Wondering what a blog is and why you'd need to use one for your business? Blogs for business can be very profitable, but you need to understand how to create one and optimize it to see good results.
A blog (or weblog) is basically an online journal that lists current and previous posts about a particular topic, usually in reverse chronological order. Personal blogs are usually created and managed by one person, but business blogs frequently have multiple content contributors.
Blogs are particularly attractive for business owners, web site managers and marketing folks for a few reasons:
- Blog technology is simple, so anyone can easily set up a blog very quickly.
- It’s also easy for others to comment on a blog. This means that blogs are inspiring unprecedented interactivity between writers and readers--or companies and their customers or prospects.
- Blogging is considered to be quick and informal. That means that blogs can cut through a lot of unnecessary steps and really reach people.
- Blogs are easily linked to other blogs and sites, so information can be shared very quickly.
- Blogs are a great way to obtain high-quality incoming links, which are critical to search engine optimization and modern search algorithms.
There are a variety of blogging tools on the market, including Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger and others. We highly recommend Wordpress, since it's extremely user-friendly, integrates with lots of other tools and offers outstanding SEO capabilities and add-ons.
Here at Flair, we frequently help clients select a blogging platform, set up their first blog or create blog content on an ongoing basis. We frequently hear our clients--especially B2B clients!--saying that they don't need a blog. We beg to differ and we'll be sharing some more information about that in an upcoming blog post here.
Stay tuned for more about business blogging--and in the meantime, let us know if you need help with your blog.
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.