Why a blog is good for business

You've no doubt heard about Blogging. Some reading this article will already be converts to the blogoshere but most - if intrigued by this article's title - will be teetering on the edge of maybe playing with the idea of perhaps starting a blog. My advice to you is stop teetering and get on with it. Blogging is one of the easiest, fastest, and cheapest ways for businesses, large and small, to engage their customers

Why do businesses blog?
• Blogging is easy
• Blogging builds your online reputation
• Blogs can increase traffic to your business site.
• Blogs can increase your search engine ranking

Lets examine those claims one by one:

Blogging is easy
You can sign up for a free blog right now, here at blogspot.com. Of course, in the very best traditions of the BBC I must inform you that other platforms are available. Typepad, and Wordpress are two of the major blog providers.

But we don't want you to that. Current thinking suggests that hosting at a dedicated domain is the better way to go about blogging. A related address such as yourcompanyname-online.com looks more professional and will be more effective in helping with SEO.

This isn't as complicated as you might think. Many domain packages come with blog software that can be installed in minutes. martyndaviescreative recommends Compila as a cost-effective solution.

Blogging builds your online reputation
Having a blog tells your customers and members of your business community that you are serious about your industry. That you have expert knowledge. That you a ready to help and inform.

Blogs can increase traffic to your business site.
Posting in your blog should be aimed at providing readers with reasons to visit your main site. It stands to reason that if you can establish trust, your visitors will be much more likely to click your links. Make sure that the links are relevant or your traffic will decay. And if your blog is enlightening and engaging other bloggers will link to you driving more traffic to your blog and giving you more opportunities to engage with potential customers.

Blogs can increase your search engine ranking
Search engines love blogs. Blogs are naturally configured for search engines with optimized site architecture and clear hierarchical navigation structures. They like regular updates too. More posts mean more visits from the spiders and bots. More visits mean faster indexing for your new content.

Remember that it's important to place links back to relevant content on your business site in your posts and in your blogroll (a list of links). Google figures that when one page links to another page, it is effectively casting a vote for that page. The more votes that are cast for a page, the more important the page must be. The more important the page, the higher it will be listed.

I'm convinced, any more tips?
Yes, loads. I will write more about blogging over the next few days. My next article will be about what makes a good blog. Please check back soon.