, you’ll be top of mind.

Not only are blogs a cheap marketing option, but they are a handy way to keep customers up-to-date and interested in the growth and goings-on of your business.

A blog is also a great opportunity to introduce new customers to the products and services your business has to offer. Blogs make it easy for you to inform customers about what is available to them in a way which stands out from your competitors, and saves them time and money in their decision-making.

The key with blogging for any business is to keep your articles relevant for search engines such as Google. Keep it keyword-heavy but don’t get carried away: you want it to read well for people, not just search engines.

Regular updates, photos, special offers and competitions are just a few of the useful techniques you can use when writing a blog to engage the attention of your viewers.

Running a blog doesn’t take much effort, doesn’t cost much money and is effective way to get your business website running to its full potential. Think of it as an absorbing gateway enticing people into your main site.

Forget having a dormant website wasting away unnoticed in cyberspace. Your blog can make it possible to bring customers directly to you, and really get your business going places.