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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 two 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.
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.monitoring-software.net
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