Do you need blog for your business site? Some business owners decide not to include this element in their website. But are they missing out on one of the most significant leads generators? Perhaps.
Blogging is an online activity that was first introduced in 1994 by a college student who thought it was a good way to record personal events and log vacation time. At that time, a blog was just called a “personal home page.” In fact, the term “blog,” (meaning “web log”) didn’t come around until about 1997 when the idea started to catch on with other platforms.
Blogging has come a long way since those early days. Now, it is not just used for people to record their family events and vacations. Blogging also serves as a way for online web owners to promote their business.
The question of whether a business should have a blog is pretty academic to our current day. Blogs are now considered one of the most important aspects of promoting an online business. You can start a blog on your website platform if that feature is available or you could start an off-site blog that exists on another server off of your main page.
Many different platforms feature a blogging option, and most web servers now have this function available to site owners. Many online web servers offer a blog as one of the pages that you can create at no extra charge.
Some of the most popular off-site blogging platforms are mentioned below.
Blogger.com
Blogger.com is one of the most popular blogging platforms. It is owned by Google, and this gives you an advantage over the other platforms since it is automatically promoted in the Google searches. This means that, once you make a post public, it will automatically go live and be featured in Google searches with any keywords that you have optimized in your entry.
Google also uses an abbreviated form of their Analytics engine to allow you to track the success and popularity of a post. You can view this in real time on the Blogger.com site.
Blogger’s platform also makes it easy to include Google Adsense campaigns within your blog post. At one time, Google allowed users to decide which ads to run. Now, they have simplified this process by automatically inserting the appropriate ads into your blog entries. They match up your content as closely as possible with the ads that run, increasing the chances of you earning revenue from the ads.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is another equally popular blogging platform that is off-site. It allows you to create original web pages or blogs in a format that captures your branding and style. WordPress is most popular for its themes that you can choose from a variety of different styles and looks.
See some examples of the WordPress themes here.
Either Blogger or WordPress are excellent choices to place your blog with. However, you may also want to consider having an on-site blog.
Advantages of an On-site Blog
You may ask what the advantages are to an on-site blog. For one thing, it is more convenient and simple to write blog post when it is located on your web server site. You may create more posts if it is easy to access and post new material. However, there are also many disadvantages to free hosting blog sites as well — such as not having complete ownership over your content, the inability to customize the look and feel or your site, and also that it comes off unprofessional.
As long as your blog is related to your business site content, creating a tab or a page that users can read on your site gives them easy access to your content.
If you announce something new on your blog related to your company, you may be able to create additional excitement for the new feature or increase the level of hype that you can generate for your brand.
On-site blogging also enhances the amount of traffic that you can receive on your site since it becomes a part of your website that is “crawled” by Google. Your pages are all indexed and crawled separately so it’s possible that new users may find your page through your on-site blog who may not have located you otherwise. This is the best reason of all as to why you should have an on-site blog, even if you also have an off-site blog.
Integrating Your Blog into your Marketing Plan
Once you have a blog, you have the capability of using it as an integral part of your online marketing plan. By posting new blog posts on your Facebook or Twitter accounts, as well as emailing new posts to subscribers, you can create a great deal of interest in your brand. This keeps you in touch with your target audience while generating interest in new ideas and products.
Using Your Blog for Branding
Another thing you need to do when creating a blog for your business is thinking about how to integrate it within your branding. You need to match your blog with your brand and your website as much as possible because it is a part of your overall branding.
Below is a list of tips on how to do this effectively:
- Consider an on-site blog within the framework of your website.
- Use the same theme for your blog as your website to help with branding.
- Create an easy-to-use website that is simple to access.
- Blog often.
All of these tips are great ideas to follow if you are trying to increase your impact with your target audience and promote your company through your blog. You should keep in mind that your blog does not stand alone. It is just another practical tool that you should use in conjunction with the many other tools that you utilize to promote your brand.
What’s different about blogging?
One of the things that is different about blogging is that you can speak to your customers’ needs in a casual, informal way. It puts you on the same level of your audience who might otherwise just see you as a corporate executive. This can help your credibility and trustworthiness since you are coming out on your blog to address the customers directly.
Getting Started with Blogging
If you need a professional-looking website that allows you the freedom to use either on-site or off-site blogging platforms, see us. We are the Web Design Team, and we understand the importance of having choices. We allow you the freedom to create your blog either on-site or off-site and integrate it within your other assets. That way, your blog becomes an integral part of your marketing platform.
We can create and design a professional site for your business today and help you integrate your blog with your website. Whether you use WordPress, Blogger, or one of the many other blogging platforms, we can help you create a business presence online that is sure to turn the heads of your target audience.
Check out our site at webdesignteam.com and let us know how we can be of help to you as you build your blog and your brand. Blogging is essential nowadays to communicate with your customers and to create more leads and conversions. Why not start with a great website? Call us today to learn more.