Blogging Tips - How to Create a Successful and Profitable Blog
- ARTICLES |
A blog is a user-generated website that compiles your entries (known as posts) in reverse chronological order, always listing the most recent post first. Readers are also allowed to comment and give their opinions of any posts via a simple form on a blog.
But one of the most popular attributes of a blog is how simple it is to use. You do not have to learn HTML, Web design or coding, otherwise needed to operate a functional website. You can update a blog via any Internet connection, even updating it using a cell phone.
Setting up a blog can take as little as five minutes (and that's if you're unsure of what you're doing) and you are ready to publish your content. It is that easy. If you can send an e-mail, you are more than ready to start blogging.
How Are Blogs Applicable To Businesses?
The ease in publishing a blog makes it a perfect marketing vehicle for any type of business. Whether you work from home or are the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, blogs will make an ideal addition to your marketing strategy..
A blog allows your customers to identify with with your business and participate with you and other readers directly. It has become a valuable part of today's consumer-generated media, giving consumers a platform to engage actively and participate in dialogs with key personnel within a company.
Companies like General Motors, IBM, Boeing, and Microsoft have set up blogs to market their services or products because it is such a cost-effective way of communicating quickly with their prospects and customers. By providing a blog for their customers to talk about their product, a company can easily find out what their customers really want and tailor their products accordingly. The open-dialog between company and customer has dramatically cut costs and boosted revenue because companies are getting first-hand research information for next-to-nothing!
It is the perfect instant feedback mechanism.
If you are running a business from home, the same strategies apply. Use blogs to:
* Provide value-added content
* Build a relationship with your readers
* Establish trust with your customers while gaining credibility
* Create awareness about your product offerings
* Test ideas and research your market by getting your readers and customers to participate in discussions
Sounds Good, So How Do I Get Started?
It is best to get started by identifying and choosing the right tools to get the job done efficiently. This means choosing the right blog platform for your needs. Blog platforms are offered as two options: hosted and standalone.
The hosted option eliminates the hassle of finding a host for your blog as the company takes care of that for you. This option would cost you a monthly fee. TypePad.com is one such company that offers this.
The standalone option allows you to purchase a license for the blogging software, which gives you the right to host it with a hosting company of your choice. MoveableType.org is an example of this. This option may give you greater flexibility with tinkering with the software code. You can probably tell this is the option for those who want ultimate control of their blog platforms.
But because you're probably just getting started with blogging, you should turn your attention to just two choices - Blogger.com and Wordpress.org. Blogger.com is a hosted blog which is owned by Google and the best part about it is that no monthly fees are charged. That's right, it is absolutely free. Blogger.com is very popular with those just starting out with blogging because the platform, hosting and domain-names are free.
Wordpress.org is the other blog platform you should know, which is a standalone option. If you are already hosting some of your websites with a web host, Wordpress.org is ideal for you. Not only is Wordpress.org free for unlimited use, but it is the best-supported blog platform there is. For ultimate control of your blog, this is as good as it gets. It is the blog platform of choice of today's savviest bloggers.
Wordpress.org also offers a hosted option called, Wordpress.com. Like Blogger.com, Wordpress.com offers the platform, hosting and domain names for free. But it is limited in a way that it is less configurable and offers limited control over web design. The choice of blog platform is left entirely up to you, but you definitely cannot go wrong with either Blogger.com or Wordpress.org/com to get you off the ground and running.
Visit the sites mentioned and if you're going for the hosted option, simply sign-up for an account and you'll be ready to start blogging immediately. With the standalone option, visit Wordpress.org and download the software to your server. There is great communal support with Wordpress.org so, if you get stuck at any point during the installation process, just check into the forum and your answer will probably be found there.
Choosing A Name For Your Blog
If you already own a website, you understand the significance of choosing a good domain-name. A good domain-name not only enhances the branding of your business, but it also helps in higher search engine rankings. Depending on how you are planning to use your blog, consider if you should choose a domain-name which is keyword-based or brandable.
An example of a brandable domain-name is Google.com. Nothing keyword-rich about it, but it is definitely etched in the minds of every Web surfer.
If your blog is going to play a significant role in your business, then spend some time choosing the right domain-name for it. People tend to remember memorable domain-names that end with a dot com to spread it around easier. You may consider using a free tool such as, DomainsBot.com to help in registering a good name. Then choose a standalone blog platform like Wordpress.org to stand a better chance of attracting heavy traffic to your blog on a regular basis.
