|
Web Blogs Defined, Explained and Understood
What are Blogs?
Having
heard the term previously but not having paid much
attention most are just to
afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets
face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images. Blogs are web
logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain
information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as
daily diaries about people's personal lives, political views, or even as
social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be
shaped
into whatever you, the author, want them to be.
Where Did Blogs Come
From?
The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990's. Who the
very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the art of blogging did not
really take hold until 1999. The original "weblogs" were link-driven sites
with personal commentaries. The very first blogs were human
guided Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online
journals, blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web
content.
The Future of Blogs
A buzz word in techie circles,
"blogging" is the wave of the
future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a
new way to
communicate with existing and potential customers it deserves
at the very least a cursory look.
Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses
or Individuals? Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is
the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial to
businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive content on their
websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a
necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being found
by search engines but also because it gives visitors a reason to come
back.
Now that we have established that blogs are not only trendy
but
also beneficial to businesses, its important to understand how they can be
used to your advantage. We currently manage and update three blogs on a daily
basis. The first is our new business blog at:
http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm
This
professional business blog allows us the opportunity to
tell potential, or
existing customers industry news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging
software can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems.
The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which
increases the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis and
it helps with page rank because it's been submitted to all the blogging
directories. Initially started on a whim we've found it beneficial to report
tips, tricks or make visitors aware of new regulations related to the
mobile or paging industry.
The second blog we manage is at:
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html
This
blog is less formal and contains marketing tips, or promotional advice for
software developers or online marketers. We found that we had overflow from
our monthly newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very little
effort and would assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told
us was of significant interest.
The third blog we manage is a
at:
http://www.small-business-software.net
This
blog is professional but not formal and contains general
tips for small
business owners.
Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need
to determine how a blog will
benefit your business, determine a schedule and
adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect it.
Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention to areas of
your business that you want to showcase; you direct the content but let your
readers guide you.
Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools
that can be used to create a
blog. We found that because of security
concerns, it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case
we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much more
complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web
server. If you want to test the waters there are online web-based tool that
helps you publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based tool is
likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.
Other
Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your
existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers by
illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are numerous websites
that act as "blog search engines", be sure to submit your sites to these
websites to increase your exposure. This will also help with your page rank
and possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with
Google. You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content
and gain additional
exposure.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley
manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net a company
specializing in
alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging
software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and
http://www.small-business-software.net
|
