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Two days ago I talked about some of the differences between forum posting and writing a company blog. Today I want to go a little deeper with that subject. I don’t want it to seem simpler than it is. It really is complicated and the strategies for each as well as the strategies used for both combined can get quite complicated. That’s why it’s best to start out with some goals and you can employ both a company blog and forum posting to help you achieve your goals.

Two Types of Company Blogs
There are likely several ways to categorize blogging for commercial purposes. The way we do it at Blog Content Provider is to frame it in terms of where your blog is located. You can put your blog on the same domain in a separate folder as your company website or you can put it on a separate domain name altogether. Either way is OK, but the benefits provided by doing it each way are different so it helps to understand what you are doing and why.

Putting a blog on your own domain name can help you add new pages to your website daily. This increases your search engine saturation and provides people looking for the information you provide with more ways to find it. Every blog post is counted as a separate web page by the search engines. Therefore, if you blog every day for a whole year then you have 365 additional pages on your website. If each of those blog posts is optimized around a single keyword phrase then you have 365 highly optimized web pages on your website in addition to what your main website has.

A blog on a separate domain name also builds search engine saturation, but it does so for the blog, not your website. However, a blog on a separate domain name can help you build link popularity. Link popularity is an important aspect of SEO. The more you increase your link popularity, the more you increase your overall search engine positioning. Each blog post you create this way can link to your website and help you build your link popularity and trust with the search engines.

Both types of blogs can be used for branding, for promoting your products and services, for promoting your affiliates, for driving traffic to your website, and for reputation management purposes.

The Benefits of Forum Posting
Forum posting is a little different than owning a company blog. Unless you own the forum, you are really at the mercy of someone else and that includes, but not limited to, the search engines. That’s not meant to scare you. It’s a fact. Nevertheless, forum posting does carry benefits.

It can build link popularity the same as a company blog. Every time you leave a post on a forum and link to your website then you are building link popularity. Links you build this way remain in the forum over time so don’t get shortsighted and think that the traffic numbers you see the first couple of weeks is all there is. You could still get excellent targeted traffic from forum posting a year later due to the reputation of the forum and how well the thread that you comment on is SEOd. Many forum post threads end up on Page 1 of a search engine and that leads to additional traffic. I’ve even seen individual forum post comments land on Page 1 of a search engine long term and that too will lead to a good source of traffic.

Forum posting can also be a good way to brand your company. By posting in forums with your signature link pointing back to your blog or website, you are building your brand through relationship marketing. Not everyone who visits your blog or website through the forum will make a purchase, especially the first time they visit your website. But when they are in the market for what you have to sell, they will think of you because they recognize your company name from seeing it in the forums so many times. This is called Top of Mind Awareness and it works. It has been used in traditional off line marketing for years.

Another benefit to forum posting as well as your company blog is reputation management. The more you get your name out on the Internet associated with the positive benefits of doing business with you then the more you are building a solid reputation. This is important for the long-term success of your company. With a solid reputation management strategy, you can stay active in all the right forums and maintain positive relationships with the people most likely to do business with you.

How To Make The Forum Posting/Company Blog Combination Work For You
You can employ a combination strategy with forum posting and a company blog to achieve the benefits that you want. Depending on the type of blog that you use, you can stay on top of

• Your link popularity
• Your search engine saturation
• Your reputation
• Traffic building
• Product or service promotion
• Company branding
• And relationship marketing

All on a daily basis. By staying on top of these important company reputation issues every single day, you can ensure that your reputation online is handled with finesse and that you build solid relationships with your targeted customers - relationships that last.