Blogging has rocketed into a consistent online presence within just a short amount of time. With blogs being the way that many businesses communicate with their customers I hear the same concerns and questions from business owners:
- Do I need a blog for my business?
- What’s the point of having a blog?
- How do I start a blog for my business?
- Who has the time to write my blog?
Yes, you need a blog!
The truth is everyone should be blogging. No matter what your online services are, you have something that is potentially valuable to others. Your job is to draw attention to your service or product. Blogging creates pertinence to your business by describing details that may be easily overlooked. It allows you to reference current events, trends or social moods in relation to your business. Finally, it creates a dialogue with your targeted audience and draws search engines to your website.
“Sounds great”, you say, “Now, how do I start a blog?”
It’s certainly getting easier to set up venues for blogging with user-friendly websites like WordPress.com and Blogger.com. The easiest part of the blogging process is probably setting up your blog site! These interactive sites practically hold your hand through the set-up process. What you do with it afterwards is totally up to you!
How do I make my blog more effective?
Like most things, it’s about the time you invest into your blog and the content you present. Here are some key factors to launching and maintaining a successful blog:
- Keyword Research– Every business has those perfect key words or catch phrases that draw the most attention. Blogging properly allows you to capitalize on those keywords and the messages behind them. It’s important to focus each blog on a unique phrase or topic that draws in that audience through search engine queries. As with all proper SEO techniques, the keyword should be featured in the title, headers and throughout the blog for the best effect.
- Imaging and Videos– When choosing your blog’s keywords find images where you can use many of the same tagged words in the descriptions. Creating video blogs is also useful in promoting your goods and services in a creative, eye-catching way.
- Create URL that is search engine friendly– it’s vitally important that you use your keyword in the URL so that search engines quickly recognize you and directs traffic to your website. Most blog sites allow you to create this personalized URL easily.
- Engage other websites– Whether you are cross-referencing another site, engaging on other blogs or linking back into your own website, it is appreciated when your blog can link you to more information.
- Blog Frequently– To be the most effective and get the most attention from search engines, frequency is the key! Dedicate a day and time that your blog is required to go out each week. (More is better but it’s important to be realistic in what you can achieve).
Not all businesses have the time and manpower to create and maintain a successful blog. It’s okay to ask for help. Enlisting the help of an outsourced marketing agency to assist you in any single part of, or all of the blogging process is becoming the norm. The team at Witmer Group has a ton of tips for this to! So feel free to ask for more info!