Blog Content Provider .com

Too many people think that hosting is simple and easy. They believe that any old host will do, but I’ll tell you from experience that this isn’t true. There are popular hosts that I would never recommend for a company blog.

When it comes to choosing a host for your blog, you need to think about a long-term commitment. You don’t want to have to pull out and find a new host because of lousy service or technical issues. It’s worth it to pay a little extra for a host that can meet your blog’s needs. Specifically, you want a web host that can address the following issues:

• Speed - If you have a slow loading blog or website you will lose sales. You want a host that can increase the your load time speed and that means picking a host that doesn’t put your blog on a server that is bogged down by spammers and huge files.
• Functionality - For a blog, you need to stay away from Windows Servers. We recommend Linux or Apache. You also want a host that can support Fantastico, cpanel, php, and MySQL. Functionality is very important for a blog and modern blogging platforms - the best ones - are php and MySQL based. You want the best functionality available for the best performance.
• Tech Support - Cheap web posts provide cheap and lousy tech support. Remember, as in all things, you get what you pay for. When you have a problem, you want someone who can speak your language and takes your problem seriously.
• Customer Service - Finally, customer service. I separate this from technical support because sometimes you just need good, solid advice. Blog Content Provider gives advice based on more than 20 years combined experience in SEO, blogging, and Internet marketing. We recommend what works. Not only do you get valuable experience with us, but we also evaluate your business plan based on your goals. If it won’t work, we’ll let you know before you spend thousands of dollars. If it’s a good idea, we’ll praise you for it!

When it comes to these very important issues regarding web hosting, for your blog we recommend SEO Hosting Provider. Yes, it’s a part of our family, but that’s not why we recommend it. We recommend it because we’ve put the thought behind the processes necessary for your blog and have designed a blog host to meet those needs. If you can find a better host anywhere else we’ll still work with you to make your blog the best that it can be.

I wouldn’t start a website today without a blog. Some people don’t even bother with a website and just use a blog. I don’t think I’d go route that either, but a website without a blog in today’s marketing economy just doesn’t make senses. Here are the top 3 reasons you need a blog today:

1. A blog increases your search engine saturation - A static website with 10 pages means you have 10 chances at getting ranked in the search engines for your keywords. Every blog post is a separate web page, however, and every time you write a blog post you create one more chance to achieve a high ranking for your keywords. After one year of daily blogging you’ll have 365 potential high rankings. With a 10-page website you’ll still just have 10 chances.
2. A blog is crawled more often - Search engines like fresh content. If you build a static site and only update it once a year then you will likely only see the search engine spiders once a year. But if you write to a blog every day then you’ll get crawled every day.
3. A blog is natural link bait - Inbound links count. You can build a static website and never get linked to, but if you write to a blog every day and you write useful, valuable content, you will almost always get linked to from other blogs, especially if you are involved in a community within a niche.

Why not start a blog and start taking advantage of these benefits today?

Here’s an excellent article for real estate professionals on the different types of blog that you can start for your local real estate market to help you market your business:

Real Blogging - 3 Creative Ways to Use a Real Estate Blog

By Brandon Cornett

Blogs are a simple and efficient way to publish information onto the Web. Blogging programs are flexible, versatile, easy to set up and even easier to use. Because of these benefits, people from many different industries are using blogs in creative ways to support their business.

Real estate agents have also found many effective uses for the blog. This is the industry I am most familiar with, so I would like to contribute a few ideas of my own. Here are five ways real estate agents can use blogging to support their business.

The author actually only introduces three types of real estate blog, but I’ll provide the other two. We have had many clients succeed with their real estate blogs and I know we can help you too.

1. Relocation Advice and Support

A savvy agent could create a blog catering to people who plan to relocate to the agent’s city. This would be a great way to keep these folks informed on local real estate issues. It’s also a good way for the agent to connect with future clients who are moving to the area. Blogging programs are easy to set up, so an agent could create one specifically for this purpose.

This strategy is perfect for areas with a high rate of buyer influx and population growth. For example, here in the Austin area where I live, there are a lot of folks relocating from California. If I were a local real estate professional, I would launch a blog that catered to these people. It would be a great way to generate new business, so it would be a worthwhile venture.

