Showcasing a business online blog is an effective tool for attracting new customers. Blogging is a great way to communicate with your target audience.
Blogs are highly effective tools:
- for sharing your expertise with others
- for increasing web traffic and brand awareness
- for attracting and interacting with new customers.
What is a blog?
It’s best to think of a blog like an online journal, a web page made up of chronological posts published at regular intervals. Unlike personal journals, blogs can encourage comments from readers after each post. This provides feedback and creates a direct link with potential customers.
Blogs first drew widespread attention in the late 90s, the same time web-hosting tools became commonly available. Since then, blogging has snowballed, with The Nielsen Company estimating that there are now over 170 million blogs online worldwide.
The benefits of business blogging
Blogging is a low-cost, easy way to establish a presence on the Internet. It’s also a great way to communicate with existing customers and find potential new customers.
A blog can be a powerful communication channel to share business-related knowledge with a large audience. They’re shorter than articles, making them easy to read, topical and sometimes lighthearted.
Some examples of what to share include:
- answers to Frequently Asked Questions which can save you having to answer questions by email
- business news
- advise people when you update your website with new information
- promote sales or discounts
- encourage people to sign up for newsletters
- provide sneak previews of what’s coming up
- run contests to generate some interest
How to blog
To blog, you’ll need a computer, an Internet connection, and a web host to host your blog. You can either add a blog to your website or start by using one of the free blog options, like Blogger or WordPress.
It won’t take you long to set up an account, choose a blog name, and start blogging. Define your target audience, people who’ll read your blog and why. This’ll help you choose an appropriate name and description for your blog site.
Before you invite everyone to comment on your first blog post, take some time out to plan your blogs. How often are you going to post on your blog? One key to successful blogging is consistency. What are you going to blog about? Brainstorm ideas ahead of time and plan your blogs in advance each week.
Basic rules of blogging
There are a few guidelines for blogging that’ll get you up to speed:
1. Put time aside to blog regularly. The most successful blogs put out new content at least a few times a week and stick to a regular schedule. But think about how often you can produce quality posts rather than just the quantity.
2. Blogs are part of the social media mix. They’re about knowledge and online conversations, as well as promoting your service. You want your content to be personal and engaging.
3. Cross-promote your content over various social media channels. When you’ve posted a new blog entry, tweet about it on Twitter and link to your Facebook page.
4. Keep your writing short and make it easy to scan. Most people will scan your posts before they decide if they’ll read them. This means writing short sentences, using subheadings and avoiding long blocks of text. You should also make use of images and bullet points and highlight keywords.
Ready to dive in? As you get more experience, you’ll learn more about your target audience and what they want to read. With these handy tips, you’ll be blogging in no time!
