Personal Blogging is “On Fire” and Business Blogging is Even Hotter…
Blogging started as an online tool for journaling and then morphed into the popular utility sites we see today. It’s amazing to watch the changes evolve. Now we have “Micro-Blogs” like Twitter, which have become a social phenomenon.
With all this blogging comes the real-time content that search engine spiders are attracted to. On an established blog, the new content can show up in the SERPS within minutes. The best part is that “blogging is free”. Sure you can spend money on outsourcing or the latest greatest tool… but, it is not required and often detrimental.
Can we say “blogging is important in business”? Here is an excerpt from Steve Strauss…
Blog: One of the great things about blogging is that it allows you to control exactly what people read about you. You can create a brand and image and reinforce it with every post. And then, when people Google your name, they will find your blog, and when they read your blog you will begin to create that desired brand.
Social media: You need to create online social media pages that reinforce the brand — on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, at a minimum. Then by spending time on these sites you again reinforce your brand.
By Steve Strauss for USATODAY.com
Those are great points. Think of a blog for business as a way to help control the message and then “the blog’s” message is supported by sites like Twitter.
A great example of this is… POTUS
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ and http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/
supported by http://twitter.com/whitehouse
Blogging is designed to be interactive. For a business, it’s great way to “keep the finger on the pulse” of your customer. People often give feedback with a “candor” not seen in person or over the phone.
Your blog can be a stand-alone site or an extension to an established site like the President does.
Now, what if you don’t have a site or a blog?
That’s easy! If you are on a shoestring or zero budget… go to Blogger.com or WordPress.com (not .ORG) and in minutes you can have a “free” blog (website). (Both of these blogging platforms are established, reputable and have great authority in the search engine world.)
That’s the “free” option. Problem is that… you do not own the real-estate. You can stay on that land as long as you abide by the TOS (terms of service) and the platform remains in operation.
Why do I point this out when there are so many amazing bloggers with millions of followers using these “free” blog sites? Because… many times has a great blog become a “disabled” blog… and often, with no rhyme or reason given.
So… I prefer owning the real-estate which is super cheap to do (less than $10 a year). You can too with these quick steps to creating a blog that you own and control…
- Get a domain from an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar.
- Get a Hosting Account at a reliable host.
- Install a free blogging platform from WordPress.org (.ORG not .com)
- Use a Free Blog Template (look for the “Free” ones)
(Or use a paid for template like the one used here on this site.)
Start Posting
Blogs have “pages” and “posts”. You can put some general info like “about me” and “contact” on the “pages”.
For your ongoing “blogging” use “posts” which are quickly indexed for traffic. Write about your subject and “post it” frequently because this will train the spiders to return often.
Remember, keep the content relevant and original.
Is Blogging difficult? Not at all and easy to get started as well. Use your blog to control your business message and reinforce it by properly using social media sites like seen in this “post”… “Optimize for Twitter Traffic“
Now, go get some traffic… and you can “do it on the cheap”, read the free report here…