Relocation advice is one of the most popular types of real estate blog. Not only can you share information about relocating to your particular area, but you can also provide general relocation tips like this moving company does. In fact, why not partner with a moving company in your area to write a combined blog dealing with relocation advice? You can market both of your companies and share the expense.

2. Local Real Estate News Source

An enterprising and web-savvy agent could also manage a blog like a real estate news website. It could be hosted under its own domain with its own web address, separate from the agent’s main website. That way the blog could be named something appropriate, like the “Raleigh Realty Weekly” (or whatever is applicable to the agent’s locality and specialty).

This publishing strategy would benefit the publisher in several ways. First of all, the agent gains another source of Internet traffic, which can be valuable in terms of business growth. Theoretically, two websites could mean twice the traffic … and twice the leads.

This is also a great way to network with professionals in related industries, such as home inspectors, mortgage brokers, home stagers and more. These folks could even be invited to contribute information to the site.

A news blog would also help the agent establish a level of authority. For example, few agents would be able to say something like: “Jane is also the publisher of the Dallas Real Estate Review…”

Excellent advice. One well-written mortgage and real estate news blog is the Mortgage and Real Estate Blog. This is a blog that covers the mortgage, banking, and real estate industries. It also sometimes promotes real estate and mortgage blogs that use the Blog Content Provider services or that choose to sponsor the blog (contact BCP).

When it comes to blogging, the real estate industry probably has the most natural creative outlets for meeting the needs of its customer base. Why not use them?

3. Timely Market Updates

Blogging is easy, even for people with little or no web-publishing experience. As a result, blogs are ideally suited for updating an audience about timely topics. This is why a lot of realty professionals use blogging programs in the first place. They realize that their audience (home buyers and sellers) wants current information about the local housing market. So these Internet-savvy agents use their blogs to share information about local sales trends, housing prices, new homes for sale, new neighborhoods being developed, etc.

Blogging seems easy, but it really isn’t. You have to understand how to get attention for your blog and many self bloggers stumble through it without ever achieving any level of success with it. But blogging about your local real estate market is probably the easiest way for real estate self bloggers to get in on the action. Doing it this way will demonstrate your level of knowledge on your market, but it will also mean you are just like everyone else. You have to do something to set yourself apart from other real estate bloggers like Adrienne Francis has done.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the ways you can use a real estate professional can use a blog to grow his or her business. There are plenty of other creative strategies as well. The point of this article is merely to open your eyes to the possibilities of blogging. Not all of these ideas will be right for you, but one of them could be. So do some experimentation and see what you can come up with. Use the ideas I’ve listed above to get your creative juices flowing. Good luck.

Brandon Cornett publishes a number of websites related to real estate marketing, mortgage web site strategies and more. For more marketing tips, visit the author online at http://www.smartmortgagemarketing.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandon_Cornett

This is a great article by Brandon Corbett, but as he said at the end, there are other ways you can make a real estate blog work for you. One other type of real estate blog that you can write is a community blog. Instead of focusing entirely on real estate, you can make your blog’s focus the entire community that you serve. You can lead people to the parks and rec department of your city, discuss neighborhood improvement, community service projects, or anything of service to your community. This type of blog will make you a pillar of the community and not just a real estate agent.

Another type of blog that you can write is a local listing blog. Why not make each blog post highlight a listing in your portfolio? This is relatively simple and can be done through RSS feeds or simply by copying and pasting the descriptions of homes in your portfolio listings to your blog. There will be a high degree of duplicate content with this type of blog, which may cause it to not do so well in the search engines, but because it is a blog and not a static website, you can reach your market through ping lists that are off limits to static web pages where real estate listings usually appear. You can essentially use this type of blog to target a market demographic that you can’t reach through normal organic search marketing.

There are other types of real estate blogs that you can put to good use as well:

• Hybrid - Combine one or more of these types of blogs into one.
• Specialty - Write a green real estate blog or target another specialized market segment.
• Use your imagination - There is no limit to what you can achieve through a real estate blog. Have an idea? Let us know. Blog Content Provider is ready when you are to do what they say can’t be done.

