Why Your Online Business Web Site Should Be a Blog
There’s a lot of buzz going on these days about “business blogs”. You may have heard that business blogs are “better” than traditional business web sites.
What many people don’t know is that you can’t tell a blog web site by just looking at it. As a matter of fact, some blog sites do an AMAZING job of ‘imitating’ a traditional HTML web site. Chances are that you’ve visited business blogs without knowing it.
If you can’t tell at first glance which sites are blog sites and which sites aren’t, then why oh why are blog sites so great?
One of the reasons that business blogs are so much better than traditional business websites is that they’re easy for the blog owner to update. You don’t need an IT professional to make changes to your blog website.
An essential key to a successful web presence is fresh content. Ever visited a website and saw horribly outdated content? Outdated content makes a HORRIBLE first impression.
However, in addition to being easy to update, blogs are also naturally “search engine friendly”. That means when you post great new content to your blog, the search engines are more likely to find it. When they find it and index it… people who are searching for the answers you provide in your coaching practice will find your posts or articles. They find your articles, they read your articles and if you’re lucky, they’ll link to those articles. Before you know it… VIOLA! You’ve got traffic coming to your website.
If already have a traditional business web site and you’ve been struggling to increase visitor traffic to your web site via the traditional methods, after a few months of blogging you may be tempted to proclaim that blogs are a source of MARKETING MAGIC.
They aren’t. You still have to put forth effort…. but to paint a word picture for you…
Launching your traditional business web site is like riding a bicycle up a steep hill. Meanwhile, using your blog to attract visitors to your web presence is like riding a motor scooter up that same steep hill.
If you’ve been doing the following to promote your traditional, static business web site, then you’re going to LOVE what a blog can do for your business’ online presence.
- If you’ve been writing and posting articles on other sites…
- If you’ve been purchasing Ad Word campaigns trying to attract traffic
- If you’ve been trying to swap links with other web site owners with no success
Then you will be pleasantly surprised when you begin engaging in the very rewarding act of blogging for your business.
Internet Branding Keywords and Blogs
Keywords play an essential role in defining your internet branding. Keywords not only play an essential role in how your customers define your brand, but keywords also play a HUGE role in how prospective customers and clients find your blog.
If you don’t know which keywords are essential to your internet branding, then check out the keyword tool Wordze. Wordze provides results that are head and shoulders above the typical “free” keyword tools.
Once you’ve identified essential branding keywords, the next step is securing a domain name made up of those essential keywords. This domain name finder Domain Twist allows you to plug in two separate keywords and will help you find creative ways to combine those branding centric keywords and shows you which combinations are available. I had a client find a combination with this tool that was so effective that within 2 weeks of launching his blog, he was getting offers on the domain name alone! (He hadn’t made a post yet!)
Once you’ve got the right domain name in place, then it’s time to launch your blog. You’ll find the “right” domain name that includes the “right” internet branding keywords will act like rocket fuel when combined with a Wordpress self hosted blog.
Doing this kind of research before you launch your blog can help you to start MILES ahead of the competition.
11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding and Blogging
Written 8 years ago, Al and Laura Ries did an incredible job of predicting the future in their book 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding.
For example, the first immutable law of internet branding and blogging is the Law of Either/Or which states, “The Internet can be a business OR a medium but not both” With the rise of blogging, it’s essential that business owners recognize that for most business owners, their blog is NOT their business. Their blog is a marketing tool FOR the business.
Your business blog is a communication tool…. which brings up the 2nd immutable law of internet branding and blogging… the Law of Interactivity. According to Ries and Ries, “Without interactivity, your website (blog) and your brand will go nowhere.”
The eighth immutable law of internet branding and blogging is the Law of Time which states, “You have to be fast. You have to be first. You have to be focused.” Again, this truth applies not only to branding but to blogging as well. Blogs allow you to be first to market and the first to communicate on critical issues.
The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding points out that the web is the perfect branding vehicle for intangible services…. services where building trust is an essential part of doing business.
The book spends a lot of time theorizing what may and may not happen in the future and it’s quite interesting to take a look at how much has transpired in the past 8 years since the book was published. If the book were to be republished today, I’m sure the title would be the same as the one reflected in the title of this post.
Everything You Need to Know About Business Blogging and Why You Should Care
Blogs are HOT… they are quickly becoming known as a powerful easy marketing tool. However, there are a lot of questions out there surrounding blogs.
That’s why Everything You Need to Know About Business Blogging and Why You Should Care is currently in beta testing.