Choosing A Template For Your Blog
With Blogger.com and Wordpress.com, the hassle of hiring a Web designer is eliminated. These hosted options already have blog templates ready for use. Just pick a design that works well with the theme of your business and get ready to start blogging. The downside to this is that there is only so much you can do to alter its look and feel. What you see is what you get.
With Wordpress.org however, you're free to hire a Web Designer to design the style of your blog from the ground up. There are no limitations to what you can do with your design. There are Wordpress.org templates that are also freely given away by the Wordpress community with no strings attached. You have full rights to grab any of these templates and alter them to suit the theme of your business blog.
You can google "Wordpress templates" and you'll get a variety of sites to choose from. One of the more popular ones is found at WordPress › Free WordPress Themes.
Publishing Your Content
After all the "back-breaking" work of setting up your business blog, it now comes down to the most important reason of having a blog in the first place - getting your content out to the world.
For some, this is an easy process. For many others however, publishing useful and unique content regularly can be severely daunting. Distinguishing yourself from other business bloggers takes a bit of understanding of who your core readers are. Put some time aside to research your audience and find out what they would like to read about. Here are some considerations to bear in mind when publishing your content:
* Should I make my posts educational, newsworthy, informational, entertaining and debatable or, a combination of all those?
* How long should my posts be (this is where getting feedback from your readers comes in)?
* Should I consider a blog partnership (getting guest bloggers to write unique content for your blog)?
The initial excitement of publishing a blog can quickly dissipate when your "content well" starts to dry up. So where do you turn to for ideas and inspiration to get readers queuing up to read your work? Well, let's start with how you can categorize your content in a way that could potentially skyrocket your readership:
* The infamous Top 10 lists
* How-To information
* Reviews
* Interview someone within your business niche
* Latest trends and newsworthy information
* Present relevant business case-studies
* Recommend other business blogs that might be of interest to your readers
But all the above may be rendered useless if you can't get to a source for inspiration. So here are some of the best places to visit when you need to get those creative juices flowing:
* News sites - CNN, Yahoo News, Google News are just some of many News websites available to spark an interesting idea for a blog post. Dig into News stories and press releases to see what is significant for your blog. Cast your opinion on it and you've just got yourself a new post. But don't stop there.
Look for News sites that are specific to your industry as well. For example, if you're blogging about finance, head on over to Bloomberg Financial News and get ideas from there. About.com is another site that covers a gamut of topics that makes for such a great source for content ideas.
* Online Groups / Social Networking sites / Forums - Google Groups, Yahoo Groups and MySpace are a hotbed of ideas. Your potential readers and customers could be lurking within these groups, freely exchanging the kind of information a market research company would pay thousands of dollars for.
Don't ignore forums that are relevant to your industry. Like social networking sites and online groups, forums attract the kind of audience that could be interested in the information you are offering.
* Social Bookmarking Services - Like social networking sites, social bookmarking services are all the rage today. These services allow users to rate and recommend topics that are popular with them. They are a portal into the hottest and latest trends as deemed by public opinion.
Visit sites such as Technorati.com, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon.com, Reddit.com and Digg.com to get blogging ideas. While there are a great number of other social bookmarking sites springing up onto the Web quite regularly, those are the most referred to by professional bloggers for research.
* High Traffic Sites - Another fantastic source of blogging ideas can be found at high traffic sites such as Alexa.com, Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Craigslist.org and Wikipedia.org. A wealth of ideas can be mined just from sifting through these sites' categories.
* Article Directories - Article directories offer you the option of re-printing the articles of your choice on your blog. This can come in handy if you're having an off day but need something to whet the appetite of your readers. Even if you don't intend to publish any of those articles, use them as a source of ideas for writing your next post.
Some of the more popular directories are EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com and ArticleCity.com. These articles are free to re-print but, read the terms on these sites on how to go about re-printing them.
* Some Other Sources - Another idea-generating method is to look out for what people are searching for and decide if you could blog about these search terms. Visit popular sites like Yahoo Buzz, Google Zeitgeist and MetaCrawler.com for this purpose.
