Savvy entrepreneurs are building name recognition and Internet traffic by blogging. They are using blogs to create and grow their relationships with customers and potential customers. And you can as well. Simply stated, blogs are a type of Web site. They have interactive features. Most use a content management system. Even enterprise businesses are taking blogging and bloggers seriously. Here are half a dozen tips for creating and posting content that can make and keep your blog an important element of your marketing mix:
1) Give It Personality; Be Interesting; Express an Opinion
Keep your blog engaging and fresh. Get lazy, and you risk losing readers. Read other blogs. Learn when to break the so-called business blogging “rule” about selecting and sticking to one topic.
2) Spotlight the News About Your Business
Highlight the latest information about your business, including special sales, coupons, new products, and new and enhanced services. Creating and maintaining your own blog gives you a platform from which to promote your small business without large cash outlays.
3) Add Links
Continually adding worthwhile links to your blog increases its value to readers, who hunger for links to Web sites and blogs with information they can use. Include links to useful blogs focused on topics related to those of your own blog. An added benefit of your effort to add links to useful blogs and Web sites is that those sites may link back to your blog, driving traffic your way.
4) Encourage Comments and Backlinking
Steve Weber, in Plug Your Business! Marketing on MySpace, YouTube, Blogs, and Podcasts, points out that the "free exchange of ideas is what makes blogs a revolutionary tool for entrepreneurs: A successful blog is a constant stream of ideas, inspiration, perspective, and advice--it's a real-time global focus group."
5) Post 3 or More Times Every Week
Determine the keywords most important for your business, and then create keyword dense content for your blog. Regular posting on specific topics helps build site authority on these topics--an important component of search engine optimization (SEO). A blog that is updated at least 3 times a week also can increase site "stickiness"--the time a visitor spends on a Web site. Posting frequently also prevents your blog’s news feed from cutting off your RSS subscribers, displaying the ominous notice “no new posts in the last 7 days.” Week-long breaks between posts may also interrupt a search engine’s pattern of spidering your content.
6) Keep Blogging
Regular blogging increases a Web site’s traffic. Traffic declines when a week goes by without a new blog entry. Don’t abandon your blog and the good will you’ve worked to build. Because circumstances (such as surgery, injury, illness, work overload, or family emergency) might prevent you from blogging for a time, plan for such contingencies by arranging in advance for one or more guest bloggers to create and post blog content until you are able to resume blogging.
As you make important additions to your blog, use the microblogging tool Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) to announce them.
Blogging is an informal, intimate form of communication. It can inspire trust among your readers. Done wisely, it can be a powerful tool for promoting your business.
Barbara Conn is a Publishing Strategist, Communicator, Reporter, and Eagle Eye Editor. She may be reached via e-mail or on the Web at http://www.BarbaraConn.com.
Copyright 2009 by Beacon Writing Services Corporation