Creating A Blog To Enhance Your Online Business

Blogging was once thought of as an outlet for people to talk about their hobbies and lives online. However, this is no longer the case. Business people now use blogs to showcase their goods and services in a new way. Not only does this method allow the consumer to feel more connected to your business, blogs are highly favored by the search engines and when done correctly can lead to free targeted traffic that would otherwise be missed.

What should you write about?

The content of your blog is extremely important. In each post, try to give your customers something they can use that will make their life better in some small way. By giving them something of value, you give them a reason to come back to your blog. Understand who your customers are and target your articles towards them. Avoid marketing hype and blatant advertising. A business blog is an opportunity for you to have a dialog with your customers allowing you to improve your brand and get feedback from them that you can use to improve your business.

One of the biggest problems with blogs is when you first start them, you are enthusiastic and have plenty of content to post. As time goes by though, it becomes more difficult to create and publish content. To address this problem, create a list of topics you would like to write about over the coming months. If after reviewing your list you find that there is no way you will have the time to write and post all the content that you want, it might be a good idea to consider outsourcing some of it to a professional writer. Finding a writer is not that difficult and can be quite affordable. Be sure to checkout the “How To Hire Writers” section of our earlier post “Become an authority by publishing articles online” .

What A Business Blog Looks Like

The key to blogging is content. Great content that is updated on a regular basis. This is what sets a blog apart from a static website. A blog needs to be current and needs to be updated regularly to be considered effective.

Blogs are typically broken down into categories. For instance, if you own a landscaping business your categories could include “how to tips,” “plant knowledge,” “seasonal information,” etc. Your blog would also include static pages regarding your contact information, pricing and anything else that potential customers would like to know about you.

The key with your content is you want readers to return on a regular basis to see what you have to say and offer. This way, when they are ready for your service or product, you are the first place they think of.

Some Examples Of Great Blogs

A few blogs to check out would be:

• http://todaysgardenideas.com - following our landscaping example, here is a gardening blog that does many things right. Yes, they have some pictures that don’t load, but their content is new every day and it is always useful. If this were a landscaping company, all they would need to do is change a few things to make it obvious that they DID landscaping, and they would be all set. Use this blog as an example of excellent content and what you should aim for in your own writing endeavors.
• http://www.earnersblog.com/ - while you may have no idea what some of these articles are about, don’t worry about it. Look at the layout of the page. See how you can quickly determine the best posts to read (top posts), how to subscribe to the blog for updates (RSS up on the top right), and even how many readers this blog has (2585)?

Combine this type of layout with outstanding content and THAT is the type of blog you are looking to create. Don’t worry, though. This doesn’t take any type of special knowledge. You don’t need to know how to program or how to do anything other than fill in the blanks. If you can fill out a basic form, you can have a blog as good as these.

Some Examples Of NOT So Great Blogs

Before we move on to creating a blog, let’s take a quick moment on what NOT to do with your blog.

• http://www.problogger.net/ - While this is considered one of the top blogs in it’s genre, Problogger is just a busy site. Your eye is drawn in too many directions at once and you’re not sure what to settle on. Further, content is spread throughout the page, so you may feel like you’re missing something. A good site is well organized and categorized with trails to lead you to your destination (like Earner’s Blog).
• http://arborscapeservices.com/blog - Again, sticking with our landscaping example, here is a site that is on the right path, but could use some improvement. There is no clear delineation where the first article ends and the next one begins. Also, having the word “BLOG” isn’t the most search engine or reader friendly way to introduce your site. Finally, it’s clear that this is an addition that was an afterthought. Content here is not updated regularly, nor are there categories for future content to make articles easy to find. Readers really have no reason to return after the first visit.

How To Set Up Your First Blog

Now that you’ve had some examples of good and not so good blogs, it’s time to create your own site. Luckily, this is very simple to do. You have three options available to you:

1. Use a hosted blog such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

2. Install a free blog via your web host through a service called Fantastico.

3. Install a blog from scratch.

How To Set Up A Hosted Blog

This will be your easiest method to get started. The two most popular choices are Blogger.com and Wordpress.com. Google owns Blogger, so if you have a Gmail account, you can actually create your blog directly under the same account.

A Blogger account is created in 4 steps:

Go to http://blogger.com

1. Create an account – (email address, password, username and acceptance of terms)
2. Name your blog – This will be how people will find you and part of your web address. So in our landscaping example, you could name your blog mikes-landscaping. This would give you a web address of mikes-landscaping.blogger.com
3. Choose a Template – Once you’ve named your blog, you can choose a layout that you think will best suit your business. Don’t worry, you can change it at any time.

A Wordpress.com account is also setup in just a few steps:

Go to http://wordpress.com

1. Register for an account (username, password, email address, legal terms)

That’s it! Everything else will be run through your administrative dashboard. A point to remember is whatever username you choose with wordpress.com is also going to be part of your web address, so choose wisely!

