As I’ve written previously, your small business website is the most powerful tool in your arsenal to sell your company’s services.

While I did give a brief mention in that post that your small business website should have a blog, I wanted to go through some of the reasons why this is so vital.

Here’s 10 basic reasons your small business should have a blog:

Prove you’re ahead of the curve
Do your competitors have blogs?  Guaranteed at least some of them do, and you can bet that potential clients are reading them.  If a client was looking for a cutting-edge company to employ, having a well-written, professional blog would definitely be a nod in that direction.

Show your passion
Having a blog allows you to really draw out the conversation and show your passion as a small business.  Your static webpages can open the dialog, but the blog is what differentiates you as a passionate business owner and someone who really provides the best product.  It’s a good way to stand out from the pack.

Demonstrate authority
The top minds in every field are blogging as independent professionals.  This parallels the world of business blogging.  Having a blog gives you (and your website) authority and a leg up on the competition.

Share case studies
Your static website can only say so much without becoming bloated and busy.  Having a blog on your site allows you to neatly organize any information you want, and lets you have infinite space for all of those nice case studies you would love to include on your website.  Case studies are a powerful way to showcase your company’s hard work and shouldn’t be gathering dust – they should be on display for the world (and potential new clients) to see.

Involve and inspire your employees
Your blog should embody the brand essence of your small business, and it gives everyone an opportunity to tell your story to the world.  Your dedicated employees will certainly come forward with great ideas for posts, and you can enable their inner creativity by allowing them to contribute.

Long tail of search
Having a blog lets you tap into a huge amount of search traffic, especially when you can write on all the different aspects of your business.  You can capture search traffic that is asking very specific questions to blog entries that answer them.  Now people will begin to stumble-upon your website for extremely specific searches and know you’re the right company for them.

Highlight your accomplishments and awards
The blog is a great platform to showcase any awards you win or hugely successful projects completed.

Share good news with the world
Got something positive to say about your industry?  This is the place to share it, and inspire positive comments about what you’re doing as well.

Build a subscriber base
Use your small business blog to build a subscriber base of current, past and potential clients as well as professionals in your industry and complimentary industries.  Create an authoritative and powerful voice stemming directly from your organization.

Network with other companies for business to business
Use your blog to connect with other businesses, especially those that blog as well.  You would be surprised how receptive other bloggers are to connect with you, and you may even develop new clients in this manner.

Two examples of fantastic industry leading blogs are the Top Rank Blog (marketing) and the Signal to Noise Blog (web development).  I can gaurantee you both of these companies get a significant amount of business that comes directly to them from maintaining these ultra-popular, high profile company blogs.  Why not do the same thing for your business?

Do a Google blog search or a Technorati blog search on your industry and you’ll quickly find that your competitors are blogging.  Study their sites, have a look at what they are doing right and wrong, and apply the best ideas (along with your own original ideas) to your blog.