Blogging for Business
Blogging Techniques for Business
"Blogging for business purposes has become an extremely effective
SEO technique and often helps with building your online business.
Careful research and planning before setting up a blog, will provide
the maximum benefits".
What is Blogging?
When it comes down to it, a blog can be anything you want it to be. What sets
it apart from what may be considered a regular website is in the fact
that blogs are more of an ongoing conversation with the internet public, that is
updated regularly.
From “Web log.” A blog is basically a journal that is
available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone
who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”
www.mitsol.co.za/help_glossary.htm
How Can Blogging Help My Business?
Blogging provides a specific method to personalize your business and keep the internet
public updated on new and exciting things going on with your company. They can
also be a wonderful marketing tool, provided the content is designed to BENEFIT
the reader, rather than solely to advertise a product or service.
Blogging also provides another opportunity for people to find your site.
Often times when people are looking for a product or service, they will FIRST
look for information concerning the subject.
What Would I Write About?
Although you will likely publish several articles on your blog
site, first determine the primary focus of the blog. Select topics
that are relevant to your website and the visitors you are targeting.
If you have more than one relevant topic, create separate blogging
accounts for each subject.
Sample Topics Relevant to a Business Website:
- parts dealership - articles on repair tips.
- homeschooling website - frugal living tips.
- virtual office - articles on organizing an office.
For this strategy to be effective though, you must provide
quality content that benefits your visitors. Do not use
your blog strictly for advertising your website. Although you will
certainly blend in references to gently guide the visitors to your
site, it is not intended to be a walking billboard. Many search
engines give added weight to authority sites. This will be important
to you for several reasons, but especially in terms of controlling
quality anchor text backlinks to your main site.
Researching and Planning For Your Blog
Once you have decided on the main topic, thoroughly research
key phrases the public will use to search for information concerning
the topic you have selected. Use tools such as the free
Keyword Suggestion Tool from Digital Point
Solutions to research possible key phrases for your selected topic.
Your selection will be used as the title of your blog. It is
vital to remember that search engines will return search results
in the exact order of their perceived relevancy to the search phrase
requested. The more relevant your blog appears to be to the search
requested, the HIGHER your articles will show in the search results.
When you have selected a key phrase for the primary focus of
your articles, you will now need to choose the description for your
blog.
Blogger allows a maximum of 500 characters
for your blog description. However, I have found it to be far more
effective to use no more than 150-200 characters. It is imperative
to include the title of your blog within the description.
Selecting a Blog Account
After you have completed all the necessary research and planning
for the theme of your blog, you will need to open a blog account.
There are a variety of free services available.
People always want to know the BEST place to start a blog.
Blogger.com is a pretty good start, and the
interface is easy enough for anyone to learn. It is also a free
service. Whenever possible, I do recommend hosting your own blog for security
purposes.
I am very pleased with
WordPress. If you have a place to host your
blog, you will want to seriously consider this great alternative for blogging! The download is totally FREE!
To run WordPress, your domain host just needs a couple of things:
-
PHP version 4.1 or greater
-
MySQL version 3.23.23 or greater
-
The Apache mod_rewrite module (optional)
Use Basic SEO Techniques For Your Blog
If the service you select allows you to choose the URL of your
new blog, consider using effective keywords from your key phrase.
If your key phrase is only 3 words, consider using the exact phrase,
separated by hyphens. Once you have completed setting up the new
blog account, adjust the preferences following basic SEO techniques.
For example, many blog services will give you the option of adding
a title for each article. This will certainly be far more effective
to your search engine optimization strategies than separating postings
by the current date, provided you select titles that use at least
parts of the key phrase from your blog title. Of course you will
also want to consider keyword density when writing your articles.
It will not do a lot of good to invest your time setting up a
blog to focus on a specific subject, unless the articles are actually
about the topic. Some people choose to move articles to their own
domain once they reach the point of being archived. This is truly
a matter of personal preference. One possible alternative would
be to provide enticing blurbs on your blog, that are anchor text
linked to the full articles published on your main website.
Promote Your New Blog
Finally, you will need to link to your new blog from your main
site, so that the search engines can find it! Consider having a
small area on your front page for featured articles. As you create
new blog accounts, make sure you add them to the static links on
your original blog, to encourage the spiders to crawl your blogs
on a regular basis.
Place a note on your articles encouraging visitors to link to
your blog. If people find your articles to be helpful, often they
will happily add a link to your blog.
Posting Comments to Relevant Blogs
Why Leave Comments on Blogs?
There has been a lot of misinformation passed around the internet
concerning the new "nofollow" attribute announcement by Google.
Many people felt that this meant that all links on blogs would no
longer be followed.
The new attribute is designed to be used in locations where spammers
are able to leave their link AUTOMATICALLY, such as in the comment
sections of blogs. This will have no effect on the links used in
the blogs themselves.
"If you're a blogger (or a blog reader),
you're painfully familiar with people who try to raise their own
websites' search engine rankings by submitting linked blog comments
like "Visit my discount pharmaceuticals site." This is called comment
spam, we don't like it either, and we've been testing a new tag
that blocks it. From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel="nofollow")
on hyperlinks, those links won't get any credit when we rank websites
in our search results. This isn't a negative vote for the site where
the comment was posted; it's just a way to make sure that spammers
get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks,
and referrer lists."
Google Blog January 18, 2005 - Preventing Comment Spam
Many people have asked if there is any point in leaving comment
on blogs anymore. First of all, not all blogs are using this new
attribute. This attribute is most commonly used on the blogs without
the option of screening comments BEFORE they are posted.
Most importantly though, you should NEVER leave comments on a
blog for the sole purpose of receiving credit for an incoming link.
Comments left on blogs should be honest and sincere feedback. As
part of good advertising you should always sign your name, business
name and the URL to your site.
Multiple Blogging Accounts
Should you have more than one blog? Since I think blogs should
have somewhat of a basic "theme", I also happen to believe that
you should consider maintaining as many blogs as you are able to
provide QUALITY content for. One of the keys to developing a successful
online business, is creating a variety of different opportunities
for people to find your site.
I WILL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Mississippi Web Designer and SEO Training Specialist
Owner GNC Web Creations and Mississippi Photo Gallery
Editors Note: If your domain host does not allow
you the freedom to easily add programs such as WordPress to your
account, you may want to seriously consider a domain host that will
fully meet your business needs, both now and in the future. We use
1and1 for the majority of our domains. One
major benefit of this hosting company is the ability to open multiple
domains in the same account without increasing the cost
Link to Blogging for Business
What Role Does Blogging Play in Business?
If you feel that this article, has been helpful to you and that it may also
be beneficial to others, please consider adding it as a resource link on
your website or blog!
Blogging for Business
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/blogging-for-business.htm
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