Someone Subscribed to My Blog When an Article I Wrote in 2014 Showed Up on Google. Here’s Why It Matters.

This week, I received an email alert for a new blog subscriber. Woohoo!

I didn’t recognize the name or company, but a quick search revealed this person is from Iowa, quite a trek from the palatial Scott McKelvey Copywriting & Marketing estates in New Jersey.

I emailed the person to thank them for subscribing and find out how they found me.

A practice I highly recommend when someone subscribes to your blog, by the way.

Here’s the response I received, verbatim:

“Last week I googled ‘how to create urgency without being pushy’ and a blog of yours from 2014 popped up. I thought it was a good read and shared it with my marketing partner. From there, I started reading a few more blogs and thought I would sign up for receiving more.

I was trying to convey to my marketing partner that I wanted to create a sense of urgency with a certain audience without being kitschy. I didn’t like the first draft they sent over, hence the Google search which led to your blog. The copy writer I’m working with is awesome, and I’m sure will come back with a much improved draft.”

The word that stands out from this email?

An article I published nine years ago just landed me a new subscriber.

An article I published nine years ago is still being discovered and shared.

An article I published nine years ago is still delivering value to new audiences.

An article I published nine years ago is still showing up in Google search results.

What other forms of marketing and advertising are capable of expanding your audience and generating leads and referrals for years after you invested time and money to create them?

I’ve asked this question a lot. Never received an answer.

Will this person ever become a client or refer me to a client? Maybe, maybe not.

But I’m on their radar.

Because a 9-year-old article put me there.

From their perspective, I kinda sorta know what I’m talking about.

Because a 9-year-old article helped convince them.

They’ll be hearing from me every time I write a new article.

Because a 9-year-old article motivated them to take action.

Here’s the original article if you want to take a look. Not too shabby, as a wise man once said.

I guess you could say evergreen content ages like fine wine.

The point I’d like to drive home is this.

A business blog – with clear purpose, consistency, defined process, and strategic distribution – is the simplest, most cost-effective way to build trust and credibility, establish expertise, educate your audience, and tell your story.

And every article is an opportunity to show up in search results and reach people who are already interested in and actively exploring the subject matter you covered.

Not just for a few weeks. For years.

How do you make it work?

Research and write articles that matter to the people you want to do business with.

Speak to the needs, desires, challenges, concerns, frustrations, and dreams of your ideal client.

Focus on helping, not selling.

Tell your story.

Share the stories and experiences of your clients. Involve them in the process.

Offer real-world examples of how you’ve solved real-world problems and made people’s lives better.

Show people who you are and what you believe in.

Make emotional connections that lead to lasting relationships.

When you blog consistently over a long period of time about topics that are relevant to your audience, you’ll not only improve your search ranking for core keywords, but you also create opportunities to show up when people search for very specific phrases.

Like the person who found my blog from 2014.

You’ll create what is essentially a database of knowledge, passion, values, and stories that shows people why they should feel confident and comfortable working with you.

This searchable database will live on your website forever. Or until you delete it.

Need more proof? Here’s a link to articles from my first blogging gig – from 2008.

As for lingering doubts about the relevance or effectiveness of a business blog in this day and age, or the assertion that people don’t read more than a few paragraphs, I have a simple response.

By all means, produce videos. Share photos and graphics. Create polls. Do podcasts.

Make them part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy that includes your business blog.

To suggest a business blog, or any form of marketing or advertising, is no longer viable because it’s not the shiny new object is naïve, shortsighted, and just plain dumb.

Good content that reaches the right audience is consumed.

Brands that produce good content establish a reputation as a trusted source of information and compelling stories.

Brands then leverage that reputation and content to find new clients and build loyalty with existing clients.

Not just for a few weeks. For years.

Talk about return on investment. Wow.

If you’d like to discuss ideas for improving your existing business blog, reviving a dormant blog, or starting a new blog, let’s talk.