Try searching for ideas using blog search engines as well. The best site to do this is at Technorati.com. Google and Yahoo have blog search engines that might pull different search results from Technorati.com, so try alternating to get what you're looking for.
But one of the most popular attributes of a blog is how simple it is to use. You do not have to learn HTML, Web design or coding, otherwise needed to operate a functional website. You can update a blog via any Internet connection, even updating it using a cell phone.
Setting up a blog can take as little as five minutes (and that's if you're unsure of what you're doing) and you are ready to publish your content. It is that easy. If you can send an e-mail, you are more than ready to start blogging.
How Are Blogs Applicable To Businesses?
The ease in publishing a blog makes it a perfect marketing vehicle for any type of business. Whether you work from home or are the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, blogs will make an ideal addition to your marketing strategy..
A blog allows your customers to identify with with your business and participate with you and other readers directly. It has become a valuable part of today's consumer-generated media, giving consumers a platform to engage actively and participate in dialogs with key personnel within a company.
Companies like General Motors, IBM, Boeing, and Microsoft have set up blogs to market their services or products because it is such a cost-effective way of communicating quickly with their prospects and customers. By providing a blog for their customers to talk about their product, a company can easily find out what their customers really want and tailor their products accordingly. The open-dialog between company and customer has dramatically cut costs and boosted revenue because companies are getting first-hand research information for next-to-nothing!
It is the perfect instant feedback mechanism.
If you are running a business from home, the same strategies apply. Use blogs to:
* Provide value-added content
* Build a relationship with your readers
* Establish trust with your customers while gaining credibility
* Create awareness about your product offerings
* Test ideas and research your market by getting your readers and customers to participate in discussions
Sounds Good, So How Do I Get Started?
It is best to get started by identifying and choosing the right tools to get the job done efficiently. This means choosing the right blog platform for your needs. Blog platforms are offered as two options: hosted and standalone.
The hosted option eliminates the hassle of finding a host for your blog as the company takes care of that for you. This option would cost you a monthly fee. TypePad.com is one such company that offers this.
The standalone option allows you to purchase a license for the blogging software, which gives you the right to host it with a hosting company of your choice. MoveableType.org is an example of this. This option may give you greater flexibility with tinkering with the software code. You can probably tell this is the option for those who want ultimate control of their blog platforms.
But because you're probably just getting started with blogging, you should turn your attention to just two choices - Blogger.com and Wordpress.org. Blogger.com is a hosted blog which is owned by Google and the best part about it is that no monthly fees are charged. That's right, it is absolutely free. Blogger.com is very popular with those just starting out with blogging because the platform, hosting and domain-names are free.
Wordpress.org is the other blog platform you should know, which is a standalone option. If you are already hosting some of your websites with a web host, Wordpress.org is ideal for you. Not only is Wordpress.org free for unlimited use, but it is the best-supported blog platform there is. For ultimate control of your blog, this is as good as it gets. It is the blog platform of choice of today's savviest bloggers.
Wordpress.org also offers a hosted option called, Wordpress.com. Like Blogger.com, Wordpress.com offers the platform, hosting and domain names for free. But it is limited in a way that it is less configurable and offers limited control over web design. The choice of blog platform is left entirely up to you, but you definitely cannot go wrong with either Blogger.com or Wordpress.org/com to get you off the ground and running.
Visit the sites mentioned and if you're going for the hosted option, simply sign-up for an account and you'll be ready to start blogging immediately. With the standalone option, visit Wordpress.org and download the software to your server. There is great communal support with Wordpress.org so, if you get stuck at any point during the installation process, just check into the forum and your answer will probably be found there.
Choosing A Name For Your Blog
If you already own a website, you understand the significance of choosing a good domain-name. A good domain-name not only enhances the branding of your business, but it also helps in higher search engine rankings. Depending on how you are planning to use your blog, consider if you should choose a domain-name which is keyword-based or brandable.
An example of a brandable domain-name is Google.com. Nothing keyword-rich about it, but it is definitely etched in the minds of every Web surfer.
If your blog is going to play a significant role in your business, then spend some time choosing the right domain-name for it. People tend to remember memorable domain-names that end with a dot com to spread it around easier. You may consider using a free tool such as, DomainsBot.com to help in registering a good name. Then choose a standalone blog platform like Wordpress.org to stand a better chance of attracting heavy traffic to your blog on a regular basis.
