A Custom Blog Can Be Your Best Lead Producer

When potential customers for your business have a need, it's usually a need for information. Today, when people want information about a product or service, they turn to search engines like Yahoo. Whether they need a new high-definition television set or a home repair, they search for information to help them make an informed decision about where to get the product or service they need.

If your business has a well-written and informative blog that's updated regularly with articles about what your customers need, chances are your potential customers will find it in their searches.

Not just any blog will do. For your blog to be effective, it must be designed to get great results on the search engines. That means careful, targeted presentation and excellent writing. The better your blog is in achieving top search engine rankings, the more of your potential customers will find it and move along to your web site or contact you directly.

Beyond that, the content at your blog must answer the questions and provide the information visitors seek. It must also inform, entertain, and motivate readers to act. That's a tall order, but a professional custom blogger can fill it, and at a price low enough to make your decision to contract with that blogger easy.

Email Me to discuss how a blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation. Visit the links on this blog, too, to learn more about how custom blogging can benefit your business.

How Often Should You Update Your Business Blog?

Business-oriented blogs are an excellent way to communicate with your customers. There's no question about that. But a stale blog communicates nothing except your lack of interest. For a blog to work for you, it must be updated regularly, so your audience will return to see what's new.

The best frequency of posting new blog articles depends on your type of business. For some businesses, daily updates are needed, but those businesses are rare. Entertainment businesses are a good example. With constantly changing events, daily updates help keep customers informed about what's happening right now.

For most businesses, weekly or monthly updates work the best. Customers get fresh information without being overloaded with emails about updates or RSS feeds. They're happy to check your blog out once a week or once a month. They learn new information related to your business and are reminded to think about your business, and are more likely to contact you or visit.

Finding time to research and write fresh material can be tough for most business owners. Often, it's best to contract with a professional blogger to handle these regular chores. You'll be on your contract blogger's calendar and the updates will appear, like clockwork. You get the benefit, and none of the work. Custom blogging is affordable, convenient, and just good marketing strategy.

Email Me to discuss how a regularly-updated blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation. Visit the links on this blog, too, to learn more about how custom blogging can benefit your business.

How A Custom Blog Helps Customers Find You

Every web site, including yours, relies heavily on search engine results to bring new potential customers to the site. With the heavy competition out there for search engine results, you need all the help you can get. Search Engine Optimization on the site itself is a good start, but having a blog hosted on a blog-specific service like blogger.com can add new dimensions to your search engine success.

Did you know that Blogger.com is owned by Google? That simple fact means that Google works hard to get its hosted blogs listed high on its search results. You can use this synergy to help your own web site get better search engine exposure.

It's not hard to do, but does require some knowledge of how search engines catalog blogs in their databases. It also requires careful planning to match your business to search terms your potential customers are likely to use.

The easiest way to do this, and the most effective, is to hire a professional to build and maintain a blog for your business. I can help you build an effective blog for your business and keep it updated on a regular basis. The cost for this is surprisingly low, and the benefits are huge. Read the other articles in this blog to learn more ways a blog can help build your business. Email Me to discuss how a blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation. Visit the links on this blog, too, to learn more about how custom blogging can benefit your business.

Should Your Blog Be about Your Business?

Many people think a business blog should be restricted to articles about that business. That's a real mistake. The place for information about your business should be your main web site. While information about the business is of interest to you, it's rarely that interesting to blog visitors. In fact, blogs that deal only with information about a particular business don't work very well at all.

Instead, make your blog somehow related to your business, but not about your business. For example, an auto repair business should blog about automotive topics, like the importance of regular maintenance or how to inspect tires for excessive wear. Blog entries that help your customers understand and enjoy their cars will attract people to your blog. They'll get the idea of visiting your business on their own, since you'll have links to your main web site prominently displayed.

Similarly, a dental office blog should be about understanding and caring for teeth, not about the specifics of that dental office. Again, that information belongs on the main web site. Articles about the importance of early dental care for chidren or informative articles about common dental concerns are the best blog topics for this type of business.

That's not to say that an occasional article about the business itself isn't in order. If you're having a special event or a change of address, an article about that is a good idea. But such articles should be well mixed with informative, entertaining articles about topics related generally to the type of business you operate.

At the end of each general blog entry, you can also include a short paragraph inviting readers to contact you for more information or to schedule an appointment related to the topic of the blog. These paragraphs should not be more than a sentence or two, and should contain links to your web site and email address.

Remember, you're aiming at a balance between informing and entertaining your blog visitors and putting them in touch with you. If you attract them to your blog by offering useful information, they'll naturally think of you when they want to shop or obtain related services. That's the way blogs work to help you build business.

Email Me to discuss how a blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation.

Should You Host Your Own Business Blog?

If you're ready to start a blog for your own business, you're probably wondering whether you should host it yourself on your company's web site or use a third-party blog-hosting service. In almost all cases, it's better to host your blog on a dedicated blog host, like Google's Blogger.com service.

Hosting is free on Blogger.com, and there are several advantages to using that service. If you host on your own site, you or your custom blog service will have to coordinate with your company's web designer or webmaster. Since blogs require frequent updates, this can lead to excessive time spent on the blog by your designer or webmaster.

A hosting service like Blogger.com lets you or your custom blog service update the blog at any time without involving your web hosting personnel. It also lets you keep non-employees from accessing your web-site server. Even better, changes and corrections can be made almost instantly and new blog articles can appear without delay.

Naturally, you'll link to your external blog from your website. Best of all, your external blog will contain links to your business website and provide an additional way for customers to find your business. Blogger.com, as part of Google, includes your blog entries in their search engine, which gives you additional internet exposure. All in all, the benefits of external blog hosting far outweigh the costs of hosting on your own servers.

Email Me to discuss how a blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation. Check out the links on this blog, too, for more information that can help your business.

Does Your Twin Cities Business Need a Blog?

Most Twin Cities businesses like yours already have a web site. That's a great thing, since it gives your customers and potential customers a place where they can find your business and learn about it. But, most small business web sites are static or are rarely changed. That means that most customers come to your site just once and never return. Even if you update your site once a month, that may not be enough to bring customers back to your site. Keeping your business in the minds of your existing customers is the very best way to keep them calling and coming in.

In today's internet marketing environment, the blog is the very best way to keep your website fresh and up-to-date. Lively, informative blog entries are the perfect way to bring customers to your site and to keep them interested in your business. Whether you have an auto repair shop, a restaurant, or a fishing guide service, a regularly-updated blog will keep your business web presence alive and current.

A business blog should incorporate:

• Updates on special offers, new features, and changes in your business.
• Seasonal articles that remind customers of your business, while informing and entertaining.
• Articles of interest to your customers about subjects related to your business.
• Search engine-friendly phrases and terms that bring new customers to your website and business.
• Regular updates on at least a weekly basis to keep customers returning to the blog.
• Clear, accurately-written articles that inform, entertain, and motivate readers.

I can help you set up a blog if you don't have one, and keep it updated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. With 25 years of professional writing under my belt, you can be assured that your blog will be lively, accurate, and timely. It will always reflect the philosophy and style of your business. Your blog can be hosted on your own web site, or set up on a blog service with links to and from your web site.

Your time is valuable--too valuable to spend trying to maintain a blog. For a reasonable fee, I can handle those chores for you and help keep your internet presence fresh and active.

Email Me to discuss how a blog can enhance your marketing strategy. There's no charge for an initial consultation.