All Entries Tagged With: "business blogs"
Are Blogs Still Relevant To Today’s Online Businesses?
If you listen to some people on the internet you would start to believe that blogs had gone past their ‘use by date”. I rather think they are missing the point when it comes to business blogs. Blogs in general are communication tools. They provide a pathway for businesses to communicate information to the public while providing a means with which the public can communicate with a business – in a very public way – comments are open to all to read. From an SEO perspective, blogs are still valuable tools when it comes to link building, particularly if the content is of value to someone. That last is the most important. You may not find this content valuable, but others may. Here are a couple of examples of where blog content is providing useful information to others.
Taker the The Plus Size Clothing Blog. Okay, so you are as skinny as a rake. But half of the western world’s population is said to be overweight and a great many of them require plus size clothing. A blog like this is in a position to provide information to these people whilst, hopefully, leading readers through to purchase plus size clothing. Since blogs are easier to rank in search results than, say, a sales site, it makes good business sense to create this blog. The latest post (at the time of writing) – Plus Size Style for the Apple Figure – looks at a particular body shape. Do you know about apple figures (not Apple Corp sales figures) and where to buy clothing to match? Probably not but a search may show this blog in the results – that is the aim.
Blogs go beyond sales. They are also valuable for distributing information. Are you parent considering sending your child to a private school? Are you in the New York area? The NYC Private Schools blog publishes information on private schools in the New York area. As a parent, you may find this blog a valuable resource when trying to determine which private school (if any) you want to send your child too. Their latest post – NYC Private School Focus on Beekman School - provides valuable information on the Beekman School, information parents will find useful before making any final decisions.
Is the business blog dead? No, it’s far from it. Providing good quality content over an extended period of time can help a business achieve their goals much faster than if they ignored the power of blogs. Add social marketing to the mix and you have a very powerful tool.
Need help establishing a powerful business blog? Ask a professional blog management team for more information.
Business Blogging: How Personal Should You Get?
There is a sense in which personal details included in your business blog can make you seem more human, and it’s quite possible that this could lead to additional business. The thinking is that people like to get to know who you are. And that’s true. But they’re also there to get information about your particular niche, business services, or products. Give them what they want.
What people really DON’T want is a marketing brochure. People online don’t like to be marketed to. The Internet has become a huge library of information and typically people go online to browse for information without being hit in the face with a blatant marketing message. They get enough of that on TV and radio and in their newspapers and magazines. They don’t want to see it online too. That’s why only about 20% of Internet browsers click on the pay per click ads.
So the question is, how do you take that information – the fact that people aren’t looking for blatant marketing messages – and turn that to your advantage. Well, you talk to them. That’s it. Conversationally, you strike up a good discussion and do two things: Listen. Talk.
Notice the order. First, you listen, then you respond to what the marketplace is saying. The way you listen is to read other blogs and visit a few forums. What questions are people asking? Those are the questions you should answer on your blog. If you do it right, people will come to your blog because you have the answers to the questions that they are asking. They will then begin to ask you their questions and you can respond to those.
By striking up a conversation, people will see you as approachable. In that way, you can be personal – and personable – which can lead to new business. You don’t have to tell them all about your deepest, darkest secrets. Save that for your diary.
Niche Blog Marketing For Products For Sale
There are still a lot of people around who do not believe blogging and social bookmarking can lead to sales for commercial products. Just like those that thought blogging was only a fad back in the 90s, bloggers who think that blogging and social bookmarking have no real benfit for businesses and product sales will learn they are wrong.
Many SEO people are convinced the only way to make money on the web is to rank well in the search engines and that you live and die by search engine traffic alone. Smart SEO people do not rely solely on search engines and try to get traffic from many different sources.
Here is a good example of a niche blog using the blog to sell product. It is well put together and with social bookmarking will likely rank well in the search engines for their products. With social bookmarking added into the mix they are also likely to make sales that do not go through the search engines.
If you would like to get pricing from us on how we can set up a sales blog for you, Click here and submit a pricing request for professional blogging services
Yahoo WordPress Plugin
Yet another search engine giving blogs the recognition many of us said they would have someday. Blogs have really come up in importance over the last couple of years.
Yahoo Does Bloggers A Bigup
Yahoo is launching a WordPress plugin that allows WP bloggers to . . .
The Rest of The Info About The Yahoo WordPress Plugin here
No longer is blogging just keeping a personal diary or giving people a place to rant about politics and things that just piss them off. Blogging is as mainstream as it can get now and most companies already make a blog part of their overall Internet Marketing and Branding strategy.