If you’d like to be notified of when “Everything You Need to Know About Business Blogging and Why You Should Care” is ready for the public… and to get a nice discount on it when it’s released…. sign up in the box to the right.
The Impact of Business Blogging
Blogging is the buzz word in business these days and with good reason- blogs are an EXCEPTIONAL communication tool. The impact of business blogging is becoming more evident each day.
The biggest impact of business blogging is the ability to use blogs to COMMUNICATE with customers.
Business Week prounounced: Blogs Will Change Your Business
Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later
Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they’re simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they’re going to shake up just about every business — including yours. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shipping paper clips, pork bellies, or videos of Britney in a bikini, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate. Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They’re a prerequisite. (And yes, that goes for us, too.)
You’re in a great place to figure out blogging. If you want to stay in touch, you can either sign up for the newsletter or sign up for this blog’s rss feed. Notice, there’s a low tech way to stay in touch… and a high tech way to stay in touch. It’s all about making communication easy!
Blogging is about communication and businesses need to communicate. The fact that blogging makes that communication EASY as well is why blogging is taking the business community by storm. It’s really simple:
- Businesses need to communicate to current customers.
- Businesses need to communicate with potential customers.
- Blogs make it easy to communicate with people.
The reason blogs are shaking up the business world is that blogs are delivering on the promise of the internet. Over a decade ago, we were told that our business websites would allow us to reach more customers… today blogs are making good on that promise.
Business blogging takes blogging beyond the “what I had for breakfast” realm and into an era when connecting with customers is an essential part of making a sale. That’s why blogs make great business marketing tools.
How Should You Start a Blog Post
It’s no secret that I adore blogs as marketing tools, but sometimes the hardest part of blogging is knowing where to start. I frequently have clients ask how should you start a blog post… and they’re not talking about the mechanics of blogging.
How should you start a blog post is actually a GREAT question… and you might be surprised at the answer. You should start a blog post by thinking about your blog’s reader… your target audience.
What information do your readers want to know?
(Hint, in order to do this, you need to know who your target audience is. If you’re a business owner and you need help with this, pick up the book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.)
Once you know who your target audience is and what information your readers want to know.. then you need to find out what keywords they’re using to find that information.
There are lots of free tools which you can use to find keywords… but the figures vary widely and most importantly, the free tools don’t show you subtle variations of keywords.
For example, I have a client who is selling a dog product. Various free keyword tools gave her widely varying figures. One said there were 600 searches being done daily… one said 1200 searches monthly… yet another showed 25 searches monthly.
WHICH ONE DO YOU BELIEVE?
There is a tool that allows you to “see” inside your target blog audience’s mind… it’s called Wordze.
Wordze gives you the INSIDE SCOOP on keywords being used by REAL people. It tells you where people are located who are searching those keywords. It tells you the sites that already dominate those keywords… and lets you see the opportunities within.
If you go straight to Wordze… you’ll pay $45 per month for this service. But, if you use the link above you’ll get a special discount for readers of this blog and you’ll only pay $35 per month.
Start your blog post by researching keywords. Find out the words your target audience is using to find information just like you’re offering.
Blogs are great easy marketing tools for any business. You’ll increase the power and efficiency of your blog by targeting the right keywords for your blog post.
Marketing Strategies Success Formula
There’s a formula which is used by marketing professionals to illustrate the three basic elements which contribute to marketing and advertising success. That successful formula breaks down successful marketing strategies into three basic components.
Formula for Marketing Strategies Success #1:
Make sure your marketing message gets to the right people.
This strategic step accounts for a full 60% of the Formula for Marketing Success. Getting your marketing message in front of the people who want and need your services is the foundation for marketing success. A great message delivered to the wrong audience is doomed to failure.
If you’re targeting businesses, use this reference to define your target market: SIC Division Structure
If you’re targeting consumers, pick up a copy of Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.
Formula for Marketing Strategies Success #2:
Make sure your marketing message offers the right message to the right people.
Once you’ve got your message in front of the right people, make sure your message makes people want to respond. Do this by speaking directly to their GDP: Goals, Desires and Problems.
Making sure you ask for action and create a message that speaks to your audience’s goals, desires and problems and then ASKS for action is the second most important key in creating a successful marketing strategy.
This strategic step accounts for 30% of the Formula for Marketing Success.
Formula for Marketing Strategies Success #3:
Make sure your marketing message looks the part.
This strategic step accounts for 10% of the Formula for Marketing Success… however it’s where many marketing amateurs spend MOST of their time and effort.
Think of the “creative” or artwork in the same way you’d link of a box in which you’d present a fine piece of jewelry. A fine piece of jewelry in a brown paper bag is still a welcomed gift… but one presented in a padded velvet box with elegant gold embossed lettering makes a much better presentation.
