Blogging for Business
Part 1
As entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, writers, business owners and the like, you have no doubt been hearing that a blog is an important marketing tool for your business. But what is a blog and how can you use it to promote your company?
First things first, Merriam Webster defines a blog as, "A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer." Blogs cover as many different topics and express as many different opinions as there are people writing them – you can find a blog on just about anything from food to politics to technology, and even blogs about all three combined.
What’s in a blog?
In simple terms, a blog is a website that you update on a frequent and ongoing basis. Of the millions of blogs on the Internet, most are in the form of a journal, which is a series of articles or posts that reflect the writers’ experience, views, and expertise. New posts appear at the top, so visitors can easily find what’s new, then comment on your blog, link to it, recommend it, or email you. Unlike your website, it’s extremely easy to add information to a blog, so its content and scope will change and evolve over time.
Generally speaking, blogs tend to have a few things in common:
- At the core of a blog is a main content area where articles, called “posts”, are listed chronologically. The articles are often organized into categories.
- As the volume of posts increases, providing an archive that organizes them by date, category, or alphabetically will allow readers to easily navigate through the information and find what they want.
- Most blogs offer a way for people to leave comments on your blog, link to it, recommend it, or email you directly. Blogging is more than just putting your thoughts on the web, it’s about connecting with, and hearing from, anyone who reads your words and wants to engage in the discussion.
- Many bloggers incorporate a blogroll, which is a list of recommendations by the blogger to other blogs and websites.
- Most blogs are “subscribable” via a feed in order to build traffic and keep your readers up to date.
How can blogging help your business?
A good business blog will attract search engines, display your company’s personality, and encourage customer participation. An effective blog can:
- Humanize your business: Much like networking, blogging helps you connect with potential clients and gives them an opportunity to get to know more about you and your business.
- Increase your credibility: You’re well-respected within your own network. By blogging, you can share your expertise and become known to a much wider audience.
- Drive traffic to your main website: Write articles on your blog about topics that interest your target customer and link back to relevant content on your website.
- Create additional revenue streams: Many bloggers make additional money by incorporating contextual ad links for Google AdSense, impression-based ads from systems like ValueClick Media, text ads from AdBrite, and affiliate programs through companies like Amazon, ClickBank, and Commission Junction.
- Gain exposure for your product or service: It goes without saying that the added benefit to all of this is great publicity for your business.
Where do I Blog?
Every blog needs a hosting environment to store all of its files, as well as a content management platform to post and organize content and customize its appearance. Before doing anything, you’ll need to decide whether to host a blog within your own hosting environment or link to an externally hosted blog.
Posting content is fairly easy, but setting up and maintaining it can be a challenge, so choose a platform that suits your company’s budget and technical expertise. If you’re new to blogging, your best bet is most likely a developer-hosted platform which is free or very low-cost, easy to set up, simple to run, and are quickly indexed in search engines.
Three such services that will get you started blogging quickly are Blogger.com, TypePad.com, and WordPress.com. Blogger is free and simplest to use, so it’s an easy choice for new bloggers. However, it has limited features, so many professional bloggers prefer WordPress for its customization options and the ability to have a unique domain name for your blog. WordPress offers both free and premium hosted solutions. TypePad is an option that offers customization and ease of use. TypePad plans start at $4.95/month.
There are many blog platforms on the market, including several non-hosted blogging sites, to choose from. However if you’re just getting started and you want to keep it simple, a hosted blog platform is an easy solution. However, if you want to develop a professional blog, you’ll want to do more research on all the available platforms. Do a Google search for “choosing a blog platform”, and you’ll find lots of information that will help you with your research.
Look for next month’s Blogging for Business article, “Building your Blog”
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