What is a Blog and Other Blog Questions
If you are planning on adding blogging to your business repertoire or as part of your internet marketing strategy, you must first get some answers to a few questions concerning the impact that blogging can have on your business. Therefore, a few questions regarding this and their answers have been put together for you.
First, what exactly is a blog - is it like a journal you write in every day?
It can be a journal, or be used like a website to promote your business. It can even be used to generate traffic to your main website. I think one of the main differences between a blog and a website is that you are constantly updating your content on a blog which makes your site more attractive to search engines and readers alike. Also, they can be more personal and even more interactive, if you will.
Further questions that need to be answered are: Why would anyone want to look at it? If I'm having trouble getting people to my website, why/how would getting them to my Blog be any easier? How exactly does it impact your website? I realize you would have a link to your site, but why would more people find your blog than found your website to begin with?
Readers (I would like to say humans as a whole) are constantly searching for new information, new ways of doing things, other peoples' stories, ways to connect to other individuals, etc. and blogs are one means of providing that bridge or connection to those searching. Blogging is not different in that way from websites per se, but it has now become something of a trend, the way to do things "Now," the latest craze.
Blogging is just one of the newer ways of getting out to others what you have to say, what you have to advertise and even more simply, taking out the random thoughts you have running around in your mind and putting them on screen (paper). People (you and me) are instinctively curious and we WILL read what Johnny did in the bathroom today or which is the best nail clipper to use or what the latest diet pill did to Susie's colon, hypothetically speaking, of course.
Again, I don't think it is necessarily easier than promoting your website, but it is a given fact that search engines recognize and love when a site is updated and when a site is "content rich." They absolutely love it and will then recognize your blog because of it, your "Page Rank" will improve, searchers will notice you because your site is let's say, one of the top ten or at least listed in the appropriate directories, and that will then generate traffic to your other sites or affiliate programs that you may be advertising.
Blogging is a way to connect emotionally to your readers by speaking to them on a more personal level. This will help sales. Blogging is not really about selling your product in the sense that it is not a sales letter, rather a way to let your reader get to know who you are. Creating that emotional connection builds trust, so when you say that so and so product is great and you explain how much they need it and how you have tried it and what it has done for you, they really believe you and will buy the product.
So these few questions address some of the basics of blogging and how it can impact your business. Don't hesitate to use this wonderful resource to connect to the world through your fingertips.
Take care and have fun blogging!
Elizabeth Amaro is a work at home mom who blogs for a living among other explorative online occupations. She enjoys staying at home and spending time with her husband and two children.