Blogging for Business

Google and Yahoo have them. So do Sprint, Hewlett-Packard, and some other Fortune 500 companies — about six percent of them in total. Increasingly more businesses, both large and small, have company blogs. This article is being written for a web hosting company blog. Blogs, while popular for personal use, have acquired a place in the business world too.

Advantages of having a business blog

Blogs are easy to set up and use. You don’t need to hire a web developer to create a blog for you (although you might want a web designer to give it the same look as the rest of the site). A number of free blog software programs are available to use. Other than customizations, you can have a blog ready to use within a few minutes. And once a blog is set up, you just type and publish via the admin panel. The time saved by using a blog to publish content may allow you to publish more content for your website.

Blogs get content to readers and search engines fast. Most blogs automatically create RSS feeds. People can subscribe to the feeds of blogs they want to read, and when new content is added, their RSS reader delivers the content to them. The same process happens with RSS search engines. When they’re subscribed to a blog feed, they check the feed at regular intervals, and they receive new content to index within hours rather than days.

Blogs give you or your company a voice in the industry. You know your field well. Why not share some of that knowledge and become recognized as a voice of authority in the field?

More than one employee can post in a blog. Employees can post content relevant to their company responsibilities, which saves you work and lets customers get to know your employees as individuals.

Blogs show the human side of companies. Perhaps your customers talk to you on the phone, or maybe they place orders online. But with an online business, you probably have less contact with your customers that you would in a bricks-and-mortar store. A blog lets you and your staff talk as people to people, and a human connection can help increase customer loyalty.

Blogs are interactive. They give customers and potential customers the opportunity to share their reactions and feedback and you the opportunity to read it and respond. Sometimes the comments after blog entries grow into discussions of their own.

Disadvantages of having a business blog

Blogs need regular new content. New content brings readers and search engine bots to the blog. But time can be limited, and fresh ideas aren’t always there when you need them. A blog without fresh content doesn’t bring as many people or bots and doesn’t reflect well on the business.

Blogs need maintenance. If you build one, spammers will come, and spam needs to be removed. In addition, blog programs need upgrading when new versions are released. If blogs aren’t maintained, they look abandoned, like an unmown lawn in front of a house whose family is on vacation.

Blogs may get negative comments. Customers may choose to comment after a blog post to express their dissatisfaction about some aspect of your products or services. Most of us would rather respond to such issues privately, but once a comment has been posted, other people and bots can read it.

What to write about in a business blog

Write about what’s relevant to your customers, such as company updates and topics related to your products, services, and industry. However, a blog that reads like a sales pitch isn’t likely to be read much. Provide information and perspectives that your audience will want to come back for. Here are some ideas:

News entries

• New product and company information
• Newsletter content
• Upcoming events
• Information about related organizations

Business entries

• Information on topics relevant to customers
• Advice on how to use a product or do a particular task
• Tips on how to improve business or productivity

Industry entries

• Industry changes and trends
• Opinions
• Personal experiences relevant to the products or services

Some business blogs focus on just one type or a few types of content.

How to start a business blog

Choose a blog software program. Some of the more popular blog programs are WordPress, b2evolution, and Movable Type, among others.

Link to your blog from your home page. If you want more exposure, include a link to it on the main menu so that every page at your website links to it.

Promote your blog. Check that your blog program has created RSS feeds. Submit your blog link to blog directories. If you have a newsletter, mention the blog in the newsletter. Include a link to your blog in your email signature.

Feed your blog. Observe via your site stats which topics and keywords bring the most traffic to the blog, and note which topics generate more discussion. Use this information to choose topics for your blog.

Organize your blog content. Blog programs allow you to create categories for the content and to list posts in more than one category. Categories help visitors find content relevant to them, and they provide more keywords for your blog.

Write regular content for your blog. If you don't have time to write it yourself, find someone in your organization who can write blog content regularly.