Is It Time To Jump onto The Blog Bandwagon?
10 Reasons to Build a Blog
Getting noticed on the W3 is difficult what with keyword selection, site architecture, search engine bots (dumb) and all the other aspects of getting a little recognition and respect from Google and the web-o-sphere in general.
One thing anyone can do is add an off-site blog to their marketing strategy. In fact, the blog band is growing by leaps and bounds. Here’s why.
1. Blogs are free.
When you’re marketing your site using the loose change you discover in the couch, finding free outlets to express yourself and demonstrate your expertise is critical to long-term site success.
There are a lot of free blog platforms. Blogger, from Google, is popular. So is Word Press. And Typepad only costs $5.00 a month for a robust blog-building package. Give up one latte vente a month and you’ve covered the cost of a Typepad blog. Cheap is always good. Not as good as FREE, but still good.
2. Blogs are easy to build.
Blogs are template-based. Once you’ve created your account, you’re ready to choose the template that suits your taste and your industry.
Adding widgets – blog features like a site search box – is also easy. Just click on Add Widget, choose the appropriate box (HTML, text, picture, etc.) and cut and paste the HTML code snippet or upload a product picture and bingo – it’s there on your blog’s first page.
3. Blogs are easy to update.
Write your post in a word processor. DON’T use the blog platform’s WYSIWYG text editor. These text editors aren’t super powerful like a full-blown wp.
Once the blog post has been written, rewritten, spell-checked and proofed, simply copy and paste your expertise into the blog’s text editor. Here you can format the text, add keyword tags (you make them up), add pictures and links.
One key point: keep your blog current. Post new content at least twice weekly. Three or four short posts a week is even better. Keep posts between 500 and 1200 words. If you can’t say it in that amount of text, break the content into PART I, PART II and so on.
4. Blogs provide the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise.
If you’re an optician, write about vision problems and provide solutions to those problems. If you’re a plumber, talk about the importance of fixing that dripping faucet.
It’s your blog so sell your services, products or message within the context of an expert. After all, you have a blog on the subject. You have creds.
5. Blogs create search results.
Each time you post, you’ll discover another link on SERPs. The more often you post the more SE results. This creates a bigger target to hit as site visitors search for your services, products and the latest advice.
Make sure that each blog post includes a link back to your web site. If you keep more than one blog (I have three), link all of these customer contact points to create an even bigger target for web surfers.
6. Blogs create linkage.
Link to other blogs that relate to the topicality of your blog(s). If you’re an attorney, for example, you can link to home-buying blogs, mortgage blogs, tax-information blogs and a host of other blogs.
Notify the blog owner that you’ve added a link to your blog and ask for a link back to your blog. (A link swap) In no time, you’ll be part of a web ring of lots of blogs. Yep, you’re getting bigger – at least as far as search engines are concerned.
7. Generate passive revenue.
There’s only so much “you” to go around; only so many hours in a day that you can work (we all need sleep sometime), only so many places you can be at one time (one).
Monetize your blog by opening a Google AdWords account. Create a “channel” for your blog, post AdWords on each blog page and collect passive income. You may be getting a little shut-eye but your blogs are still working for you.
You won’t get rich (that’s a fact) but you can easily pick up some “walking-around money” each month, and again, it’s passive income, meaning you don’t have to put in more hours to generate that revenue.
8. Editorial freedom.
No cranky editors or clients, no limits or restrictions on content (be sure to read the blog platform’s TOS), you’re in total control of the look and feel of your blog. You’re also in control of the blog’s content.
It’s all yours. So, post your poetry, post your art, post your diary – you have editorial freedom to post whatever you want – even if it’s some crackpot theory on alien space craft resting on the bottom of the
9. Learn more about your market.
What do your clients want? What’s on their minds? What are their opinions on the topics posted on your blog? When readers start adding their comments to your posts, you learn more about what prospects want and need. You also identify emotional hot buttons useful in creating calls to action on your site or blog.
Free market research. I always like free stuff.
10. Blogs are fun.
Even if you aren’t real good at stringing words together, who cares? It’s your blog.
Post family pix to share with distant relatives and friends. Create an event blog for the upcoming college reunion and get your RSVPs all in one place. Hook up with old chums and make a name for yourself. Even if it’s just a little name for yourself.
And, because you’re blogging about topics that interest you, you’ll learn more about relevant subjects as you research new posts. That’s always fun.
So, what are you waiting for? Free marketing, credibility-building, market research, a larger web presence, more on-line friends around the globe, no editorial limitations (within reason, of course), and fun.
Join the millions of bloggers out there posting in the blog band. Yep, jump on the blog band wagon.
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