I think that blogging falls into that category of things about which we hear a lot but of which we know next to nothing. Chats with friends and colleagues can often elicit pressure on the small business owner with phrases such as "you have to get your business on Facebook", "you have to be on Twitter", "you must have a blog for your business". This pressure may be frustrating because you do not understand why you have to have these things but the truth is that more than likely the person telling you this doesn't either!
I will talk about Facebook and Twitter in later articles as today, I wish just to talk about blogs.
The word blog is a shortening of the phrase "Web Log" and refers to a kind of online diary. It is a public diary where one writes down one's thoughts on any subject. Your blog might just be about your daily life or it might be a series of articles detailing a stage in your career or business. Whatever the subject, it is a collection of articles to which you regularly add over a period of time.
There are two main reasons why businesses have a blog. Let's be honest about this, the primary reason is for search engine optimisation. It has been well known for some time now that search engines and Google in particular love lots of text heavy relevant content on your website. A blog is a method whereby you can regularly add new content about subjects concerning your business and after some time, it can augment the size and quality of your website in the eyes of the search engines, if you do it properly!
In order to achieve this your blog must be relevant to your business, it must be written in a style that is readable to a human (not just a repetition of key words and key phrases), it must contain useful information and most importantly of all, it must be unique. Plagiarism in a blog will get you nowhere and will probably have very harmful results.
The other reason is that it is a means of keeping your customers up to date with the latest developments in your industry and in your business specifically. Therefore a lot of thought should be put into your blog. It should not be created just for its own sake. It must be relevant and useful to the readers of your website.
If you have nothing or very little to say, it is far better not to have a blog. There is nothing worse than seeing a part of a website like a news page or a blog where the last entry was over two years ago. That creates a very bad impression and will do more harm then good. If you cannot update your blog regularly then it is better not to have it at all.
Not only can we add a blog to your existing website, we can design this blog to specifically meet the needs of your business. A professional looking blog that fits into your website and has the features that you require is much better than an off-the-shelf generic blog and gives the right professional impression of your business.
So if you have something to say and could keep it updates, call us today to see how we can help add a blog to your business website.