One of the first questions I get from my clients is “what type of website should I have?” The answer is, “it depends,” but for virtually all websites, getting people to your site and engaging them on some level is of primary importance. So, regardless of whatever else you do with your website, you absolutely need to have a corporate blog. The next question I receive (especially after delivering the “blog” message) is: “I don’t have the resources for a blog. Do I have to have one?”

The answer is Yes. And here are 10 reasons why your small business should have a blog.

1. Givers gain.
In the words of BNI chapters everywhere, “givers gain.” As Wikipedia defines it, this simply means that “when (business) people set goals to help others and honestly work to achieve these goals, they usually gained the most out of the experience – through a reciprocal benefit.” By providing a blog, you are providing a resource that should be educating and helping those most interested in your offerings.

2. Search engines love it.
Search engines want to direct their users to good, topical, useful information. The typical, static, corporate web site is set up with content, which then remains unchanged for months on end. In this day and age, updating content is a way to stay relevant and topical. Thus, search engines love it, which means you stand a better chance at getting indexed frequently and ranked higher in search results.

3. It should be the center of your social media strategy.
By updating your blog, you can simultaneously update your accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc., etc. This will make all of those accounts appear more active, all because you updated one critical tool: your blog. It can be that powerful.

4. Keeps you up-to-date on industry events/topics.
Keeping and managing a blog can seem like a daunting responsibility. However, it is also one of the best ways to to stay abreast on industry events and topics, because you will always be on the lookout for good information and subjects to put into your blog. If you can develop this skill, this could be a key competitive advantage for you and your organization.

5. Communication is important.
The key to doing business is the ability to communicate clearly with your prospects and customers. A blog will help you get your message out there and help you hone your communciation skills.

6. Keep your writing skills sharp.
Hate to state the obvious, but writing is a subset of communication and is becoming more and more important. Blogs are a great way to discipline yourself to write every day (if not every day, then more frequently than you are now).

7. Real time market research.
Your blog audience will be people that are interested in what  you’re writing about. If you don’t have an audience, that should tell you something. If you do have an audience, get them involved, get them to comment on your posts. The information you could learn about your company and your positioning in the marketplace could be huge.

8. Breath personality into your company.
So often many companies try to carefully control their brand image. In the end, the end result is a sterile presense that is difficult for buyers to identify with. But a blog can help show the humanity of your organization, especially if you talk about some of the charity events you participate in, and other day-to-day (but business related) topics that will resonate with others.

9. It’s dirt cheap.
Outside of a time commitment, you get all of these benefits, and more, for dirt cheap (in many instances free).

10. It will teach you new things.
Many teachers say the learn as much from their students as they teach. Keeping a blog is very similar. Challenging? Yes, sometimes it is. Rewarding? You bet.