Since the dot-com bubble, the internet has become a desired hangout for people of all ages, especially for teens and adults. The Internet boom has revolutionized the way businesses promote and market their products and brands. The prominence of the Internet led to the genesis of new online sharing and marketing methodologies. Blogging is one of the best ways to socialize with the internet community and it is also a low-cost option if you want to make your presence felt on the web.
A blog is a kind of website managed by the author, who can share his views and opinions about generic topics that interest him. There are two types of blogs: Personal Blogs and Business Blogs. Personal Blogs are circumscribed with the ideas of the author and they act as a personal diary or a publicly viewed scrapbook of the author. Whereas Business Blogs act as a medium through which companies communicate with their customers and employees. Business Blogs help companies and SMEs to share their expertise with the online community, while also attracting new prospective customers.
Business blogs are powerful marketing tools, which help companies in promoting and marketing their products and services. A business blog is a cost-effective and feasible option for small and medium-sized businesses to interact with their customer base. Though most businesses seem to get it right when maintaining a business blog, there are certain don’ts that should be thought over when starting a business blog:
- Do not use your blog just for communicating with your target audience about new products and brands; reading only about products and services could become monotonous for the reader over a period of time. Every now and then post content which in a way educates the reader about your business niche and the functioning of the global marketplace.
- Do not create your business blog in separate domain names or with the help of free blogging platforms such as WordPress, Weebly, and Blogspot. Always create business blogs in a sub-domain of your main website, as this could provide SEO benefits.
- Do not forget to integrate your business blog with social networking options like Facebook and Twitter. Integrating social networking options such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and StumbleUpon will greatly help in driving traffic to your website, while also enabling your readers to share the content via social networks.
- Do not post content that is not related to your niche area. Make sure that all the articles and ideas that you share in your blog focus only in your niche business area. When you start a business blog make sure you define your niche and the target audience and ensure all the posts and articles concentrate on your niche and target audience.
- Do not ignore the concept of analytics for your blog. Analytics educate you on the search engine optimization aspect and provide you an understanding of the visibility of your blog on the web. With analytics, you can analyze the effectiveness of your blog and take your blog to the next level.