A blog is no longer just an online diary for teenagers. The blog has come of age in local small business marketing.
A blog keeps your visitors coming back. You provide up to date information on news, special events, and promotions.
Blog posts don’t need to be 1000 word feature articles. You can quickly update them with short 200 to 350 word posts.
You should give your blog a personality and stick to it. For instance, if your blog speaks only about your products and services, don’t talk about seeing the latest blockbuster. On the other hand, if you put your own personality into the blog, talking about the movies you’ve seen makes sense. If you are going to start blogging, take a look at the blogs of similar small businesses and see how they interact with their readers.
One of the features of blogs is that they let your customers “talk back” to you on your website. Some of your best ideas will come from your visitors. At the end of each blog post, there is a “comments” section. Encourage people to comment. And, when they do, answer their questions. This will keep them coming back for more.
You can use the RSS feeds available in your blog to keep people up to date with your latest postings. Instead of having to come to your site to read the blog, your blog goes to them. There is an option for them to click back to your website for more information.
Use your blog to make yourself an authority on your subject. If you are a personal financial adviser, talk about money matters. If you are a dog groomer, give pet tips.
Make sure that your blog posts are optimized for the Search Engines. One of the most powerful things about blogs is that the Search Engine software programs (“spiders”) are “trained” to visit your site repeatedly when you update your blog frequently.
With the 2010 introduction of Google’s new search algorithm, Caffeine, you will need to continually update your site with new information. Blogs are an excellent way to do that.
If you don’t know how to get started blogging and would like help using this great PR and SEO tool, call Stacy Fox Communications today at 909-809-8566 today.
