Blogging Isn’t Free – but it’s the Best Marketing Strategy

Okay, let’s talk about blogging. I see a lot of coaches touting it as the “free” way to market your business. And while, yes, you don’t technically pay for a platform you already own like you do with ads, let’s not kid ourselves – blogging ain’t free, honey!

Think about it:

Time is Money: Crafting a killer blog post takes time. Researching keywords, outlining your content, writing, editing, finding images, optimizing for SEO… it all adds up. Let’s say you spend 2 hours on a single blog post (and I’m being conservative here). If your hourly rate is, say, $100, that blog post just cost you $200.

Quality Content Ain’t Cheap: Sure, you could churn out a quick 300-word blog post in an hour. But is that really going to attract your ideal clients? High-quality, in-depth content that positions you as an expert and provides real value takes time and effort. And time, as we’ve established, is money. As search engines evolve we need to create longer, more informative content which is also summarised for SGE. Phew! that’s a lot of work.

SEO Isn’t Mind-Reading Magic: You can’t just throw some words on a page and expect Google to fall head over heels. Optimizing your blog posts for search engines requires strategy and know-how. Keywords, meta descriptions, internal links, image optimization… it’s a whole thing – mathematical probabilities, learned experience + a ‘gut feeling’. And if you’re not an SEO whiz, you might end up paying someone who is (which, again, isn’t free).

So, why bother with blogging in 2025?

Because when it’s done right, blogging is a powerhouse for your business. And… even though people have been saying “blogging is dead” for years… it’s not. Delve behind the scenes and you’ll see 3 distinct marketing approaches amongst the heavyweights in the coaching industry:

1. They’ve got an arsenal of content on their site.
2. They’re rabid on Social Media – and probably selling courses on how to do it…
3. They’re spending a metric shit-ton (yes, that IS a universally recognised sum of measurement! 😉 ) on ads.

But when you decide you’re going all-in on a sustainable organic marketing strategy, blogging (aka content creation) helps you:

• Attract your ideal clients organically: No more chasing algorithms or paying for ads. SEO-optimized blog posts attract clients who are actively searching for what you offer. One well-optimized blog post will bring new leads to your website for years to come.

• Establish yourself as an expert: Sharing your knowledge and insights through valuable blog content positions you as a leader in your field. It’s all well and good asking your AI generator to throw together a blog – but unless you can edit, add to it and add your own personal insights, it’s just words. Plus – humans are canny wee things and can see through AI-generated content in an instant.

• Build trust and credibility: Consistently delivering high-quality content shows your audience that you’re serious about your business and that you care about providing value. A bad website with bad SEO suggests you’re not actually in it for the long-term, it’s just a temp thing you’re playing with until something else comes along to busy yourself with.

• Drive traffic to your website: Blog posts act as magnets, drawing visitors to your site and increasing your online visibility. And… the best thing? The more people visit your site, the more Google think “hey! this site must be really good – I’m gonna recommend it more” – so your results increase even more.

• Create a library of evergreen content: Unlike social media posts that disappear into the feed, blog posts can continue to attract traffic and generate leads for years to come. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month – and next year. Whereas a social media post is gone within minutes and only visible to a minority of potential clients who are active at that very moment – your optimized blog brings you leads in perpetuity.

Blogging: An Investment, Not an Expense

Urgh, the word ‘investment’ is so over-used in the coaching industry – and, usually with an additional hefty dollop of pressure-buying and guilt – but, it does help to think of blogging as an investment in your business’s future.

And the reason I’m going to use the word investment – is, because like all business strategy decisions, there usually is some form of financial payment – and in this case, it’s primarily your time and effort (and maybe even some financial investment (like stock photo images or optimization software for example). But the return on that investment can be huge in terms of growth.

Run one ad on the ‘gram and pay $2-5 a lead. Collect 100 leads for $375. Convert 1% for your offer… that’s $375 for one lead.

