With all the different methods of reaching an audience, such as the different social media platforms and the different content you could use, many companies are asking if it is still relevant to keep a blog. Video is all the rave right now and social media is an effective tool to reach and connect with an audience. But, do you still need to blog even when you’re doing a lot of other things?

The answer is, yes. No matter the size of your business, your marketing strategy still needs blogging. It’s not just another thing for you to do. According to a study done by Hubspot, businesses who include blogging in their content mix get 67% more leads than those who don’t.

Here are more reasons why you should give blogging a high value:

Blogging for SEO

Your blog will be an ever-evolving group of articles and keywords that will be effective for search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns. Words are necessary in order to create an optimized blog and website.

Statistics show that your website has a greater chance of being ranked highly by different search engines if your website has a blog. High search engine rankings often translates into more traffic to your website. A majority of the online users don’t scroll past the first page of search engine results. Making sure that your website is right on the first page will make a huge difference.

Consumers Trust Blogs

It is already passé to churn out keyword-stuffed blogs. Great and valuable content is important to engage your community. Find topics that your audience genuinely love and would be more likely to share. People trust the human side of your business that is shown through blogs. This allows you to build relationships with your audience.

Aside from that, blogs are the go-to method for in-depth content. Long-form content allows you to muse on various subjects and share your company’s expertise. This is the platform where your company has its own voice and explore different topics. With a blog, you’re able to expand on those thoughts. This especially helps in establishing authority in a subject, especially about the industry that you’re in.

Using Medium as a Platform

Aside from just letting your blog sit on your website, Medium is a platform that you can use for your company’s content. The website curates the popular content written by publications and users alike. Medium is a great platform for thoughtful or technical content and is often used by journalists and CEOs to publish articles.

Medium is part social network and part publishing platform. Unlike other blogging platforms, it only has a few editing options which make it fast and easy-to-use. This comes with a built-in social amplification, which syndicates your content immediately to a large network while tying back all that interaction to your social accounts.

The great thing about Medium is that it already has a captured audience. It has a large number of engaged users already which helps you to reach new readers. The website gets more than 60 million visits per month and is continuously growing.

You can experiment and start with publishing first on Medium. Some notable companies, like General Electric and BMW, are hosting all of their blogs on Medium. Others push selected articles on Medium for more reach. What’s important is that you find a strategy that works for you and your company.

The key takeaway here is not to give up on blogging just because you’re doing other things. It should be an essential part of your content marketing strategy. Focus on creating relevant articles that build your authority and nourish your relationships with your audience.