Blogs are usually written in informal language and attempt to establish a personal connection between the writer and the reader. Business blogs allow customers to get to know a company better and learn about its achievements, innovations, and product features in depth. Public relations consultants are increasingly recommending the use of business blogs to their clients as it is an excellent way to share their clients’ expertise, build traffic on their websites, and communicate with customers.
The Benefits of Blogging
- Blogs are an inexpensive way of creating a web presence. They allow businesses to promote themselves on the Internet without spending any money.
- Blogs can be updated more easily than traditional websites.
- Businesses can pass on information about promotions through short blog messages.
- Businesses can communicate their company cultures to potential employees.
- The “comments” features in blogs can be used as tools for gauging customers’ interest in a business’s products and obtaining feedback.
- Businesses can tell their customers about future plans or projects and what they should be expecting.
- A business blog can be the first source to discuss the latest industry happenings and share industry knowledge with customers. This is an effective way to create goodwill among customers.
- A quick blog entry can help a business highlight important features or what’s new at the company.
- Businesses can blog on topics related to their industries simply to remain in the public eye.
- Don’t use blogs to directly advertise your products and services. It may irritate your readers and drive some of them away from you and your product.
- Never lie or try to fool your reader.
- Make sure that you don’t reveal proprietary information or other sensitive details about your company while blogging.
- Maintain your readers’ interest by regularly updating your blog and adding information that will be useful to your readers so that they will keep coming back for more.
- Submit your blog to popular search engines like Google and Yahoo! to get listed there.
- To increase your readers’ loyalty, never fail to reply to a comment posted on your blog. At the same time, comment on others’ blogs and make sure to leave your blog’s URL in your comments to drive new traffic to your blog.
- Expand your community of readers by linking to other bloggers’ sites. The bloggers you link to will most likely check your blog out, and if they find information that interests them in your blog, they may become regular visitors to your site.
- Increase your blog’s popularity by adding its URL to your business cards and email signature. You need to create both an offline and an online presence for your blog.