Web Blogs, Defined, Explained and Understood
by Sharon Housley
What are Blogs?
Having heard the term previously but not having
paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance
and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog
does not conjure pleasant images.
Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly,
usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to
a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries
about people's personal lives, political views, or even as social
commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped
into whatever you, the author, want them to be.
Where Did Blogs Come From?
The roots of blogging can be traced back to the
mid 1990's. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear,
as the art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The
original "weblogs" were link-driven sites with personal
commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided Internet
web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online journals,
blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web content.
The Future of Blogs
A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging"
is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be
a new way to communicate with existing and potential customers
it deserves at the very least a cursory look.
Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?
Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging
is the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial
to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive
content on their websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs
the answer. Content is a necessity for online businesses, both
for purposes of being found by search engines but also because
it gives visitors a reason to come back.
Now that we have established that blogs are not
only trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important to
understand how they can be used to your advantage. We currently
manage and update two blogs on a daily basis. The first is our
new business blog at:
http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm
This professional business blog allows us the
opportunity to tell potential, or existing customers industry
news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging software can
be used in specific situations to alleviate problems. The bottom
line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which increases
the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis
and it helps with page rank because it's been submitted to all
the blogging directories. Initially started on a whim we've found
it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors aware of
new regulations related to the mobile or paging industry.
The second blog we manage is at:
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html
This blog is less formal and contains marketing
tips, or promotional advice for software developers or online
marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly newsletter.
Generating a daily blog would require very little effort and would
assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told us
was of significant interest.
Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need to determine how a
blog will benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere
to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect
it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention
to areas of your business that you want to showcase; you direct
the content but let your readers guide you.
Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools that can be used
to create a blog. We found that because of security concerns,
it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case
we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much
more complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent
via FTP to a web server. If you want to test the waters there
are online web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly.
The most popular web based tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.
Other Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your
existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers
by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are
numerous websites that act as "blog search engines",
be sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase your
exposure. This will also help with your page rank and possibly
increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with Google.
You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content
and gain additional exposure.
About The Author
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage,
Inc. a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and
wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can
be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.small-business-software.net
