MN Interactive

8 Great Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Blog

A few years ago, every company needed a website. It was predicted that a business without an online presence was doomed to fail. Customized web templates sprang up, and it seemed even the smallest one man shop had its face online.

Fast forward to today and websites seem almost obsolete. Nowadays, it’s blogs which matter. Every blog author is positioned as a niche expert, and if he’s able to correctly market himself, his expertise can be pronounced in all corners of the world. This very minute, according to Technorati, there are well over 100 million blogs in cyberspace, and those numbers don’t include the millions of blogs which are not in the English language blogosphere. China itself recently estimated over 70 million Chinese blogs.

Which leads us to the question: why should your business have a blog?

A blog is typically an online two-way conversation led by the blogger and shaped by the audience. Anyone can blog, and blogs can be on any imaginable (or sometimes, unimaginable) topic. From the business point of view, blogs are an ideal way to position your business to maximize your reach, growth and sales. For starters, if updated constantly with fresh material, they are perfect for search engine optimization. Search engine spiders which regularly crawl the web looking for fresh meat will hone in on keyword rich blogs. Websites with their static content could never hope to achieve this. But there are a lot more reasons why your company needs a blog. A blog will do some or all of the following for you:

1. Attract an audience: Every business needs traffic, and a blog allows you to attract the correct type of niche audience. A good blog will generate traffic; a great blog will keep that traffic growing and returning. Create one by providing consistent valuable information, and follow through with a call to action. You can build your loyalty base by offering your audience a reason to stay and a reason to revisit. Do this via polls, quizzes, feedback options, giveaways, competitions or just great information.

2. Build up a two-way interactive system: Most static websites have a simple two-way communication system between the owner and his clients, usually via an info or contact box. A blog allows you more versatility through a number of tools, also known as widgets. Ask questions, gain insight into your client’s needs and you’ll have access to a rich market research tool. All blogs will allow you this two-way communication, and most of the widgets are easy to upload. Take Word Press for example. You can upload a chatroll widget in seconds. Cbox is another chatbox tool which is popular with bloggers on all platforms.

3. Allow for immediate response: Along with the ability to interact both ways comes a responsibility- that of responding immediately or in the shortest possible timeframe. Remember, while positive publicity can bring in the crowds, negative publicity can spread like wildfire. Take the time to ensure your readers are satisfied with your offerings.

4. Link for organic traffic: Your site is a dynamic, vibrant entity, constantly changing and evolving. This itself should be enough to get it noticed. However, external linking lets you link to other sites, and creates what are known as trackbacks, where other sites can link back to yours. When this happens, you are automatically notified and can respond. Linking is also important for SEO purposes. The more links your blog articles have, the more often search engine spiders crawl your page. Don’t forget about internal linking, where you link to other posts within your blog. All blogs come with easy to create URL codes, so don’t hesitate to use them.

5.  Collect invaluable market research: Who is your audience? Where do they come from? What are their demographics? Most companies will spend a lot of money researching this before creating their websites. With a blog, it’s easy to reverse the process. Have an audience in mind, create your blog, and test it to see if it works. The results may surprise you, and it’s a great chance to learn just who your readers really are. Shifting demographics through a blog can be done, but it’s not easy, especially after you’ve built up a following. Keep this in mind when you first outline your blog.

6. Give your business its own personality: You can build a brand, but it’s hard to stamp a personality on it. A blog allows you to do just that. Need your image to be quirky? Fun? Serious? Hip? Your logo and tag lines may be the start of it all, but your blog can help you move your brand in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to use templates and widgets to create the style you want. Acquire or create your own widgets at WidgetBox.

7. Be cost effective: This is probably the number one reason why blogs grew in the first place, and it’s also the reason why they are ideal for start-up businesses. In addition to most being free to set up, your blog requires little other than a long term time commitment. Add fresh content, market your site via search engines, social networking sites and other forums, and respond to reader comments. Other than that, you’re good to go.

8. Allow you to swiftly follow and change trends: Think of industries like fashion, IT or even social networking. The trends here change very quickly as do the audience following. A blog gives you the chance to capture these changes as and when they happen. And if you fancy yourself a Perez Hilton or an Arianna Huffington, you  might even initiate some of them.

So, has a blog replaced a website? Some may believe it has. For others, using a blog along a website works well to create a dual online presence, and push their brand even further. A website still has a lot of respectability attached to it, and most businesses will appreciate its presence to support their business. But there’s no doubt that blogs have outshone websites simply because of their versatility and ability to engage customers. They put a face to your business in an easy and uncomplicated manner. So if your business has a website, then do consider adding a blog to it. It takes a time and effort commitment to set up and maintain a blog, but the results will reap far greater rewards.