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Blogging Your
Way to Business Success
by Peggi Ridgway
Author of the Successful Website Marketing workbook |
Please reprint this
article only with proper credit to the author and a link to
www.Wordpix.com. |
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| A blog is like a web-based log. Information
you write at your computer is automatically published
to your blogger website (hosted by a third party), then
automatically inserted into a template on
your own website, where it is viewed by others who can submit
comments. It's like a public diary or log in which you do most of
the talking. Blogs are powerful and can shape opinion on
timely topics. You can customize your blog and it can be open to all or a few. |
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Blogging is all the rage
these days and, interestingly, becoming somewhat of a standard for many
Internet savvy users. Businesses with "good" blogs are experiencing a
modicum of success in the search engines with higher listings on search
results pages. Many business and topical blogs have become popular. It's been said that Google alone is currently hosting more
than 8 million individual blogs. So "blogging is big." |
What's this new medium all about? Is it
for everyone?
A blog can be an important tool in your toolbox,
or it can fail miserably, reflecting a poor choice on your part. Here's why:
On the positive side, blogs rank
high in search engines because of the structure of each person's posting, the
highly focused characteristic of the postings (blogs are typically about one
topic and postings are straight to the point and relevant to that topic), the
repetition of key words and phrases (relating to the topic) and some other
technical factors. The title of your posting includes the keywords, and the
title is what search engines look for. Good blogs use good coding. A blog
service (such as those listed below) creates
the template with the correct tools and techniques. Blogs are also found easily
by search engines because they spiders do not need to
crawl through unrelated pages (such as the Contact Us page, dimensions and
specifications, etc.). The meat of the blog site is in its first page, current
posts and archived pages and posts, which are all highly focused on the topic.
So blogs have all this going for them, if they're
setup properly. Beware, however, that search engines such as Google are
currently exploring ways to defeat the multitude of blog listings in search
results. Why? Because blogs are taking over the natural web pages many of us
have worked so hard to get higher search positions for. (It's just not fair, is
it?)
Here are some noteworthy points to seriously
consider before you decide to start a blog:
Like most of us, a blog needs a worthy reason
to exist.
- Will you create your blog to encourage discussions
about a
process, product or idea? Great!
- Thinking of using a blog to spread the word
about your company, product or service? Nah. Wouldn't recommend it unless
you don't mind seeing members leave as quickly as they arrived. Although it
can be a forum for discussing a product, a blog will quickly fail if it's blatant advertising. It must be meaningful to all.
- Want a blog simply to get higher search engine
rankings for your business? Forget it. Instead, create a blog to give people something of value and a forum in which to
express and share ideas. If you want higher search engine rankings, use the
characteristics of a successful blog on your actual web pages: One highly
focused topic to a page, repetitive use of keywords relating to the topic on
the page, numerous links to the page, etc.
A blog is a tool. Like a hammer or a
screwdriver, it can be manufactured cheaply or as a solid, long-lasting piece of
equipment. And like a hammer or a screwdriver, it can be mis-used.
A blog is a way to hold a conversation
with people of like minds and interest. If you're a great conversationalist and
comfortable chatting your way around a topic, you won't find this a problem. If
you have difficulty conversing with others about your subject, or you feel
you're the expert and everyone else is a sap, forget it. Relationships are made
and nurtured in blogs. People react ... and act ... accordingly.
A good command of the English language is
a real plus. Who wants to try to decipher misspelled words and bad punctuation?
Help your blog become successful
through attitude, lively conversation and decent writing.
Trying to find more hours in your day? A blog
takes time and will squeeze your calendar even more. Spending time at your
computer writing and posting is practically a daily (at least several times a
week) requirement.
Good blogs don't ride
off into the sunset. They move
confidently forward, gathering steam (and members) and continuing to offer value in a professional, responsible
manner.
If you're still looking to create a blog, visit
www.google.com and search for "blogs." Visit
them, see how they operate, perhaps even join one on a topic of interest to you.
Then, if you think you'd like to run your own blog, try these third party services
(Please check them out for yourself, as we cannot endorse them here.). Most are
easy to use (you can setup a blog in minutes) and free:
Originally published for the
Successful Website
Marketing e-zine, May 2005. Permission to reprint is granted with attribution to
author Peggi Ridgway and a link to
www.Wordpix.com or
www.MyWebSavvy.com .
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