There are 70 million new posts each month. As a result, blogging is still a prominent part of an online marketing strategy.

A recent survey, out of all the content marketing modes out there, 90% of businesses used blogs to help market their brands within the last 12 months.

Here’s Why

1. Blogging Builds Loyalty And Trust

Providing advice and reliable information that consumers can use will establish authority on the topics you discuss.

Blogs are a great way to slowly nurture your audience and prove your expertise when it comes to your industry and product line.

2. Blogging Increases Visibility

The next part of building great content is making sure it is search engine optimized. Blogs that answer the questions consumers are asking about in your industry are helpful for SEO.

Additionally, incorporating keywords throughout your captivating and unique headings and subheadings, is a sure-fire way to help increase visibility.

Internal linking is a way to increase visibility. Link building throughout other pages, blogs, and product pages on your site can help build brand visibility, awareness, and authority.

3. Blogging Creates Brand Awareness

New and original content can make your brand more prominent amongst the rest of your competitors.

4. Blogging Drives Engagement

Blogs provide more shareable content than just your products or service posts for consumers to share with others across social media.

Thanks for your Wisdom Kristi Hines

Be sure you have a Testimonial Page!

Google Posts is a micro-blogging Google My Business dashboard feature which displays your short-form on your Knowledge Panel and business listings on search engine results. If you were using Google+, you shared content (yours and others) with the hopes that someone would see it and find their way back to your website.

Reach Your Target Market with Google Posts
Google Posts are a better way to bring targeted search engine users from Google (where the majority of buyers’ journeys start) directly to your website. A year into this feature and still very few local businesses are leveraging this FREE Google My Business feature to promote their businesses. That means that adding Google Posts to your marketing mix gives you a fast and free advantage over your local competition.

Posts offer instant publication of your marketing and reputation messaging with little effort – at no cost.

Improve Your Online Reputation with Google Posts
Google Posts help you create your ideal online reputation by giving you a free tool to promote your business with content and messaging you control. Reach customers with the information they need right now to persuade them to pick your business.

Do you have a sale coming up? Have an event coming up? A promotion code for military members? Half-priced breakfast on Mondays? Senior discounts? Price match? Use only organic ingredients? Google Posts give you the opportunity to persuade customers as they find your Google My Business listing while researching the best place to make their next purchase.

Using Google Post to Promote Your Business
Google Posts were introduced as a way to share fresh content with people who found your business through Google Search. This free Google My Business feature lets you create posts with content you want displayed to customers when they find your business on Google.

Google Posts are meant to be used to show search user what is going on with your business right now. Each post you create is removed from search results after seven days, or after the event date, you specify if you are posting an event. That might sound like a restriction, but it’s actually a benefit that ensures that only the latest and greatest information of your choice is displayed with your business listings.

Quick List of Google Posts Specs & Best Practices

• Character Limits: Only the first 80-100 characters will show in the Post so make those characters count and preview the Post to make sure your sentence isn’t cut off.
• Headlines: Write headlines that make the reader want to click through. Think of it as an ad to inspire action.
• Call to Action: Tell the viewer what to do next. “Free Download” or “Learn How to” or “Order Now” are clear CAT’s that minimize the decisions the audience needs to make.
• Image Size: The best image size is 750 x 750. Anything smaller than 250 x 250 won’t be accepted. Preview the post to make sure the image appears as intended.
• Post Often: Share daily specials and current promotions to keep customers up-to-date on your offers. After 7 days your Post will be removed – thankfully, they email you when this happens.

Do’s and Don’ts for Writing a Google Post directly from Google

There is a right and wrong way to leverage Google Post. To get the do’s and don’ts we went directly to the source. This is what Google tells us about Google Post:

Google’s Suggestions for Writing the Perfect Google Post

• Be precise: What are the 3 things your customer needs to know? What do you want them to remember, for how much, and when? “Happy Hour! Half-price milkshakes from 5-6 PM every Friday.”
• Be personal: Show what your business values: “We love families at Mike’s and to show our appreciation, kids eat free this weekend!”
• Tell your customers what they can do. Are you selling a product? Tell them how they can buy.
  “Tickets range from $60-$160, and are available for purchase at the front desk starting at 12 PM EST today.”
• Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique. Large selection? Free shipping? Tell people:
  “Free shipping on orders over $50.”
• Be timely — use a key selling point or popular item as the hook for your post: “Spring is here. All flip flops now 30% off.”
• Be sure to include any redemption instructions, unique codes, or restrictions on offers or sales: “$10 off purchase of $50 or more. 50% off select women’s clothing.”
• Use abbreviations for days and months, and don’t use periods, to allow more space for your post, and abbreviate hours: Jan, Feb, Mar… Mon, Tue, Wed… 9 AM, 5 PM, 12 PM
• Avoid the commercial slang and excessive exclamation marks or all caps that make your post look like an advertisement: “BOGO: 50% off men’s sneakers.” “Crazy SALE today!!!”
• Don’t include more than one offer or too many exclusions in one communication: “Half price coffee and tea from 3-6 PM on Fridays, and buy 6, get one free donut on weekdays.” “10% off new seasonal sandwiches. Not valid on lunch specials.”

Thanks for your Wisdom Reputation Loop

Life is about attraction. Humans are visual beings. We’re attracted to beauty. When eye-catching visuals captivate us, we use that focus to get a better idea of what a message truly is trying to say.

Visuals give us a better understanding of not just the message, but what’s behind the message — explained easier, faster, and clearer than just a cluster of written words. Content containing visuals like images or videos perform better — on average, receiving up to 94 percent more views.

Infographics can increase website traffic by 12 percent. Tweets with images or videos get, on average, a 35 percent or 28 percent increase in retweets, respectively. Most of all, let’s not forget to lean on science. Reading just words is insufficient for humans; content with visuals (i.e., photos) are easier to remember and are remembered more often.

Looking beyond blanket statistics, here are four evidence-based reasons why content needs compelling visuals to truly deliver the results needed to be successful.

1. Humans Prefer Visuals
   People are visual creatures by nature. It’s not just because of our modern-day short attention spans and, in turn, our preferences for video, animation, and imagery over text because of how much faster we can consume it. And they’re more available than ever before.
2. Visuals Generate More Organic Visibility
   In organic search, 60 percent of people are more likely to click on a business that has images showing up in search results than one that does not. When snippets don compelling visuals, they perform better. That’s why click-through rates are higher for content that contains images.
3. Visuals Help Capture Short Attention Spans
   While obvious, it’s probably the most important one on this list. The average person can get distracted (or bored) within a few seconds. That’s doesn’t give you much time to grab someone’s attention. So make sure you capture their attention the right way – and fast!
4. Visuals Are More Memorable
   Visuals don’t just stand out at first sight; they’re also easier to remember. Visual aids can improve learning by up to 400 percent and be processed 60,000 times faster than text alone.

Remember when we used flash cards and other visuals in grade school to help us learn new topics? That’s because most of the human population consists of visual learners, or those who are able to comprehend and retain information better through the use of visual aids.

The majority of humans retain visual information much better, clearer, and longer than we are able to solely written words.

Conclusion
Visuals can very well be the difference between having your content seen or not. The numbers show just how much better rich media fares in the wild. Use it to your benefit, save money, and increase your brand following.

Thanks for your Wisdom Sam Hollingsworth