Blogging has come a long way. What started off as a seemingly self-indulgent medium used by people with an endless capacity to write about themselves, has evolved into a powerful communications tool used by a wide range of people and industries. Having a blog is a great way to quickly add fresh content to your website, further establish yourself in your field, and drive more traffic to your existing website.
Establish Your Expertise: Regularly blogging about topics related to your industry and providing readers with free, quality information they can use is an excellent way for you to voice your expertise. Blogging is a great way to further supplement the content on your main website.
Drive Traffic to Your Website: Think of each blog post as a new door to your site in which visitors can enter. A static website won’t maintain its ranking in the search engines for very long if it’s not updated frequently. Incorporating a blog into your existing website can drive more traffic to your site because your blog posts will get picked up by search engines. (Read my earlier post SEO Tips for Bloggers for more on this topic.)
More People are Reading Blogs: A recent study shows that one in three Americans now reads a blog at least once a month, and blog readership has increased 50% over the past year. What’s even better is that people are making purchasing decisions based on what they are reading.
Expand Your Customer Service: Are you tired of spending time answering the same FAQ’s? Addressing frequently asked questions on your blog rather than by email or by phone can save you valuable time. You can Tag those posts “FAQ’s” so your readers can read only customer service related posts.
Blogging is Inexpensive: Once your blog is set up the only cost involved is the time you are willing to spend writing. Don’t forget, your blog content can be reused in newsletters, emails, and online articles.
Get Listed in Blog Directories: You can get your blog listed for free within blog directories, (such as Best of the Web Blog Search, Bloggeries, Blogged, and Super Blog Directory), making it easier for people to find your blog, and company, by category.
Adding a blog to your website is an inexpensive way of publishing relevant content to your website to help keep it fresh and further establish your expertise. Keep your blog posts short, (500 words or less), and keep the content relevant to your business. People connect with blogs because the format is casual so don’t over think it and don’t try to constantly sell something.
Your blog should be the equivalent of a casual business conversation – keep it light, informative and leave the reader wanting to know more.
Related articles:
Blogs Will Change Your Business [Business Week]
I design websites, blogs, and develop social media campaigns for creative professionals who want increase their online visibility, promote their latest projects, and attract new creative opportunities.