Put your 2 hours of time into your blog post and you can collect hundreds, if not thousands of leads over time. Rinse and repeat.

No stressing about creating new ad creatives. No stressing about testing new audiences. No stressing about conversion rates. No stress about bot attacks draining your budget. No stress about driving up your ad rate because your biggest competitor is also using the same audience.

You create blog content on your website? You may need to go back in and tweak and optimize depending on what your analytics are telling you – but that’s it. You’re set and done.

When you create high-quality, SEO-optimized blog content, you’re building a sustainable marketing machine that will attract clients, boost your brand authority, and drive long-term growth.  

But here’s the kicker: without a solid keyword strategy, your blog is basically a tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.

Keywords: More than just a Buzzword

Keywords are the words and phrases people use to search for information online. When someone types “how to overcome imposter syndrome” into Google, they’re showing their intent. They’re looking for answers, guidance, and solutions.  Buyers have intent – scrollers gonna scroll! And that’s such an important distinction – because you want your clients to be mentally already on the path of wanting to find a solution and not just idly scrolling as they’re waiting for the bus. People who actually sit down and take the time to google a solution for their problem are serious about solving it – and that’s where you come in of course.

If your blog post is optimized for that keyword (meaning it includes that phrase and other related terms), it has a much higher chance of appearing in the search results and attracting that reader. It’s OK to use colloquialisms and ‘slang’ – the search engines are getting really good at recognising that – and, the more you write the way you speak – the more clients like it. I know it can feel jarring – especially if you’ve always prided yourself on your SPaG – but people are people – and they are drawn to ‘real’ communication.

Why Keyword Strategy is Your Blog’s Best Friend

• Visibility: Keywords help Google understand what your blog post is about, making it more likely to show up in relevant searches.  Although I’ve just said that ‘slang’ is absolutely fine – your overarching theme should be to include – and answer, the keywords in question.

• Relevance: By targeting the right keywords, you attract readers who are genuinely interested in your topic and more likely to become clients. Although social media feeds allegedly serve us up what they think we want to know – and sometimes you can look at your screen and think “wtf? I was just thinking that last night at 2am after my cheese-dream” – actual search engines exist to point people in the right direction and answer a direct question.

• Authority: Consistently using relevant keywords in your blog content helps establish you as an expert in your field – now more than ever as Google look towards E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to help decide whether you actually do have the right credentials to be talking on a subject matter.

• Efficiency: A keyword strategy ensures you’re not wasting time creating content that no one is searching for. As the language models the algorithms use evolve, they’re better at figuring out what the user intent is – you’ve probably already seen something which reads “people also asked” at the bottom of your Google search page. But you still want to be choosing keywords which have a high enough volume (number of people searching) to make it actually worth your while writing about.

• Long-term Growth: Keywords help your blog posts rank higher in search results, driving consistent organic traffic to your website for months (or even years!) to come.  

Don’t Just Wing It: Craft a Keyword Strategy

Before you even write a single word, take the time to research relevant keywords. Think about what your ideal clients are searching for and use those terms strategically throughout your blog post. Back in ‘the day’ – keyword stuff was what some people (baaaaad, baaaaaad people ;)) were doing to get their content to rank high. What it means is – they’d choose their keyword – e.g., “fluffy ginger cat” and put those exact words in every single paragraph (or sentence!) throughout the page. Which as you can imagine would be annoying nonsense to actually read.

Paid tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you identify high-value keywords with low competition.  

The Bottom Line

Blogging can be a powerful tool for growing your business, but only if you’re strategic about it. Investing time in creating high-quality content and implementing a solid keyword strategy will pay off in the long run – even though it can seem like a terrifying pita ‘another thing to learn’ mountain to climb when you’re starting with it on Day 1.

Don’t waste your time creating content that no one will see. Make every blog post count by understanding your audience, researching relevant keywords, and optimizing your content for search engines.

Need help creating a killer blog strategy? Let’s chat!