WebMaster Solutions
Blogging
and
Marketing
Blogging for
Business
by Kenneth Catto
So you've heard
that having a blog is a good idea for your
business, but are you sure WHY it's important?
Understanding how blogs operate and how to use
them for your business will give you great
payoffs for your investment of time and energy.
Not using your blog effectively will simply
waste this fantastic resource.
WHY SHOULD I 'BLOG
FOR BUSINESS'?
Blogs are a great
method for giving your business credibility.
Whether you post about industry news, recommend
links to related topics or post valuable inside
information or experiences, your audience will
view you not only as a commercial venue but as a
business interested in its community.
You can also use
your blog to build traffic to your commercial
site and to build a list of interested
prospects. All of these issues are solid tools
for marketing your product or service online.
WHY BLOGGING IS
GREAT FOR CUSTOMERS
Blogs are not
viewed the same as a typical website or sales
page. The postings are often less formal or are
presenting readers with interesting tidbits that
entertain or inform about your topic or
industry. Regular postings that draw the
attention of your target market will build
interest in your product and establish you as an
'expert' as well as create a good relationship
with your prospects.
Since you can
offer subscriptions to your blog through
services like Bloglet.com, your prospects can
easily receive notice of your recent postings
right in their email inbox. By regularly posting
relevant information your prospects will look to
you first when needing the service or product
you provide.
Since many blogs
offer readers the ability to post comments you
immediately provide an opportunity for feedback
or questions. This can clue you in to what your
market needs or thinks, which can quickly be
responded to in your next post.
BLOGGING FOR
TRAFFIC
There are several
methods of traffic buildings with blogs. One
method is through the blog provider. Often the
provider offers readers the option of searching
for blogs with a word or phrase. Using that
phrase in your blog or title will bring
interested visitors.
The other method
is through search engines. Search engines love
fresh content and blogs make this easy. Simply
'ping' your blog to other media (this announces
your update) and the search engines will pick it
up. Using commonly searched words and phrases
may give you the top ranking you were looking
for. You can also link to your business website
with the phrase and increase traffic directly to
your sales page.
Finally, you can
add an RSS feature to your blog. RSS (Really
Simple Syndication) allows other websites to run
the content from your blog. Every time you make
a post the information will be automatically
updated on sites featuring your RSS. This is
attractive to sites with topics related to yours
since they will benefit from the fresh content
and you will benefit from the exposure.
If you haven't
jumped on the Blogging bandwagon yet you've been
missing out on one of the cheapest and smartest
marketing tools available. Creating a blog is
easy and profitable - so make yours today!
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