Is Blogging Necessary or Is It the Next Fad?

by Kathleen Gage The Street Smarts Speaker and Author

Although some people view blogging as a novelty or a “someday I’ll get around to it” item on their to do list, most companies will find great benefit by adding blogs and blogging to their overall marketing strategy. When done correctly, blogging can have an incredible impact on your market position.

In essence blogs are no different from other marketing channels. Blogs are designed to deliver results, position you and your company and establish credibility. Some of the primary reasons to have a blog and to blog are to build expert status, reach a global market, increase customer and media relations, keep your market informed on what is happening with your company and industry, establish market perception and rank high on the Search Engines.

Determine the Purpose
Are you blogging because this is the latest and greatest fun idea someone on your team thought of or is this a viable part of your overall branding and marketing strategy? If a blog is simply another whimsical idea, you are likely blogging for the wrong reason. If, on the other hand, this is a part of your overall marketing strategy make sure you are strategic in your process.

Blog Consistently
To be effective you need to blog on a fairly regular basis. Your postings can be short, but need to be relative to your purpose. Many bloggers post information from other sites as a way to keep their readers informed on a particular topic. When you post information from another resource you absolutely must reference where you got the information from.

You can blog about new product releases, plans your company has, articles of interest and even what your competition is up to. The more valuable the information the more you will build a dedicated readership.

Driving Visitors
There are a number of effective ways to get people to view your blog. One is to use key words relative to your market and industry. Whenever you post something you want to include those key words.

Next you can announce your blog in your company newsletter, through media releases, to your current opt-in subscribers and in any advertising you do. You should submit your blog URL to Blog Directories.

You can add your blog address to your outgoing email messages by way of your sig (signature) file that you use at the end of your email messages.

Another option is to write articles specific to your market and industry. Add a resource box at the end of your article with a link back to your blog. If your article is perceived to have high value there is a very good chance readers will visit your blog.

Most importantly is to make the blog postings valuable to the readers. If the information doesn’t hold their interest they will have no reason to return.

The more valuable your readers find your information the more likely it will be that they turn into loyal readers.

Subscribers to Your Blog
By offering readers the chance to subscribe to your blog it will be more likely they will continue to read your information. Make it easy for people to sign up for your blog. You can add what are known as blog buttons also known as chiclets. You can also add a simple sign up form by visiting FeedBlitz.com and FeedBurner.com. This allows people to subscribe to the feed and receive updates as you add new content to your blog.

Keywords
Keywords are a way to improve your search engine ranking. Choosing the right words for your products, services, industry or market is extremely important. Keywords are what lead search engines to your blog. The more targeted your list the more effective your postings.

Analyze your business and your market. Think of any words that your readers might be search on to find you that relate to your company, industry, product or service.

The way to narrow your target words down is to use a keyword selector tool. A reliable selector tool will help you to narrow the search by indicating how often people search on specific word combinations.

In Conclusion
Blogging will create great opportunities when done correctly, consistently and conscientiously.

Kathleen Gage, The Street Smarts Marketer™, is an Internet marketing advisor who works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn the knowledge into money-making products and services. Visit http://www.kathleengage.com for free resources to build your online presence and credibility. 

NOTE: You may publish this article for your magazine, trade journal, newspapers, business journals, website and/or Ezine provided you keep it in its original form and include the resource box at the end.