Blogging For Business - Great Reasons For Every Business To Start A Weblog

If Howard Dean's failed political campaign accomplished anything, I would say that it brought to the mainstream the use of something called a weblog or "blog" as it known in cyberspace.

A blog is really nothing more than a diary uploaded to the Internet and until about the last 12 months was the realm of the individual who saw it as a way to publish there random (and sometimes disturbed) thoughts. The great thing about weblogs, and the growing set of software that is being created to publish them, is that they are a tremendous business tool.

Weblogs allow you to create content and contact?and that is what your clients crave more than anything.

I use a program (there is a free trial version) called PMachine to publish my weblog at DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php. This program allows me to simply make many entries and updates and also allows readers to add comments. Better still, now seemingly random articles can be sorted and searched by content or subject. My weblog is more like a content management system and my readers seem to love it.

Another great reason to explore the use of weblogs is that search engines seem to love them. Within 30 days of launching my weblog it became the most visited page on my fairly high traffic website.

So what is it about blogs that those little spiders love so much?

Here's a little secret, search engines crave content. Okay so maybe that's not such a secret but to look at many websites you would think it so. The fact is that too many websites just sit there doing nothing that the search engines admire. Providing content, not to mention fresh content, is one of the toughest chores of anyone who maintains a website. But when it comes to generating traffic it is the most important job.

Blogs, by their very nature, are all about content. In a commercial environment every blog entry is fresh content. Get in the habit of making two, three, even four entries a week and you've got a content building bonanza on your hands. Everyone knows you need new content to give visitors a reason to come back; blogs just make the task so much easier.

Another advantage that blogs seem to currently possess over traditional web pages and sites is lack of competition. While the number of bloggers grows daily, there are still relatively few commercial blog sites. When I created my blog I found that it showed up in the number 3 spot in Google for the term "Marketing Weblog" within about 3 weeks of launch. Not bad considering I did nothing to make it happen.

There are a couple of other things you should do to make your weblog a traffic magnet. They aren't really that different than tradition SEO tactics but the names and faces are unique to the blogging world.

Use targeted keywords in your entry titles

No rocket science here but this tip can't be stated enough. Forget cute?go for titles that fit your targeted keywords and phrases?even if they seem a bit awkward. (You do have targeted keywords and phrases don't you?)

Register with Blog Search Engines ? Search engines that specialize in blogs

http://www.daypop.com/

http://www.blogvision.com/

http://www.blogsearchengine.com/

Register with Tracking Services ? These services note when a blog has been updated and publish an ongoing list. They even keep track of the most updated and most visited weblogs. Plus you get to learn what pinging is.

http://blo.gs/

http://www.weblogs.com/

Trade Some Links

You don't need to get out of control on this one but a few "relevant" swapped links to related blogs can boost your traffic.

Syndicate your content

This one is way to technical to cover here but do some research on the term RSS and you may discover ways to have your content and entries fed to sites that are hungry for the type of stuff you write. Many of the popular weblog software packages have this capability built right in.

http://www.feedster.com/

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

About The Author

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of "Duct Tape Marketing" a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blog at http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php

---

Blogging For Business Bible

The items covered here are:1) Don't Wait before Blogging.2) Using... Read More

See RSS Feeds from Your Website

RSS feeds have made it so convenient to gather current... Read More

5 Easy Ways To Use RSS On Your Site

You hear so much talk about RSS these days on... Read More

RSS ? Will It Really Become Mainstream?

I am not one to have New Year's resolutions, but... Read More

RSS: A Really Smart System For Sending And Receiving Content Online

"RSS" stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a standard... Read More

Blogs and Networking

In the middle 1990's everyone started talking about needing a... Read More

Gathered Statistical Data Announces that Blogs will Dominate the Internet in Less than a Few Years

... if not months to come.At a distinctive and stable... Read More

Blogs: Why, Where and How

So you have heard about the blogs or you are... Read More

Blogging For Business - Great Reasons For Every Business To Start A Weblog

If Howard Dean's failed political campaign accomplished anything, I would... Read More

Why You?re Not Blogging - And Why You Should Start Today

Those of you who aren't ready to wade into the... Read More

For Wordpress users version 1.5 new feature ?Pages?

After many requests from wordpress users, the latest version of... Read More

Find Out How Microsofts Plans Could Make Your Subscribers Beg You for RSS Content!

Microsoft recently announced that they will be releasing a new... Read More

4 Fail-Proof Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers

Using RSS on your website is a good way to... Read More

Tips for a Better RSS Feed

Like anything else, a little work can pay dividends. Well-written... Read More

What are Blogs and How Do You Profit from Them?

'Blogs' or 'Blogging' have existed for several years and there... Read More

The Fearful, Ignorant Guy Has Got A Blog On The Internet - It Must Be Easy!

Of all people in the world I was easily one... Read More

Web Blogs, Defined, Explained and Understood

What are Blogs?Having heard the term previously but not having... Read More

Simple Syndication (RSS) -- Wheres The Payoff?

How RSS really does pay off...Have you heard of RSS... Read More

Blogs: A Fool Proof Way to Attract Visitors

Blogs might seem like an old hat at this time... Read More

What is a Blog? In Plain English Please

If you are fairly new to the Internet, you have... Read More

RSS for Newbies; A Quick Tutorial

"RSS" stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a new... Read More

Will RSS Replace Email?

RSS is a big buzz word right now, and this... Read More

Blog and Ping is Dead

Unfortunately, this formerly reliable method of getting listed in Yahoo... Read More

Blogging for Business

Business blogs are primarily used to improve a company's communication... Read More

Blog or Ezine? Top 7 Reasons to Blog Now!

Many of my small business clients ask me: "What is... Read More

Marketing with Blogs and RSS Feeds

Perhaps you still don't realize or fully understand the power... Read More

Blogging Advice - Give Your Readers What They Want

Web gives a lot of exposure; weblog stabilizes the exposure... Read More

Feed The Need: 5 Ways To Use RSS To Boost Your Business Or Organizational Success

RSS (it stands for Really Simple Syndication, among other things)... Read More

Using Feedburner to Add Statistics to Your RSS Feed

Out of many of the free RSS and blogging services... Read More

A Blog Isnt Just For Christmas

I was watching the news on TV last night and... Read More

How using RSS will attract and maintain visitors

There are nowhere near the amount of webmasters using RSS... Read More

RSS For Fresh Content & Better Ranking

A lot of commotion was made some time ago when... Read More

6 Reasons Why RSS Beats Email Marketing

A brand new marketing tool predicted to replace email is... Read More