Top 5 Reasons to Blog

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of flickr.com

Like it or not, if you own a website, you are forced to compete for exposure online.  With 242 million websites already in existence and nearly 130,000 new sites coming online every day, is it any wonder that being found is getting harder and harder to accomplish?  Well, the good news is that while it may take a little sweat equity to put your web presence in the winner’s circle, the task can be accomplished in short order if you blog just once per week. Here are the top ten reasons to blog: .

1.  Blogs generate an audience – Life is the ultimate reality show.  As anyone who has ever watched HGTV knows, people love to watch other people work.  It doesn’t take Hollywood to turn your business into must-see-online-TV.  In fact it doesn’t take video at all (although it helps).  The easiest way to generate an audience online is to document the drama that every business person goes through on a daily basis.  The simplest way to accomplish this is via blog. Think of blogging like a diary that enables you to document the everyday trials and triumphs of running a business.  Done properly, this is compelling stuff that readers will want to follow and pass along to friends and family.

2.   Blogs engage readers – The most important thing to keep in mind before creating a blog is that readers crave drama.  If you want to keep readers on the edge of their seats, you need to first identify the elements in your business that either solve a problem, create suspense, or make readers laugh.  The best way to do this is to carry a notepad and pen around with you.  Somewhere during the course of doing business you will stumble upon an idea or scene that can engage your audience.  The problem is that if you don’t make not of it (and shoot a few photos with your smartphone), it will be a case of in one ear and out the other.  By taking notes you will be surprised at how much drama occurs in your business.  Then it’s simply a matter of sitting down and detailing the episode for your readers.

3.  Blogs are a great place to use mixed media – Speaking of smartphones, I can’t emphasize enough the value of photos and video in bringing your business home to readers.  By spicing up an otherwise lackluster blog post with a few photos, or a quick video blog, not only will you find your audience more interested in you and your business, but it also serves to improve search engine optimization (SEO) as well. 

4.  Blogs create backlinks – For many years the major search engines have put a premium on how many sites link to your site.  Not so long ago this concept actually caused a great deal of conflict, since it spawned backlink factories that turned out backlinks like linked sausages.  You’ll know you have come across someone who has worked with these firms if their backlinks are in Farsi or Chinese.  The good news is that the search engines cracked down on these bad boys big time.  The bad news is that most search engines still rate a portion of your worth on backlinks.  Is that’s what’s bothering you, Bunky?

Other than spending hour upon hour of identifying and emailing firms in your industry begging for backlinks, or spending thousands of dollars on software that does virtually the same thing, what if there was an easier way?  In fact, what if you could develop backlinks every week as part of your normal website update procedure? 

How do you do this? By always making certain that you include links to your sites at end of each and every blog.  Better still, sign up for article posting sites that will offer your reposted blog to other online businesses looking for content.

5.  Blogs are free advertising – Being a business consultant, I am always pitted against financial reality when it comes to helping a business grow online.   Most small businesses are on tight budgets. If money is tight, then one of the best reasons to use blogging week in and week out is due to the fact that it doesn’t cost you a penny to employ.  Provided that you are prepared to take as little as an hour out of your busy schedule to create a weekly blog, this could be one of the best investments your business can make.

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Since 1995, Carl Weiss has been helping clients succeed online.  He owns and operates several online marketing businesses, including Working the Web to Win and Jacksonville Video Production. He also co-hosts the weekly radio show. "Working the Web to Win,"  every Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern on BlogTalkRadio.com