The Benefits Of Hosted Blogs

The biggest benefit of having your blog hosted with Blogger and Wordpress is that you have everything done for you. These systems are set up to be as user friendly as possible. For someone that is totally new to the Internet and wants to try blogging, this is probably the best way to start out. That being said, Blogger is probably a little more user friendly than Wordpress in the beginning for someone that is totally new to the Internet and not comfortable playing around with an administrative dashboard, (even a very friendly one).

The Drawbacks to Hosted Blogs

The biggest drawback is that you don’t own it. Your content, your links, your entire site ultimately belongs to whomever hosts it. If you decided to sell your site down the road, you can’t sell a hosted site, because it doesn’t belong to you in the first place. As you get more advanced in your Internet marketing skills, you may find that you want to try new marketing methods. Most hosted blogs aren’t going to allow you to sell your products or run your email marketing list through their site which can be a bit of a hindrance.

Using Fantastico

Many web hosts offer a number of free scripts as part of their service. One such service is called Fantastico. Fantastico is a collection of popular scripts that can improve your existing website. One set of scripts offered is blogging software.

While Fantastico offers a few different blogging platforms, for the beginner, Wordpress should be the only one considered. This is because Wordpress is the easiest to administer and the most popular in terms of free upgrades available on the Internet. It is practically unlimited what you can do with Wordpress and free add-ons.

The easiest way to have wordpress installed via Fantastico is to ask your host to do it for you. This is offered for free by many web hosts.

Setting up Wordpress On Your Own

The great thing about Wordpress is that it is famous for it’s 5-minute installation. Don’t worry; if you can fill out a form, you can do this yourself! Here are some resources to help you:

• http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress - Scroll down to the “Famous 5 Minute Install and follow the 6 steps outlined. This will install Wordpress on your webhost.

• http://www.esnips.com/web/cre8d-tutorials - Here is a visual guide to installing Wordpress. It’s a quick movie that shows you everything you just read.
• http://www.blogadr.com/tutorials/free-wordpress-blogging-tutorial/ - for a series of tutorials on how to use Wordpress now that it’s installed, check out this site. These tutorials are video, so give them a moment to load. This site will teach you the basics of how to get around and become more comfortable with your Wordpress blog.

While this may seem overwhelming, you will find that the freedom you get from having your own Wordpress installation versus being on a hosted blog is a huge difference. Here, you will own your content, your links and all the hard work you put into your site. Also, you will be able to customize your site any way you like.

No matter which path you choose, blogging can make a huge difference in your income, your customer list and your authority as an online business. All it takes is a little time to set up and then a whole new world of opportunity will be opened to you.

Questions? Comment? Need advice? Post a comment here or drop me an email at Phil@Bigews.biz

How to Grow Your Site By Posting To Blogs And Forums

One of the best things about the Internet is that given time, you can grow your site into an authority in its given niche with just focus and daily legwork. Given 20 to 30 minutes per day, a site can grow into what the search engines consider an “authority site” within about 4-6 months. The span of time will depend on how large your niche is and the amount of competition within your given area of expertise.

Becoming An “Authority Site”

So, how do you become an “authority site” with no outlay of money? One of the pieces to the puzzle is to post to relevant blogs and forums. By relevant, you are looking for blogs and forums either within your specific niche or in the general area of your niche.

For instance, let’s say you’re an electrician. You have started a website about your electrical services and you may even offer a small store with products like wiring kits, specialty light bulbs, etc. You may find it difficult to locate other blogs dedicated to electrical services and products that are not considered spam. By spam, these other sites would not have any quality content or a reason for a reader to return or stay on the site.

In this case, the niche “electrical services” may be too narrow. You can then broaden out your range to maybe “do it yourself.” Here, you may find more sites dedicated to what you are looking for.

So What Are You Looking For?

The goal is to create a list of blogs and forums dedicated to your specific niche or general niche. (ie. “electrical services” or “do it yourself”) In the beginning, the more you can find, the better. What you will want to do is whittle down these sites to 2-5 blogs and 1-3 good forums as your targets and start up a habit of adding valuable comments to them.

How Do You Find These Blogs And Forums?

Finding forums to post to is pretty straightforward. In any search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, simply type in your keyword and forum (ie. “electrician forum” or “electrical forum,” – without the quotes). This should return some results for you. If your niche is too narrow or you don’t see the results you desire, start thinking laterally to your niche as was discussed earlier (“do it yourself forum”).

You can follow this same process with blogs, however in Google there is another method that may yield better results. Instead of going to Google.com, go instead to http://blogsearch.google.com/. This is Google’s blog only search engine. Once there, enter your desired keyword and see what results you find.

For Yahoo, you will want to go to http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Blogs, enter in your keyword and immediately above the search box, check the “this category” button. This search will then find blogs directly related to your keyword in the Yahoo! Directory.

NOTE: If you don’t check off the “this category” radio button, however, it will only return websites and not blogs, so make sure not to miss this step!

Which Blogs & Forums To Choose

Once you have a list of possible blogs and forums you would like to start posting to, check them to see how much traffic they get and what their Google pagerank is.

