by Carl Weiss
Like it or not, if you own a website, you are
forced to compete for exposure online. With 242 million websites already
in existence and nearly 130,000 new sites coming online every day, is it any
wonder that being found is getting harder and harder to accomplish? Well,
the good news is that while it may take a little sweat equity to put your web
presence in the winner’s circle, the task can be accomplished in short order if
you blog just once per week.
Below are the top 10 reasons to blog.
1. Blogs generate an audience – Life is the ultimate reality show. As anyone who has ever watched HGTV knows, people
love to watch other people work. It
doesn’t take Hollywood to turn your business into must-see-online-tv. In fact it doesn’t take video at all
(although it helps). The easiest way to
generate an audience online is to document the drama that every business person
goes through on a daily basis. The
simplest way to accomplish this is via blog. Think of blogging like a diary
that enables you to document the everyday trials and triumphs of running a
business. Done properly, this is
compelling stuff that readers will want to follow and pass along to friends and
family.
2. Blogs engage readers – The most
important thing to keep in mind before creating a blog is that readers crave
drama. If you want to keep readers on
the edge of their seats, you need to first identify the elements in your
business that either solve a problem, create suspense, or make readers
laugh. The best way to do this is to carry
a notepad and pen around with you.
Somewhere during the course of doing business you will stumble upon an idea
or scene that can engage your audience.
The problem is that if you don’t make not of it (and shoot a few photos
with your smartphone), it will be a case of in one ear and out the other. By taking notes you will be surprised at how
much drama occurs in your business. Then
it’s simply a matter of sitting down and detailing the episode for your
readers.
3. Blogs are a great place to use mixed media – Speaking
of smartphones, I can’t emphasize enough the value of photos and video in
bringing your business home to readers.
By spicing up an otherwise lackluster blog post with a few photos, or a
quick video blog, not only will you find your audience more interested in you
and your business, but it also serves to improve search engine optimization
(SEO) as well.
4. Blogs create
backlinks - For many years the major search engines have put a premium on
how many sites link to your site. Not so long ago this concept actually
caused a great deal of conflict, since it spawned backlink factories that
turned out backlinks like linked sausages. You’ll know you have come
across someone who has worked with these firms if their backlinks are in Farsi
or Chinese. The good news is that the search engines cracked down on
these bad boys big time. The bad news is that most search engines still
rate a portion of your worth on backlinks. Is that’s what’s bothering
you, Bunky?
Other
than spending hour upon hour of identifying and emailing firms in your industry
begging for backlinks, or spending thousands of dollars on software that does
virtually the same thing, what if there was an easier way? In fact, what
if you could develop backlinks every week as part of your normal website update
procedure?
How do
you do this? By always making certain that you include links to your sites at end
of each and every blog. Better still,
sign up for article posting sites that will offer your reposted blog to other
online businesses looking for content.
5. Blogs are free advertising – Being a
business consultant, I am always pitted against financial reality when it comes
to helping a business grow online. Most small businesses are on tight budgets. If money is tight, then one of the best reasons to use blogging week
in and week out is due to the fact that it doesn’t cost you a penny to employ. Provided that you are prepared to take as
little as an hour out of your busy schedule to create a weekly blog, this could be one
of the best investments your business can make.
Since
1995, Carl Weiss has been helping clients succeed online. He owns and operates several online marketing
businesses, including http://wsquaredmediagroup.com
and http://jacksonville-video-production.com
He also
co-hosts the weekly radio show Working the Web to Win every Tuesday at 4 pm
Eastern on http://blogtalkradio.com/workingthewebtowin
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