If you are not blogging for your business then you should be. While many people simply dismiss blogging because of its description as a web diary they are missing a lot of traffic and revenue generating opportunities every day. Are you one of those missing out?
In truth, blogs are much more than a simple web diary. They are actually a content management system and/or an easy web site template. Blogging software allows you to begin posting your content to the Internet in minutes and when you harness that ability with an RSS feed you have a powerful traffic magnet.
I have come up with 7 reasons why every business should have a blog and RSS feed.
1. Publishing a regularly updated blog helps you keep in touch with your existing audience and/or customer base. You can publish updates, news, or thoughts on your blog as well as answer questions.
2. A blog can help you attract new customers. Your blog entries (posts or articles) will become fodder for the search engines and will attract new visitors. If your blog answers the visitors’ question or attracts their interest you have just found another qualified lead.
3. Blogs and RSS feed often rank higher in search engines than traditional websites. Search engines love blogs and RSS feeds. If you design your blog properly then every time you update it the search engines are notified. Even if you don’t regularly ping most search engines will revisit blogs more frequently. Plus the very organization of a blog lends itself to spidering and good search engine ranking.
4. Blogs can help you establish or build your reputation in a particular field. As your blog grows you will demonstrate your knowledge in your chosen niche.
5. Blogs and RSS feeds are good revenue streams. You can add pay-per-click ads, affiliate ads, or sell ad space on your blogs. In fact, many PPC companies also provide the ability to add PPC to your RSS feeds.
6. Blogs are great ways to generate leads. Even if you don’t want to put any advertising on your blog you can use it to promote or capture leads for your own programs. These are great leads as the fact that they came from your blog means they are already interested in your topic and predisposed to your individual message.
7. Creating your own blog is the easiest way to establish a presence on the Internet and creating an RSS feed is even easier. In fact, it is also the cheapest way to get started on the Internet as there are a number of free blogging sites out there. I started out with wordpress.com and usually recommend them but have heard others point to several other top blogging sites as well. The blogging software that I now use is WordPress and also happens to be free. In fact, most web hosts now offer WordPress (or other free blogging software) as a free site add-on through QuickInstall. Installing WordPress from scratch is quick and easy but QuickInstall makes it even easier. Blogs created at Blogger have an RSS feed created for them and WordPress also creates feeds in several variations automatically.
As you can see there are several benefits to starting your own blog and RSS feed. If you can count that many benefits from an Internet marketing technique that is also free and easy then you are foolish not to begin using it for yourself.
photo credit: NevilleHobson reader-FeedDemon via photopin (license)
