Number One Secret Businesses Need To Know About Blog Usage

Number One Secret Businesses Need To Know About Blog Usage
By Mrs. Killeen M. Gonzalez

It is estimated that there are over 133 million blog records indexed in the U.S alone since 2002, Further support of the widespread use of blogs can be found in the 2008 study from Universal McCann that revealed over 77 percent of active Internet users read blogs.

Given the widespread use of blogs it is easy to see that blogs are an important and inexpensive marketing tool that businesses can use to build brand awareness, drive traffic to their websites, promote their products and services, attract new customers and network with current customers. Before any of that can happen though, you have to understand the secrets of both how to set the blog up and the best techniques to use to make the blog both intergraded and profitable. Read on for three secrets to making your business blog work for you.

The number one secret to making your business blog work for you is content. You will want your blog to meet the needs and wants of those who visit it. It must also work in harmony with your overall marketing plan. A professional freelance marketeer can help you with this or you can try and achieve it on your own through careful research.

If you are unsure of what to put on your blog you can log onto www.compete.com. Compete.com is a free online tool that lets you see website traffic numbers for up to 5 websites including sub-domains. You can use the tool to find the top visited blogs in your industry and check out how they have their blog set up. Once you’ve viewed the top sites you may have a better idea of what you want to write about on your blog.

Secret number two is that once you’ve established your content be sure to consider additional ways to make your company’s blog work for you such as advertising through pay-per-click programs like Google AdSense or display ads. If you are not sure what companies to approach about advertising on your blog you can match you blog content to that of your potential advertising partners by using either ValueClick or Tribal Fusion. Both ValueClick and Tribal Fusion have extensive networks of advertisers that you can match your blog’s content to, which greatly increases your advertising conversion rates.

An last but not least Secret number three has to do with E-mail. With the price of postage climbing ever higher, it makes sense to use your blog to set up E-Mail sign-up programs so that you can send out targeted E-Mail offers at a fraction of snail mail costs. FeedBurner is a good ( and free ) e-mail collection service that any business can use. FeedBurner is offered through Google. If FeedBurner isn’t for you, there are other e-mail service providers out there that offer ways to collect and manage your blog subscriber data. Some services manage the collected data for you whereas others such as Best Contact Form and FormSpring let you set up your own forms to collect names, e-mails and demographics that you can then import into your own marketing programs.

For additional information about low to no cost ways to market your business online contact a professional freelance marketer for assistance. You can find one on such websites as www.guru.com or www.liverperson.com.