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Blogs, are they good for small business?
According to all the experts yes, blogs are good for small and large business
web sites. In case you have not heard about blogs, they are daily or weekly logs
or text diaries that are posted on a web page. The
owner posts and updates his or her opinions, news , comments or anything
really . Most blogs allow for
visitors to the blog to post their comments and reviews of the blog owner's postings.
The reason blogs are being viewed as a good business tool is that they have
the potential to replace the email newsletter. A web site or business that sends
a weekly or monthly newsletter can now just post the information on their web site in the
blog section and the intended readers can visit the site and read it 24/7.
This also removes the problem of a newsletter being confused with spam, or
junk email and
being deleted by spam filters and never reaching the reader.
Blogs can also help with search engine ranking and popularity. If people are
visiting and revisiting your web site to read the latest posts to your blog they
generate traffic and may also link to your web site from their web site, if they
have one. They may provide a link and recommendation to their visitors about
your blog.
This type of activity is called viral marketing also simply known as word of
mouth. One person spreads the word to another about a product, service or web
site and that person tells a friend and so on and so on. If the word is good
this can be a great thing for your small business web site. Keep in mind this
can work the other way too. If someone finds something that is not so good they
can put the word out just as quickly.
Blogs can also help a small business get immediate feed back on a product or
service they are offering. Or a product or service that you are testing. The
blog lets your audience know that the test product or service is coming and
then invites comments and feed back on it. This can provide excellent market
information for you and the best part is your customers are providing the
information and comment. This enables you to tailor your offering to them
directly based upon their feed back.
Large companies pay dearly for this type of informational feed back from
their customers. This use of the blog also allows for further customization of
your product or service. Customizing a product or service is very good business,
it helps you retain customers and add new ones. By asking for comments and
suggestions from your customers you can keep current on what they are seeking
from your product or message.
Also if you find that a web site is not within your small business budget you
can obtain an online presence with a blog. Although some important distinctions
should be made. A blog is a personal journal or diary, where text from your
journal is placed on a web page. It is meant to be light informal and brief. So
there are major differences between a blog and a small business web site. The
web site can offer a more formal presentation and can offer greater depth. Both
blogs and web sites have their use for small business but don't get the two
confused, they are not interchangeable.
copyright 2005
webdesignpartners,Inc.
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