Harness the Power of Blogs

Let's look more closely at a few of the extremely powerful ways your business can benefit from a blog. With an effective business blog, you can:

Humanize your business. Because a blog is much more informal than other Web sites, you can write posts in your own voice and give your business more of a human face. This helps reassure prospective customers that there's a "real person" behind the Web site who'll take care of their needs. It also allows you to inject much more of your own personality into your online business than your main sales site could do.

Improve your customer service. Your blog can act as a kind of interactive FAQ, allowing your customers to submit questions and you to answer them. You can also provide product updates, how-to articles and other information of relevance to your customers. Prospective customers who see your blog will be encouraged by your commitment to good customer service.

Give your target market the information they're looking for. With its automatic archiving feature -- by date and category -- a blog is a fantastic content-management system. It's easy for you to post new information on a regular basis, and it's easy for your visitors to find the information they want. With a well-written, regularly updated blog, you can become a reliable resource in your industry and build a following of loyal readers who depend on your content. These people will be your best potential customers.

Drive traffic to your sales Web site. If you already have a Web site, a blog can give your traffic levels a real boost. For starters, your blog will attract new visitors that you can then redirect to your main sales Web site through links and special offers. But an even more effective technique is to use strategic keywords and links to specific sales pages to dramatically improve the search engine rankings of both your blog and your main Web site.

Build your credibility and establish yourself as an industry expert. You can give your credibility a real boost by regularly posting valuable and relevant information on your blog. It's a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your subject area, and allow your visitors to feel much more comfortable buying from you.