How Many Ways Can You Use A Business Blog?
Business blogging is starting to catch on like a fever. Actually, it’s been pretty hot for a little over a year now, but I see it picking up speed if only because more and more business owners and leaders are really understanding what a blog can do. It’s more than just some fun tool or joy for high schoolers. It’s a communication medium with its own set of useful guidelines. Here’s a great article by Adam Blust on how you can use a blog to boost your business:
Using Blogs on Your Business Web Site
By Adam Blust
Blogs have come a long way in a few short years. What started out as a vehicle for disaffected teenagers to vent their deep feelings of alienation and for shut-ins to post cute cat photos has become a flexible, low-impact way for all kinds of businesses to make the most of the web.
At its most basic, a blog is just a special kind of web page, with 1) short items of news or other timely content 2) listed in reverse chronological order, with the newest items listed first. Both of those concepts are perfect for the web, because the web is 1) geared toward fast reading and 2) emphasizes newness.
Plus, blogs have gone a long way toward de-mystifying the web for even the most non-technical business owner. Tools like Blogger, WordPress and TypePad have made setting up a blog simple, easy and (in many cases) free. You can link to your blog from your main web site, or even make the blog a replacement for your site’s front page. Posting a new item to your blog is as easy as writing an e-mail, and even adding photos or video is a snap.
But then what?
Because the blog format is so open-ended, there are many ways you can use it to improve your web site, depending on the type of site you have and your business goals. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Post the latest industry news, culled from elsewhere on the web or from other sources.
- When you find a web site your customers would find useful, post it to an “Around the Web” blog on your site, with a short comment about why this link is so interesting.
- Use a blog to manage a Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ) document, one of the most useful pages for any web site.
- Post product tips and tricks on your blog. Let customers do it too, through comments.
- Invite some of your best customers to post on your blog. They can write testimonials, recommend related web sites, and even give advice to other customers.
- Let employees have their own blog pages on your site, allowing them to show their expertise and help customers solve problems.
- Keep customers updated on rapidly-changing topics like product schedules, sales and upcoming events.
- Let students in a classroom start a class blog, so they can share what they’re learning and practice writing and editing skills.
- Use a blog to help a team manage a project. When one team member makes a contribution to the project, they archive it on the blog. That way, everyone stays updated on what everyone else is doing, without a lot of meetings.
- Give each division of your company a blog, so they can update the whole organization on what they’re doing. Again, the result is fewer meetings and more information exchange.
- Keep an employee bulletin board blog on an internal web site (intranet), cutting down on those “send all” e-mails about muffins in the break room and what to bring to the company picnic.
- Write original mini-articles tailored to your customers’ interests. If you sell gourmet foods, post recipes. If you run a lawn care business, write about new landscaping ideas or how to save water.
Once you start using them, you’ll be surprised how many applications you’ll find for blogs on your web site. A blog is just an easy way to organize and post useful, up-to-date information to your web site, without waiting for a web guru to post it for you. The web thrives on freshness, and blogs can help give that to you. In the end, you get a better site and your customers get more timely information that they can really use. What’s not to love?
Adam J. Blust is a web designer, writer, photographer, graphic designer, programmer, pop culture fanatic, and head honcho of lucky8ball design in Madison, WI. lucky8ball specializes in helping small businesses create web sites that get results. Visit his web site at http://www.lucky8ball.com or call him at 608-661-0888.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Blust
There are a lot of ways you can use a business blog to communicate with customers, employees, and partners. You can increase your brand’s awareness in the marketplace and establish yourself as a voice of authority. Or you can use a blog to further improve your performance in the search engines. But the best blogs do all of these. And all it takes is a little creativity and the desire to succeed.