Choosing A Template For Your Blog
With Blogger.com and Wordpress.com, the hassle of hiring a Web designer is eliminated. These hosted options already have blog templates ready for use. Just pick a design that works well with the theme of your business and get ready to start blogging. The downside to this is that there is only so much you can do to alter its look and feel. What you see is what you get.
With Wordpress.org however, you're free to hire a Web Designer to design the style of your blog from the ground up. There are no limitations to what you can do with your design. There are Wordpress.org templates that are also freely given away by the Wordpress community with no strings attached. You have full rights to grab any of these templates and alter them to suit the theme of your business blog.
You can google "Wordpress templates" and you'll get a variety of sites to choose from. One of the more popular ones is found at WordPress › Free WordPress Themes.
Publishing Your Content
After all the "back-breaking" work of setting up your business blog, it now comes down to the most important reason of having a blog in the first place - getting your content out to the world.
For some, this is an easy process. For many others however, publishing useful and unique content regularly can be severely daunting. Distinguishing yourself from other business bloggers takes a bit of understanding of who your core readers are. Put some time aside to research your audience and find out what they would like to read about. Here are some considerations to bear in mind when publishing your content:
* Should I make my posts educational, newsworthy, informational, entertaining and debatable or, a combination of all those?
* How long should my posts be (this is where getting feedback from your readers comes in)?
* Should I consider a blog partnership (getting guest bloggers to write unique content for your blog)?
The initial excitement of publishing a blog can quickly dissipate when your "content well" starts to dry up. So where do you turn to for ideas and inspiration to get readers queuing up to read your work? Well, let's start with how you can categorize your content in a way that could potentially skyrocket your readership:
* The infamous Top 10 lists
* How-To information
* Reviews
* Interview someone within your business niche
* Latest trends and newsworthy information
* Present relevant business case-studies
* Recommend other business blogs that might be of interest to your readers
But all the above may be rendered useless if you can't get to a source for inspiration. So here are some of the best places to visit when you need to get those creative juices flowing:
* News sites - CNN, Yahoo News, Google News are just some of many News websites available to spark an interesting idea for a blog post. Dig into News stories and press releases to see what is significant for your blog. Cast your opinion on it and you've just got yourself a new post. But don't stop there.
Look for News sites that are specific to your industry as well. For example, if you're blogging about finance, head on over to Bloomberg Financial News and get ideas from there. About.com is another site that covers a gamut of topics that makes for such a great source for content ideas.
* Online Groups / Social Networking sites / Forums - Google Groups, Yahoo Groups and MySpace are a hotbed of ideas. Your potential readers and customers could be lurking within these groups, freely exchanging the kind of information a market research company would pay thousands of dollars for.
Don't ignore forums that are relevant to your industry. Like social networking sites and online groups, forums attract the kind of audience that could be interested in the information you are offering.
* Social Bookmarking Services - Like social networking sites, social bookmarking services are all the rage today. These services allow users to rate and recommend topics that are popular with them. They are a portal into the hottest and latest trends as deemed by public opinion.
Visit sites such as Technorati.com, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon.com, Reddit.com and Digg.com to get blogging ideas. While there are a great number of other social bookmarking sites springing up onto the Web quite regularly, those are the most referred to by professional bloggers for research.
* High Traffic Sites - Another fantastic source of blogging ideas can be found at high traffic sites such as Alexa.com, Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Craigslist.org and Wikipedia.org. A wealth of ideas can be mined just from sifting through these sites' categories.
* Article Directories - Article directories offer you the option of re-printing the articles of your choice on your blog. This can come in handy if you're having an off day but need something to whet the appetite of your readers. Even if you don't intend to publish any of those articles, use them as a source of ideas for writing your next post.
Some of the more popular directories are EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com and ArticleCity.com. These articles are free to re-print but, read the terms on these sites on how to go about re-printing them.
* Some Other Sources - Another idea-generating method is to look out for what people are searching for and decide if you could blog about these search terms. Visit popular sites like Yahoo Buzz, Google Zeitgeist and MetaCrawler.com for this purpose.
Try searching for ideas using blog search engines as well. The best site to do this is at Technorati.com. Google and Yahoo have blog search engines that might pull different search results from Technorati.com, so try alternating to get what you're looking for.