Blogging: Whats the point?

The big question to ask is what is so important about blogging? Through blogging, you are not only able to share your thoughts and expertise about your services and industry at large but you have the ability to start discussions and really get to the heart of what your customers and readers want and need, ultimately leading them to your website (if the Blog isnt already on your website) and to a new relationship. Maintaining a blog correctly can also have the potential of increasing your page rank for search engines, but that is a whole other story and a whole new white paper.
We now try to refer to blogs as News pages to our clients as the word blog sometimes gives them an image of teenagers talking about themselves in online diaries. These News pages once correctly configured within your Website could in theory give you unlimited pages for your site as wel as giving you the most cost effective website promotion tool. The blog will be your best ‘tool’ in your SEO (website promotion) tool-chest as long as you use your News pages (aka Blog) regularly, filling it with with unique / relevant and interesting content.
So, how do you start? The first step to starting a blog is to listen to what your industry is talking about, what your competitors are covering and what your customers need. Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are all great places to find out what is going on. Email Marketing is another great way to know what your customers need. Does there seem to be a larger number of email recipients clicking on a specific link in your email? You can now create value-driven content that is targeted to that specific link, whether it is a particular product/service, news about your company or an upcoming event. An important thing to consider though is that your blog should not try to sell your business but rather share the benefits of what you have to offer.
Do your competitors already have blogs? If so, take a look at what they are talking about and out of that what your customers also want to here. Share your own spin on the topic. Start reading other blogs outside your specific industry. Make connections between the two and share your findings. Cite other bloggers and if you write compelling enough content they might turn around and cite you as well.
As you read other blogs, you should start to add your input to them. Post comments on what you read, ask questions and add insightful commentary. Try not to promote your company or services, but rather be another voice to the topic at hand as an industry expert. Most of the time you post comments, you are given a field to add your website. You should post the url to your blog so if someone is so compelled by your comment they can see what other content you have to offer.
Wordpress is our recommended blogging platform and an easy one to get you started. We can install a blog on your site normally within a day or two, details about blogs on your website.