Would your business like more exposure?
Would it benefit from a wider audience?
Do you feel your existing website is too restricted in selling your company to potential customers?
I would like you to imagine your business as an iceberg. What is visible, what your customers get to see and understand, is like the area above the waterline: only a tiny proportion.
And under the water lies the remainder: the cogs and wheels, the inner workings, the nitty-gritty, what your business is really like. Packed full of examples, stories, good news, new ideas, all the things your website hasn’t the room to include.
And so it shouldn’t: a ‘brochure style’ like website should not be cluttered with all this extra stuff. In today’s busy world people haven’t the time and inclination to sit and read loads of text and description, they need quick-fire facts and figures, features and benefits, to show the appropriate impression of your business. In fact, each webpage has just three seconds to get their message across…
So how can you communicate the ‘other bits that we do?’ How do you invite customers below the waterline to view the remainder of your business?
The answer is: a blog.
Imagine somewhere that could archive additional relevant information about your company.
A medium that can be regularly updated with the latest news, stories, testimonials, special offers, new ventures or whatever.
Another space on the net that can be edited without a webmaster, so anyone can easily make regular contributions.
Like an on-line newspaper (or diary if you wish), a blog provides continuous material for its readers, both present and past. This also contributes to search engine optimisation, assisted by links to your website, to and from commenters providing feedback, and to other resource material – in fact, the key is to get as many links included as possible.
And don’t forget that spiders visit blogs far more frequently than websites.
Don’t just create your blog and neglect it. Use RSS (really simple syndication) to feed into other locations on the net, such as social networking sites, search engine reader pages, Twitter (which feed into Facebook and other similar sites), and application widgets that provide links of past and present posts on your and other websites/blogs. All valuable towards attracting a passing audience as well as keeping your existing followers informed.
Visit our blogging pages to find out more >>>
What do you use your blog for?
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Hi Alice
I have a business blog: http://pensarmarketing.blogspot.com
I am not sure how to use it, I have heard different things from different people. My posts vary from personal to business as this is what I have been told works. To be honest I do not use it very often because I am unsure of how to get the best from it.
I would like to use my blog for business more than I do and possibly earn a small revenue from it eventually.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated!
Thank you, Sara
www.pensarmarketing.co.uk
–oo00oo–
Hi Sara
Took a look at your blog, and I’m afraid my first reaction is why do you use a black background? It makes my eyes go shimmy and I find it very difficult to read.
Blogs are to provide your customers with another insight into what your business is all about. Fill your posts with valuable content to raise your expertise status. Keep them fairly regularly spaced apart (they don’t need to be done very frequently), bt regularity is the key: spiders will soon learn this and visit your blog accordingly.
Increase the search engine optimisation (SEO) by including categories and tags for your posts. The categories are like chapters which provide a place to store your posts for future search, and the tags resemble keywords that give the spiders food to help with getting your post into the search engines.
Add an RSS feed to increase your readership, especially within the social networking sites. Without one your blog is very lonely as it cannot be regularly followed whenever new content is posted.
How to make money? Each post should have a purpose, whether it is to increase your expertise and your following, link to your website for more traffic, guide your readers to sign up to an event or direct them to a squeeze page to pay for a service or product. Don’t blog aimlessly, it may be nice to read but not good for you.
Want to know more? Join up to my blogging newsletter from my blogging pages to keep in the loop! Or listen to my teleseminar on 14 May – watch this space!
Alice
Tags: blog, blogging, call to action, comments, customers, expertise, feedback, gain business, increased traffic, information, interaction, keywords, links, marketing, newsletter, RSS, SEO, social networking
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