Although some people view blogging as a novelty or a “someday I’ll get
around to it” most companies will find great benefit by adding blogs
and blogging to their overall marketing strategy. When done correctly, blogging can have an incredible impact on your market position.
In
essence blogs are no different from other marketing channels. Blogs are
designed to deliver results, position you and your company and
establish credibility. Some of the primary reasons to have a blog and
to blog are to build expert status, reach a global market, increase
customer and media relations, keep your market informed on what is
happening with your company and industry, establish market perception
and rank high on the Search Engines.
Determine the Purpose
Are you blogging because this is the latest and greatest fun idea
someone on your team thought of or is this a viable part of your
overall branding and marketing strategy? If a blog is simply another
whimsical idea, you are likely blogging for the wrong reason. If, on
the other hand, this is a part of your overall marketing strategy make
sure you are strategic in your process.
Blog Consistently
To be effective you need to blog on a fairly regular basis. Your
postings can be short, but need to be relative to your purpose. Many
bloggers post information from other sites as a way to keep their
readers informed on a particular topic. When you post information from
another resource you absolutely must reference where you got the
information from.
You
can blog about new product releases, plans your company has, articles
of interest and even what your competition is up to. The more valuable
the information the more you will build a dedicated readership.
Driving Visitors
There are a number of effective ways to get people to view your blog.
One is to use key words relative to your market and industry. Whenever
you post something you want to include those key words.
Next
you can announce your blog in your company newsletter, through media
releases, to your current opt-in subscribers and in any advertising you
do.
You can add your blog address to your outgoing email
messages by way of your sig (signature) file that you use at the end of
your email messages.
Another option is to write articles
specific to your market and industry. Add a resource box at the end of
your article with a link back to your blog. If your article is
perceived to have high value there is a very good chance readers will
visit your blog.
Most importantly is to make the blog postings
valuable to the readers. If the information doesn’t hold their interest
they will have no reason to return.
The more valuable your readers find your information the more likely it will be that they turn into loyal readers.
Subscribers to Your Blog
By offering readers the chance to subscribe to your blog the more
likely it will be for them to continue to read your information. Make
it easy for people to sign up for your blog. You can add what are known
as blog buttons also known as chiclets. You can also add a simple sign
up form by visiting FeedBlitz.com and FeedBurner.com. This allows
people to subscribe to the feed and receive updates as you add new
content to your blog.
Keywords
Keywords are a way to improve your search engine ranking. Choosing the
right words for your products, services, industry or market is
extremely important. Keywords are what lead search engines to your
blog. The more targeted your list the more effective your postings.
Analyze your business and your market. Think of any words that your
readers might be search on to find you that relate to your company,
industry, product or service.
The way to narrow your target words down is to use a keyword selector
tool. A reliable selector tool will help you to narrow the search by
indicating how often people search on specific word combinations.
In Conclusion
Blogging will create great opportunities when done correctly, consistently and conscientiously.