Some new bloggers are confused about the difference between tags and categories so I’m going to try to clarify that for you now.

Categories are broad groups for blog posts within a niche. For instance, if you are writing a blog about real estate then you might have the following categories:

• Buyer Tips
• Seller Tips
• Mortgage Tips
• Open House

Generally speaking, you don’t want too many categories - 10 to 15 ought to do it. I don’t think I’d want more than 20, tops. But the purpose of the categories is to group all of your related blog posts so that readers can find them easily.

Now, what are tags?

Tags are a bit more specific than categories. While we recommend that you use categories as keywords, they don’t necessarily need to be keywords. But tags should be keywords that you mention in your blog posts. And keep this in mind: You can have individual blog posts in different categories use the same tags.

When you create tags, you want to use important words that are used in your blog posts. For instance, you might have two posts categorized in your Buyer Tips and Seller Tips categories that each mention negotiating and contracts. You could tag both blog posts with ‘negotiation’ and ‘contract’ tags and any other tags that are appropriate for the post. I wouldn’t use more than 5 or 6 tags per post, but they are meant to be specific keyword counters for specific individual blog posts without consideration for the category those posts are in. There is no limit to the number of tags you might have for your blog, but you should try to be consistent in your use of them.

Learn more about Blog Content Provider.

Do you have a method for writing your next blog post? I’ve hit upon a six-step process that is guaranteed to get your next blog a real boost in authority and sex appeal. Here’s the process:

1. Choose a category - Before you do anything else, pick your category. You should have a list of 10-15 categories in your blog repertoire. Start your blogging by choose the category. The category name, or a variation of it should be your keyword phrase.
2. Define your blog post’s keyword focus - If your category name is the keyword you’ll focus on for that blog then you’re OK. Feel free to modify the category name slightly so that every blog post in that category doesn’t use the exact same keyword phrase.
3. Write a highly optimized blog post - Write your blog post around your chosen keyword phrase, including necessary anchor text that points to the page on your website you want to promote.
4. Compose your blog post’s title - Make sure you use a keyword and that you write a blog post that tells readers precisely what to expect from your blog post.
5. Add your tags - If you are using the latest version of WordPress, pick 3-5 tags for your blog post.
6. Review and publish - Hit “Save” then preview your blog post. Fix any errors. After you’ve got a blog post that you can be proud of, hit “Publish.” Lovely, eh?

Enjoy your next blog post. This six-step process allows me to write a blog post in less than 10 minutes. If you know your topic well then you can write off the cuff and be done in no time. Your readers will think you spent hours on that blog post.

When it comes to blog posts, how short is too short?

Well, the real answer is, there is no too short. You can post a one sentence blog post and that’s better than nothing. But if you want a highly optimized blog post then the longer the better. But the real way to optimize blog posts is to make them not too short and not too long.

If it’s too long then no one will read it. If it’s too short then you might not get a good ranking in the search engines. There is an optimal length, but it isn’t counted in words or paragraphs. The optimal length is how much space you need to cover your topic adequately. But if all you can do on a given day is post, “Hey, just dropping in to say Hi,” it’s not optimal, but it’s better than nothing. Just don’t do that too often or your friends will think you don’t like them any more.

Many people still do not know what a blog is. As long as this form of communication has been around you would think that business owners would begin to understand. But they haven’t. Especially small to medium size business owners.

It’s makes sense really. You’re busy running your business. You don’t have time for blogging and you’re not sure why you should. Well, that’s understandable.

While you may not know what a blog is today, you will in a few years. I predict that in five years everyone who is online will be running a blog, or they won’t be getting much traffic to their website. A blog is the best way to attract search engine spiders and humans interested in your topic. But what is a blog?

I will attempt to define a blog in terms that you can understand: A blog is a new way of presenting a website using custom or off-the-shelf software that places the latest information on your website at the top and that also allows you to categorize your information according to keywords that are important to you and your target audience.

