Why should your business website have a blog?

Blogs are everywhere, there's no denying it. With millions of readers every day and facilitated by a whole host of simple to install, low maintenance software and sites such as Wordpress, Blogspot and Blogger it's easy to jump on the bandwagon as a business without fully knowing the impact a blog can have. It is also easy to dismiss blogs as yet another form of media that has developed that is mainly used for social purposes and is just another fad, however they can have big impacts on businesses with added customer value and SEO benefits.

The best things in life are free...

Blogging is essentially free, there are no additional costs that should be incurred in set up and maintenance, other than the perhaps additional bandwidth costs depending on content and traffic. Wordpress is one such example of the free software available with its 5 minute installation, ease of use and customisability with no hidden catches.

No such thing as a free lunch...

No cost? Sounds great doesn't it? Well I would argue there is a cost, its just not necessarily a financial one. Blogs are time consuming, as to be successful and to have the desired results they must be written and researched well. There is large disparity between 'uncle john's occasional rants and holiday photos' and an industry defining blog such as Matt Cutt's. Ok, so the comparison is a ridiculous one but you get the point. Quality is everything - to ensure visitors find your site, to ensure they don't leave immediately and to lead them to the goals you have set by your business website.

SEO value

Content is still king. Not only does Google like regular updates, but creating new pages, rammed full of relevant keywords as you write new posts about your business and industry is a fantastic way to increase the size of your site, and ultimately increase traffic by improving your search engine ranking chances. This can be a much cheaper alternative to Pay-per-Click advertising campaigns.

Does a blog add Customer Value?

Keeping up to date

Given blogging software's amazing capacity to deliver organised, navigable posts and articles, providing company news such as new products, completed projects, awards and media mentions is an easy way to provide useful content for your website user, improving the company's image and creating brand trust, which is so crucial to success on the internet. Highlighting industry developments and the subsequent need for your company's service or product or particular upcoming events that can be attended encourage your customer to action. This can increase the likelihood of the customer fulfilling your desired website goals such as booking,purchase, or contact.

Community

Due to the dynamic nature of blogs, people that take interest in your posts are able to respond with the easy 'comments' feature. The creation of discussion and debate which you do not get with a normal static website is a fantastic way to get invaluable customer feedback and opinions. Although perhaps just a small cross section of your customers will interact, the benefits are still clear as any feedback is a positive thing for business.

Informality

As already stated trust is key, especially if the business does not have an already established offline presence and well established brand. Given the fact blogs are usually written in an informal style, this can help add a human touch to the business. This confirms to customers that there are real people behind the business that can be contacted and this can arguably increase trust in your business and lead to an increased likelihood of interaction with the business website.

Finally have a a look at my 5 tips for writing your business blog...

James S January 24, 2008 Votes: +0	But do you really think the time spent writing a Blog is worth it? I tried to setup a blog for a business I helped out... For the first month, they wrote a blog post a week, but then they just stopped, saying that it took too much time. My opinion is that blogs can be a total waste of time especially for companies which are already understaffed. report abuse vote down vote up
David T January 24, 2008 Votes: +0	Welcome to Good web practices James! I think you've made a very good point because so many blogs have been created but suffer because they don't have regular content added. Alex will be able to answer your question better than I. I too used to think blogs were merely a fad, but now I think there's a lot of value in businesses writing them, if they are updated regularly and the content is valuable... report abuse vote down vote up
Alex A January 25, 2008 Votes: +1	Thanks for your comments James, I agree that running a blog can be time consuming and of course it may be more beneficial for a business to focus on other areas of SEO, perhaps link building or Adsense campaigns or other business activities altogether, especially as you say if they are understaffed. However, some of the blogs I have seen have certainly improved my experience on their websites. One area I would particularly like to highlight is the small hospitality sector such as bed and breakfasts and guesthouses. A whole host of supplementary information is available through the blog which can often save time for the owner as they don't have to answer repeat questions. I have also noticed an increase in organic traffic, especially when blogging about upcoming tourist events. This has led to an increase in the number of bookings as visitors are given a sense of urgency to come to the event and funnily enough they know of a place to stay near it! I hope I haven't advocated that all businesses should run a blog, this was certainly not my intention. These are some of the benefits for consideration when making the decision, but business fit is key for sure... report abuse vote down vote up
Sean Mauger April 29, 2008 Votes: +1	As this post mentions, http://searchengineland.com/080415-080402.php , there are many aspects of the blogosphere that make it attractive to search marketers: the sharing and distribution of content, the potential for viral marketing and link bait, and the associated linking opportunities. But, so much more goes into the relationship we have with blog communities. This infographic describes both the tangible and intangible benefits of engaging with the blogosphere. report abuse vote down vote up
David T April 29, 2008 Votes: +0	Thanks for that Sean, and welcome to Good web practices. The images that Elliance come up with are fantastic! report abuse vote down vote up

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