Blogs are a key component of any modern web promotion strategy. Blogs are a seamless way to help your website give search engines what they are looking for to rank your site well:
- Fresh content
- A rich supply of relevant keywords
- Link bait
- Added value to the search results (as opposed to keyword spam)
- The opportunity to promote yourself through social media
As small business person, you know your industry. You have to in order to survive the increasingly tough economic climate. You are the expert in your field, and sharing that expertise on the substantial forum of the Internet lets everyone else know that, including existing and potential clients.
The reasons that are usually given for why a company does not want to produce a blog are:
- They are too busy.
- People in their industry are not on the internet, or at least don’t use the internet for business. They aren’t on Facebook and Twitter.
- They see blogs and the associated promotion through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as a waste of time.
The response to the first reason is that if you are too busy to contribute time towards gaining new business, why are you looking into web promotion services? (Of course I don’t say it like that!). Most small businesses just want to pay someone to promote their website, and have writing the check be their sole contribution. Well, you can do it that way, and many businesses do. The sad truth is that strategy is just a small step above throwing your check directly into the garbage.
As for the second two reasons, I guarantee there are a significant number of people in your vertical who are heavily involved in blogging and social media marketing, and they have the advantage over you. If not, then it shouldn’t take too much effort for your business to become the industry leader.
There is a lot of BS around blogging and social media out there, and if anyone presents themselves as a “Guru” I recommend running the other way quickly. Do, please, however consider contributing some of your time and expertise in promoting your site through blogging. If you can’t write yourself, hire a copywriter. You’ll usually get a good bang for the buck, and they will take your ideas and knowledge and put them in the most effective form to market your business.
TP Designs promotes websites in the San Francisco Bay Area through PPC and SEO services.