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5 Steps to the Compounding Effect of Business Blogging

"business blog seo entry points"One of the topics I often discuss in my books, to my clients, and at speaking engagements is the value of a business blog not just as a tool to create conversations, build relationships, and develop brands, but also to increase search engine rankings and visitors to a business Web site.

Many business owners think of blogging as a chore that delivers little added-value to a company’s bottom-line, but the truth is actually exactly the opposite.  A business blog is an incredible tool for search engine optimization because of what I call the compounding effect of blogging.

First, you need to understand consumer behavior in the 21st century:

Where do you go to find information about a business, product, store, etc. when you need it? Do you check the Yellow Pages?  Nope.  The vast majority of consumers turn to Google or their favorite search engine (with Google being #1).

Here’s how the compounding effect of blogging phenomenon works:

  1. You have a business Web site made up of 20 pages.  That’s 20 entry points to your business Web site for Google to find, index, and deliver in relevant keyword searches.
  2. You add a business blog to your Web site, and you publish a blog post everyday for a year.  Now you have 365+20=385 entry points to your business Web site for Google to find, index, and deliver in relevant keyword searches. [Read more…] about 5 Steps to the Compounding Effect of Business Blogging

5 Ways a Blog Can Help Your Business Today

business blog megaphoneA business blog can be an amazing tool to both directly and indirectly market your business.  Not convinced?  Take a look at the 5 ways a blog can help your business listed below to see what you’re missing!

1. A business blog as a sales tool

While the vast majority of the content you publish on your business blog should not be self-promotional, you can use a blog to announce special sales, discount codes, coupons, events, and more.  As long as the promotions add value to users’ experiences on your blog, you can talk about them on your business blog.

2. A business blog for brand building

The social Web is a brand manager’s dream come true.  Through your business blog, you can raise awareness, recognition and recall of your brand across targeted and broad audiences — faster and wider than ever before and all for a minimal investment. [Read more…] about 5 Ways a Blog Can Help Your Business Today

Top 10 Benefits of Business Blogging

Why does your business need a blog?  I could go on and on about why businesses can benefit from publishing a blog, but I’m going to narrow it down to the top 10 benefits listed below.

1. Direct marketing and promotion

While businesses should never use a blog solely for self-promotion, it’s not forbidden to include marketing messages now and then.  If your business is offering discounts or coupons that benefit your consumers, then there is no harm in talking about them on your business blog.  Similarly, you can talk about your products and link to your online catalog.  Just remember that at least 80% of your online content should not be self-promotional.

2. Establish expertise

Use your blog to establish your business as the go-to place for information related to your industry, products, and so on.  If you publish great content on your business blog, others will notice and share that content.  In time, you’ll develop a reputation as an expert in your field with reliable and authoritative information that is useful.  That’s the kind of content and expertise that people actively seek. [Read more…] about Top 10 Benefits of Business Blogging

5 Ways to BE Successful with a Business Blog

business blogging successAnyone can start a business blog, but not everyone can be successful as a business blogger.  That’s because writing for a business blog is different from any form of traditional marketing or business development.  Instead of self-promoting and selling on your business blog, you need to focus on dialogue and relationships in order to find success.

Following are 5 fundamental requirements you need to follow to BE successful with your business blogging efforts:

1. Be human.

No one will want to spend time with you online (or offline) if you sound like you’re reading from a corporate brochure or PowerPoint presentation.  Your blog posts must demonstrate your personality and be written in a conversational style and tone befitting of your target audience.  They have to be interesting and engaging, and they must be completely devoid of any corporate rhetoric. [Read more…] about 5 Ways to BE Successful with a Business Blog

Harness the Power of Business Blogging for Brand Building

"business blog"One of the biggest opportunities for businesses when it comes to leveraging the reach of the online conversation happening on the social Web is related to brand building.  By participating in online discussions, you can create brand awareness, recognition, recall, loyalty and advocacy that lead to an extremely powerful brand overall.

First, what is a brand?

A brand is a promise to consumers that creates customer expectations for every experience they have with that brand.  As you continually meet those customer expectations for your brand, consumers develop loyalty to it, seeking it out over other brands, and advocating it (or defending it) to other consumers.

Next, how do you build a brand?

There are three main steps to building a brand that apply regardless of the industry your business is in or the tools you use to communicate your brand messages and develop your brand image.  Those three steps are: [Read more…] about Harness the Power of Business Blogging for Brand Building