Does that confuse you? Let me break it down:

1. A blog uses special software - You have to have blogging software of some kind. There are various software packages on the market, but the one I recommend is WordPress. It’s free and relatively simple to learn.
2. Organizes latest information at the top of the page - Which means the oldest information is at the bottom and if it’s real old then it’s archived on separate pages.
3. Allows you to organize information by keywords - Blogs have categories and tags that allow you to organize your information. Categories are usually niche-related words that you can use to organize your blog posts that are related to each other, but which may contain different information. Tags are better for addressing each separate blog post such that you could have blog posts with information about different topics and placed in different categories that share the same tag simply because you mention a certain item in those blog posts even though the focus of the information is different.
4. You become a publisher - As a blogger, you have editorial control. You decide what’s important and what the focus of your information should be. You can write, edit, and publish the information on your blog or hire someone to do it for you.

This is a simple snapshot of what a blog is. It doesn’t contain everything you should know or can know about a blog. Consider it an introduction. If you want to see an example of a blog, you’re looking at one now. Blog Content Provider is a ghostwriting services that manages company blogs for a list of clientele in various industries. Our knowledge of SEO and Internet marketing can benefit you as every blog post has the potential to rank in the search engines for your key phrases. For more information about blogging, check out our website.

We had a real estate agent as a client who was getting more leads from our daily blog posting on her blog than she’d ever received before. She stopped using our service because she said she wasn’t closing any sales. Hey, agent! That’s not my job. It’s your job. But if I can drive traffic to your website and make people pick up the phone to call you from your real estate blog then it’s the best marketing tool you can have.

This article explains it very well:

Do You Need a Real Estate Blog?

By Alyice Edrich

Every real estate agent should have his (or her) own website and with web hosting fees and domain registrations so affordable, there’s no reason not to “get with the times”. Websites are more than business cards or lead generators, they’re customer relation tools. By adding “search listings” or “featured listings” to your website, it becomes a dynamic tool that allows your customers to know firsthand what’s available on the market. And with the advanced technology of blogs, you can keep your customers informed without pestering them.

Blogs are social networks that work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They never close for holidays, vacations, or sick leave. And if it’s good enough, there will always be someone recommending you via a link exchange, a reference post, a forwarding email, and even word-of-mouth.

Realtors® are probably the slowest group of individuals to embrace the idea of blogging to generate leads, and who can blame them. We’ve all been taught to “get out there and sell”, “you’re not making money if you’re sitting behind your desk”, and finally, “person to person networking gains more leads than any other type of advertising and/or marketing method”. But times are changing and you need to change with them. People are growing more and more accustomed to “trusting” people they’ve only met on the Internet-which makes blogging a great lead generating tool!

And if that’s not enough to convince you to give blogging a try, think about this: People turn to the Internet before they open their telephone books, before they call 4-1-1, before they read their daily newspaper, and before they hit the bookstores.

Don’t you want to be the first person they see when they type in “your city, your state, real estate agent”? Don’t you want to earn their trust and gain their business?

Alyice Edrich is the author of Tid-Bits For Making Money With E-books. Learn how you can earn $10,000 a year or more selling information you already possess-from the comfort of your own home. Visit http://thedabblingmumpress.com to order a copy today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alyice_Edrich

Seriously, a blog can drive traffic to your real estate blog and increase your business. A blog isn’t used to close sales. It’s used to generate leads and communicate with the market place. Why not look into ways that you can use a real estate blog today, and join the ranks of the dozen real estate professionals we have as clients.

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.

It might seem tempting to go the free route when looking at setting up a company blog, but I wouldn’t recommend it. And I know many companies that do it. But I still wouldn’t recommend it.

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with setting up a Blogger account and using the blog to publish your articles on with backlinks back to your website or blog. That can be a good thing. But I wouldn’t recommend using Blogger as your primary company blog for several reasons:

• You don’t control the domain name. If Google ever decides to sell Blogger or discontinue it for some reason then you will lose all of your blog posts. No recompense. Gone. Can you afford for your business to just be up and gone that way?
• There are also reputation issues at stake. A Blogger blog is not as impressive as a blog that sits on real estate that you own.
• Blog customization. When you own the real estate on which your blog sits, it is a lot easier to customize your blog than it is with a free host. Free is not always less expensive.

There many reasons why you shouldn’t use a free blog host. But when it comes to your business, make the investment. Own the real estate. Protect your image. Find out more about managing a business or commercial blog.