To Blog or Not to Blog Garstang

Business owners I speak have all started to ask me the same question. Should I have a blog? My answer varies, depending on their business, the goals they are trying to achieve and other factors like who will write the blogs, whether they have a good writing style and how much time they have to dedicate to blogging on a regular basis.

The one common factor seems to be that although business owners have heard that blogging might be good for their business few really understand what it’s all about.

The Second Opinion Marketing Guide to Successful Blogging was written to answer their questions and provide some pointers on how you might take advantage of the blogging phenomenon.

A guide to successful blogging
A blog can be a very useful tool to raise the profile of your company online as well as positioning you as an expert commentator in your particular field.

Blogs (a shortened form of weblog) provide an opportunity to create a following and encourage readers to respond with their thoughts and experiences.

A blog, usually full of keyword rich content, will attract search engines which drive traffic to your blog. For more on this topic read 10 steps to improving the success of your website.

Each blog can ask for feedback which can create a dialogue with customers, commentators and potential partners.

In terms of style, a blog should:

• Be informal, topical, conversational and written in Plain English
• Demonstrate you understand the issues faced by people you are writing for
• Demonstrate your expertise, not necessarily by quoting detail, but instead through commentary, comment and the translation of complex subjects for the reader
• Once the decision has been made to blog then there are some do’s and don’t you should be aware of:

Do

• Set yourself some blogging objectives – what do you want to achieve with your blog this month, this quarter, this year?
• Make what you write interesting – all the better if slightly controversial – share your opinion, try and be unique, create your own blogging voice / personality
• Ask readers for their opinion on what you’ve written
• Blog regularly – it doesn’t have to be daily – although if you did that would be 365 new web pages for surfers to find, all referring to your business
• Think carefully about your title and opening line – if you don’t grab the reader here they won’t reach the end of the blog
• Create hyperlinks to other relevant material in your blog or on your website
• Welcome links back to your blog from other bloggers and website owners

Don’t

• Use your blog for blatant promotion – it’s a PR tool, not a sales tool
• Write just for search engines – write for the reader, first and foremost
• Be too formal, try and use conversational English
• Be afraid to keep it short – blog...