To check how much traffic a blog or forum is getting, use a service like http://www.Alexa.com or http://www.Quantcast.com . Compare sites to each other and go with those that have the highest levels of traffic.

Another important factor to consider is the Google pagerank of the blogs and forums you are considering. Pagerank is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. You can use this tool to check a sites Google pagerank.

again, when comparing sites, you will get the most bang for your time by posting to sites with the highest pagerank on your list.

In most cases you will see that the sites with the most traffic also have the higher pagerank, but this is not always the case.

What To Do Once You’ve Located Some Blogs

As mentioned earlier, you want to narrow down your search to 2-5 blogs. Since you’re going to be commenting on these sites on a daily basis, make sure they have content you like and are willing to read. You can always change your mind later and move to another site, but the more you like the blog and forum you’re posting to, the more likely you’ll be to follow through on your marketing tasks.

Once you’ve found your 2-5 targeted blogs, start up a habit of adding valuable comments to them.

• If you can leave a solid comment every day to just three blogs, which shouldn’t take longer than twenty minutes, you will have success with this process.

• The key here is “valuable comments.” Make sure to read the post you are leaving a comment on. When you leave a comment, make it something meaningful. Stay away from short comments like “great article!” or “just wanted to say Hi!”

• Let the author know you appreciated what they had to say and why. This not only adds to the quality of content on the blog you’re reading, but will encourage readers to come to your site as well.

Most blogs have what is known as a “blogroll.” This is essentially a list of related blogs that the site owner likes and recommends to his or her readers. This is a great way to find new blogs you may have missed in your Google and Yahoo! Search. You can find some of the best blogs in this manner, by looking at blogrolls and seeing where they go.

What To Do Once You’ve Located Some Forums

Once you’ve found the blogs you want to work with and have some idea about how you’re going to comment on them, it’s time to start targeting some forums. Ideally, you will want to find 1-3 forums to work in.

Forums can take more time, but if done correctly can yield quicker benefits. This isn’t to say that you should skip the blog commenting process. These two steps should be done together to get the best results over time. Remember, you aren’t paying a cent for this traffic; it just takes time for you to introduce yourself and get better known in the community.

This is essentially what you are going to do with the forums.

• Once you find the forum that fits your niche, start by posting a nice introduction post. Explain who you are and why you are at the forum. Most forums have an area specifically for introductions. This is a great way to make a first post and get yourself known to the “regulars” in the forum.

• Start a regular habit and post 2-10 new posts to the forum each week night.

• Use a powerful call to action in your signature and include context-relevant links in threads whenever applicable.

• If you are including links to your blog, DO NOT link to items for sale in the beginning. This will mark you as a spammer on most forums. It is acceptable to link to relevant articles that are not sales oriented in nature. Make sure to read the forum posting rules first to be safe.

• Prepare a unique and original article, about 600-1000 words long, make it story based if possible and teach people how to do something (reveal your best stuff), and post it to three popular forums. This will work better if you do it after first building a little profile in the forums. Again, people are suspicious of new members so build a little trust first before attempting any direct marketing approaches in forums. Do this task once every other week.

Follow these methods and you will see results in as little as a couple of months. The key is consistency. If you post once a week, it will take much longer to see results than if you post daily.

Creating A Signature

A signature is basically a couple of lines that are included at the end of every post you make to a forum and the idea is to use a compelling call to action - a sentence or two with a link - to lure people to your blog from the forum. An example would be:

“Learn the secrets of a Master Electrician to save money on your next DIY

Click Here For Details”

To make this link more relevant, you will want to link it to a specific article on your blog about saving money and not just your homepage. This will make people that click through happier, because they found what you were promising and the search engines happy because you were relevant. Remember, each time you post to a forum and you signature is used; a link to your site is created. This adds credibility to your blog in the eyes of the search engines.

Forum Etiquette

As in any social endeavor, there are specific do’s and don’ts in the forums. Already mentioned was linking to anything commercial before you have a reasonable profile built up. A reasonable profile is typically considered 50+ posts, but be sure to read your forums posting rules. Some forums never allow commercial linking.

Also to consider:

• Non-relevant posting. Similar to blogs comments where you have nothing to say. If you have nothing of value to add to a conversation, don’t post in the forum.

• Off-Topic posting. Nothing will raise the ire of a moderator quicker than if you post in the wrong part of a forum. Make sure that your post going in the right section. If you aren’t sure, then start your post with an apology and say something to the effect of, “I wasn’t sure where this should go, please feel free to move this post if necessary…” This will go a long way for keeping you in good stead with not only the forum “locals” but also the moderators that have the power to ban you.

• Profanity. While some forums seem to encourage it, remember, you are here to promote your site. Don’t become known as “that guy” or “that woman” that always has a problem with something (or everything) - unless that is the specific slant of your blog. In the end, it will drive away more traffic than it will attract.

By posting to relevant blogs and forums on a daily basis and having a specific plan of action, you can build your site from zero to authority in a relatively short period of time. This is with no outlay of funds, just time and effort on your part. The other benefit is that you will get to know other people in your niche that can lend their assistance as you grow your site and they grow theirs.