What is a blog and what can it do for you?

Blogs are here to stay so it's important to understand what they are and how they work. The term "blog" is actually short for "weblog," a term used to describe websites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information.

What are blogs?

Blogs combine text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photos (referred to as "photoblogs"), videos ("vlogs"), or audio (podcasting). In addition, blogs are extremely popular among the major social networking sites such as Friendster and MySpace. According to WordPress, a popular blog tool, blogs tend to have a few things in common:

A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are organized into categories.
An archive of older articles.
A way for people to leave comments about the articles.
A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "blogroll".
One or more feeds like RSS, Atom or RDF files.

How do they work?

Using simple technology, the blog author posts content frequently and content is published in reverse chronological order, so that the most current information is at the top. Blogs represent the personality and flair of the author and/or the Web site and provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. Some blog sites have multiple bloggers posting comment.

Blogs also usually allow the general public to read and comment on each blog post, creating an opportunity for public discussion. Posted comments are usually reviewed by a moderator before it goes live on the website.

Cool blogs to check out:

If you are like us, sometimes it's easier to understand if you can actually look at a blog, rather than read about it. Here are a few cool blogs to check out:

U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/
Wonkette: http://www.wonkette.com/
Cute Overload (photoblog): http://www.cuteoverload.com/
Dilbert: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/
GM's Fastlane: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com

What can blogs do for your business?

Blogs can be a powerful tool to draw people to your website and are an outstanding way to improve your search engine ranking. In fact, according to a recent article (link below), "almost all of the top 10 search engine optimization (SEO) firms out there agree that blogs are a "must" for driving traffic and get established in the Internet community." For businesses, the draw is because you are providing helpful information or updates related to your business. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and businesses are using them more and more to increase web traffic and attract new customers. Remember, the more quality content you add, the more potential you create for additional web traffic.

For example, do you have expertise in your industry? Are you asked the same questions over and over again? If people are calling you with the questions, chances are people are searching the internet for the same information. Why not put that information up on your website? This way you link potential customers to you via your website.

Blogs are a great way for customer and employee communication as well. Do you have a new product you want to highlight? A message to your customers or employees? Or, how about a new event you want to announce? Blogs are one of the easiest and cost-effective tools for accomplishing this important task.

How about blogs for small business?

Blogging is a low-cost alternative to having a web presence. You do not need to hire a web designer to set up a blog. You choose the blog design from a variety of templates, so this is rather limiting, but it does keep your costs down.

You could also have a web designer create a custom design for your blog. This is less expensive than building a custom-designed web site and is another great approach for keeping your costs down.

Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. Blog software companies such as WordPress, Movable Type, and Blogger.com all offer easy blogging tools to get started.

Keep in mind that in order to have an effective blog, you must have content/information to share and have a potential audience who is interested in this information. And, you have to set aside the time to post a new blog article regularly (weekly, not monthly).

A word of caution about blogs

Blogs also give customers a powerful way to vent their true about feelings about a company. If the feedback is positive, they can be a great tool. However, if they are a dissatisfied customer,

Even if you decide not to use a blog, you still want to make sure there aren't any negative blog posts about your company. If there are, be prepared to respond. We recommend signing up for a Google alert, plugging in your company name as the search term.

Want to learn more about...

...how your business can take advantage of blog technologies? Give us a call at 562.436.5802 and we'll help you determine if and how a blog would work for you.

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