One of my favorite non-digital magazines is The Rotarian. (Yes, I occasionally read PAPER periodicals). An article in this month’s issue immediately caught my eye – it’s title… “to blog or not to blog?” I think we all know the answer to that one! OF COURSE you want to blog! One of the interviewed said “Business owners blog to demonstrate their expertise, project an image, show that they’re current, build credibility, and generate a sense of community”. All of those things are great, but some added benefits are:
- Great PR – You control the content, so it can be fine tuned for your target market. Blogs should be more of informal marketing tool than an advertisement – which tend to turn your audience off. If you allow the posting of moderated comments on your blog, your visitors have a sense of ownership – and what many business owners don’t think about – people are going to talk about your business anyway. Good or Bad, it’s better if you know what they’re thinking. And with moderated comments, you can control – and if appropriate, respond – potentially turning a negative into a positive. Why not make disciples of your visitors?
- Search Engines love your blog! With a little keyword strategy, you can bring your business to the top rankings very quickly.
- Blogs are a powerful tool for marketing and promotion. Because the entries are short, and usually full of links, they contain more “keywords” than articles. That also makes them easy to read and write which adds to the “stickiness” of your website.
Blogging is very popular right now. And having a business weblog that provides good information while being timely and fun can add a new dimension to your Web site.
So how could you start using a blog for your business?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Posting questions (and answering them) may provide a level of comfort to your clients. You might even deal with sales objections before they become objections.
- Promotions – List your “specials” or create an “online only” coupon for your blog to cement your relationship.
- News – The most common use for business blogs is news. Now, a little sage advice. Sure, you can post Company News, but your readers want to know that you’re on top of the industry news as well. Focusing on “Industry” topics creates instant credibility for you.
- What’s New Pages – If you add lots of new articles, information, or products regularly, it can be difficult for your customers to find out what’s new.
Blogs are an excellent method to share a company’s expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers. We’ve only scratched the surface on the benefits of business blogging. We’ll certainly be revisiting this topic – going deeper into the mechanics, strategies, and idiosyncrasies.
In the meantime, if you’d like more information about business blogging, just call 615.278.webi (9324)