There you have it. A three step formula for Marketing Strategies Success.
Blogs: A Powerful Marketing Tool
If you have a love/hate relationship with your marketing, you’re not alone. On the love side, you’re in LOVE with the thought of launching a powerful marketing tool…. one that creates more business for your business. Ideally, that powerful marketing tool would be easy to use.
On the other hand, there’s the hate side of the marketing relationship. You HATE the tweaking… you hate the testing… you hate the less than scientific art of marketing.
As Shakespeare would say, “Ah, there’s the rub!” Marketing is all about “tweaking” your marketing message. Sometimes all it takes is a single change of a word in a headline and suddenly the phone is ringing where before it was silent.
It’s in that tweaking where marketing success happens. That “trial and error” is what separates the marketing “professionals” from the marketing “amateurs”.
Marketing professionals KNOW that the first run is the baseline. Marketing professionals give that first marketing message their all… but they know that there are changes ahead.
Another key that separates the marketing professionals from the marketing amateurs is that marketing professionals know that the “early bird gets the worm”. Waiting for a month or two to measure a marketing campaign’s success and THEN making a change is not the way of the marketing professional.
A powerful marketing tools is one which allows the message to be delivered quickly and then is easily tweaked. Erin Blaskie over at the Business Consulting Blog writes in Secrets to Success:
“To be successful, you must take your ideas and implement them - FAST. Don’t hold back and don’t dilly-dally with details and with trying to be perfect. Get it up there and out there and tweak as you go.”
That is why your blog can be your most powerful marketing tool. It can act as the foundation for your marketing success.
Because blogs are super easy to update, you can use your blog to “test” your marketing message. You can tweak quickly and split test almost on a dime. Oh, and while you’re testing your marketing messages… you’re also building relationships and earning trust with potential clients.
That’s why a blog is a natural as an Easy Marketing Tool.
Your Blog as a Marketing Tool…. How Far Can Your Blog Reach?
Your blog is a powerful marketing tool which is ideal for communicating with potential customers/ clients and is a great way to increase your marketing message’s reach.
Reach is the holy grail of marketing because it represents the number of different individuals (or households) that are exposed to a particular advertising message over a period of time. The more people who are exposed to your marketing message, the better your chances are of making a sale.
Of course, the flip side of reach is frequency. Frequency is how OFTEN those people who are “reached” are exposed to the message.
When you can raise both of those numbers, you have a marketing WINNER and that is the case for social media marketing tools… such as blogs.
Matt Dickman is Vice President, Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard in Cleveland and he makes an EXCELLENT point in his post:Redefining reach; the new marketing equation
He writes:
One of the ways that I tried to help guide them and explain why social media is so powerful is the following scenario. Look at these two equations and let me know which one has the most benefit to you:
- Message 1,000,000 to possibly reach 100
- Personally reach 100 who influence 1,000 who influence 10,000 who influence 1,000,000
They are two very disparate scenarios, but that is social media in a nutshell. You’re not wasting millions of untraceable impressions on TV, radio and print buys. You’re forming real relationships with people that spread their version of your message along the chain.
It seems pretty clear right? But this is a huge mental leap for most marketing organizations. The new model is about building relationships that grow and spread to new relationships.
Traditional marketing professionals love to talk about reach and in those circles, the message delivered to MILLIONS is of course a better path. However, a marketing message delivered once to one million is MUCH less effective than a marketing message delivered 10 times to an audience of 1000.
That’s the beauty of blogs as marketing tools. An RSS subscriber is someone who is asking to be REACHED FREQUENTLY by your messsage.
Of course, the key element for the business owner using a blog is to respect that invitation to REACH those RSS subscribers with a “to die for” FREQUENCY.
Not Everyone Can Invest Buckets of Cash For Effective Marketing
Matt McGee has a great column on Search Engine Land Small is Beautiful column, where he focuses upon small businesses who are successfully using the internet to market their businesses.
He also posted “outtakes” from the article about local small business success on the web on his own blog and it makes for interesting reading. In a nutshell, John Tuggle created some video tutorials on guitar lessons and posted them on YouTube. One thing led to another and suddenly, John found his videos featured on the Gibson. Matt points out in the article above how such a link serves to help John Tuggles web presence not only with the search engine bots, but with the human visitors as well.
John also shares in the article how important it is to “just do it” when it comes to promoting your business via your blog on the web. The difference between “good enough” and “perfect” often means the difference between getting it done and off your plate or struggling with a project forever!
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