Blogging started gaining popularity in the 1990s as a way to comment on existing web pages - an opportunity for readers to voice their own opinions or react to the page content. Single line commentary grew into paragraphs and pages of personal opinion on every subject under the sun. More recently, online advertising has used blogs as a delivery method.
5 reasons to use a blog as an internet tool for marketing
1. Simplicity. Blogging is an easy way to get your own part of the internet. No technical skills are required, anyone who can click a mouse, read and type can create their own blog. If you have an internet connection and PC or Mac computer, you can have a virtual piece of internet paper to voice your own ideas. Blog about new products, ideas experiences - whatever you like - to entice readers to try a product or think about a concept.
2. Authenticity. Advertising saturates our lives now and we have learnt to question the credibility of advertised claims. Blogging provides a means for real life people to share their true experiences, untouched by the advertising dollar. When reviewing a product or service for purchase, you can evaluate it by reading first hand experiences of people who have already tried it.
3. Free or very low entry prices. Test out the waters of blogging for free from well known blogosphere providers. For start up businesses, this addition to existing websites and marketing tools is definitely a bonus. Of course, for established businesses, paid blog pages can generate more income.
4. Credibility. Writing regularly on your experiences with an industry, product range or other topic of interest helps visitors to your blog understand that you are a valid information source. Your blog's readership will expand naturally, and more people will link to your blog. Professional organisations and companies may approach you to advertise on your site, or offer the opportunity to become an affiliate to them. A credible affiliated blog can produce income based for sales made after being referred from your blog.
5. Build market share. Unless you are famous in your own right, your readership will start off small with mainly word of mouth producing growth, however there are ways to build your blog's market:
• Use e-mail. Blogging is overtaking email in many circles due to its ease of access and ability to convey much more information in a short period of time. By sending emails with short teasers about blog posts, you can attract people to your blog. Or put your blog address into your email signature line.
• Subscriptions. Entice blog readers to subscribe to your blog and provide the all important email address by providing exclusive offers or information within your blog.
• Blog networks. Collections of blogs which share the same interest, readership, industry, payment mode etc, called blog networks are becoming increasingly popular. Consumers find these networks convenient as they can easily access many different blogs on their subject matter of choice.
• Understand your readership. Survey your readers to understand their preferences on advertising and to get a picture of their demographic profile. Ask for feedback on posts, product or service trials or advertisement links. This is an excellent non intrusive interview mechanism for sourcing information from your target audience.
• RSS Feeds. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is one of the fastest growing services on the internet today! It delivers the content of your blog to readers in a way which suits them, and keeps them up to date with your latest blog entries. It is a huge asset for generating awareness of your blog content.
Why not improve your business communication and marketing program by adding blogging to your Internet Marketing toolbox!
Online business is growing rapidly but there is still such a large number of businesses missing out on this opportunity. Kaplang is a unique design firm that provides quality services for web design, web development, search engine optimization and all other web solutions. Make sure your business stands out from the crowd when adding an online presence to your new or existing business. www.kaplang.com
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Blogging Articles Via RSS!
