Photo by Jason Morrison
“Hear ye, hear ye. Court is now in session. Today’s matter is about settling the case between having a blog and not having a blog for your business. Some business owners are not convinced having a blog is worth the time and effort. Others feel a blog adds more depth and dimension to their website and it could potentially draw more clients. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Is there no right or wrong answer? Let’s find out.
Make no mistake about it; there are millions of blogs on the internet. The key to making yours stand out is to provide unique, useful content. Even then, it could be a shot in the dark to draw readers who could become potential clients. If you think the housing market was overbuilt, peruse the internet and see how many blogs are posted on the internet!
You may be thinking you don’t need a blog and maybe you’re right. But people have become conditioned to asking questions such as 1) Do you have a website? and 2) Do you have a blog? That’s the way it is. If you don’t have a website, you may want to get on that right away before you create a blog.
Pro blog
People love FREE information! That’s the way it is. This is why you receive pens, hats, bottle openers, key chains, pencils, yo-yos, and other merchandise when you attend an event. It’s a thrill to receive something free just for showing up. Think of a blog as a marketing tool. You’re drawing people to you because you provide them with pertinent information that can have a great impact on their life. You can be the one responsible for helping them to change their life for the better.
You can Tweet about your blog, you can post your blog on Facebook, Digg your blog post, and post your blog on LinkedIn. These are the top social media places that can help drive traffic to your website. You never know who’ll discover your blog. They could be your next client or customer.
Take your blog post, change it by at least 30%, and post it on Ezine Articles which is the number one article marketing website. You can drive more traffic to your website by utilizing article marketing. This is yet another opportunity for you to show the world what you can do for them.
No blog
Blogs take too much time and effort. Since there are millions of blogs on the internet, why even bother creating one? There’s no guarantee that your blog will be part of the top 10 blogs within search engines. Why waste time and effort on a blog when you can take that energy to grow your business with traditional marketing efforts? You take the energy that you’d use to create a blog to come up with new promotions for your business, products, and services.
Blogging will become ancient history in a few years. Some statistics show that blogs aren’t as popular as they used to be because there are so many of them. Some business owners are choosing not to have a blog. They may offer a few articles on their websites but that’s it. Why start something now if it could become a relic of the past? Stick with the tried and true marketing endeavors such as direct mail, radio advertising, brochures, and newsletter.
Conclusion
Anyone that Google’s your keyword will find you one way or another. Whether or not you have a blog is up to you. Please note that most people are in the habit of looking for a blog on a business’s website. You could provide relevant articles instead of a full blown blog. Whatever you decide, make sure you weighed the pros and cons. Good luck!
Rebecca
Do you have a blog? What has it done for your business? No, blog. Why not? Share your thoughts.
We often speak of blogs as if they’re something more than a content management system and I think that can be a mistake.
In the end, the distinction between a blog and a “traditional” static website is virtually meaningless. They’re both simply means of presenting and publishing information.
I strongly recommend WordPress to most of my clients. The functionality and flexibility make it possible to create attractive sites and the blogging CMS makes it incredibly easy for them to maintain and update their content even if they don’t plan on being an everyday blogger.
Should every business with a web presence have a blog in that sense? I think so. The advantages are incredibly significant and I can’t sense a downside. Even if they’d prefer to hand over site management to a third party, there’s no reason *not* to have the tools in the box.
Should every business make a point of posting something new every single day? Do they all need to become hardcore bloggers? Absolutely not.
So, I guess it’s all about how we interpret the meaning of blog and blogging. I look at it as a CMS choice, not a marketing or “online lifestyle” decision.
I recommend WordPress to my clients as well. Some businesses shy away from blogs for various reasons. It’s a business/marketing tool like newsletters or brochures. The key is to provide unique content to readers and not bombard them with the “same old, same old” blog posts that can be found everywhere else on the internet.
That’s really it, isn’t it? It’s not all about production for the sake of production. Well, at least it shouldn’t be! 🙂