---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: SitePro News <spn-h@sitepronews.com>
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 02:00:00 -0400
Subject: 10 Tips for Launching your Business Blog
To: ditarosi@gmail.com
Topic: 10 Tips for Launching your Business Blog
This is your SiteProNews/ExactSeek Webmaster Newsletter!
To drop your subscription use the link at the bottom of this message.
[image: SiteProNews logo]
[image: Top Positions in the Web's Largest Article Directory!]
Home Videos Article Archives Contact Us Privacy
Statement Micro-Blog Forums Reader Rewards
[image: Advertise in SiteProNews]
QUICK LINKS
MAY 12, ISSUE #1385
Article Categories
• Advertising
• Blogs & Podcasts
• Business
• Ecommerce
• Google
• Linking Strategies
• Marketing
• RSS
• SE Optimization
• SE Positioning
• SE Submission
• SE Tactics
• Security
• Technology
• Video Marketing
• Web 2.0
• Web Design
• Webmasters
• Website Promotion
• Website Traffic
• Writing
Web Search
• Add a Site
• Rapid Paid Inclusion
• Low Cost Search Engine Ads
• Search 85K News Sources
Blog Search
• Add a Blog
• Search 36,900+ Blogs
• Grab a Blog RSS Feed
• Grab a Blog Content Feed
Tools & Services
[image: Hostway - Global Web Solutions!]
[image: Take a Test Drive - Top SEO Tools and Services]
Webmaster Tools
• Web Page Analyzer
• Meta Tag Generator
• Keyword Popularity Tool
• Link Popularity Checker
• Search Engine Submitter
• Internet Tools Directory
• Site Resource Directory
Traffic Exchanges
Get Free Visitors to Your Site with these Outstanding Services:
[image: TrafficZap Visitor Exchange]
TrafficZap
[image: TrafficSwarm Visitor Exchange]
TrafficSwarm
Site of the Day
InfoQ.com is an independent online community focused on change and
innovation in enterprise software development and serves the Java,
.NET, Ruby, SOA, and Agile communities with daily news written by
domain experts, articles, video interviews, video conference
presentations, and mini-books.
Does your web site qualify as a SPN Site of the Day? Webmaster
resource sites can apply via email: sotd@sitepronews.com
App of the Day
Albatross Clouds Browser 2.0 (6.3 MB) is a RSS feed reader that
supports multiple view tabs, includes a RSS Builder and that has links
to all popular cloud applications. Freeware for Windows 7/ XP/ 2003/
Vista.
If you have a Webmaster App that you would like listed on the SPN
site, send us an email with details to: wapps@sitepronews.com
SPN Partners
Hostway's Business Broadcast: - Maximize your marketing power with an
instant Web presence in multiple high traffic Internet directories!
Hostway's Tango Reseller Platform has the industry's broadest set of
white-label hosting services. Just sign up, set your revenue margin
and sell!
Template Monster - The Web's number one website templates are
available for immediate download.
Web-Source - Your Guide to Professional Web Site Design & Development.
TechNewsletters.com - A directory of IT newsletters with ratings & descriptions.
NewWebDirectory - A new internet web directory of professionally
reviewed web sites providing both freebie and paid site submission.
FreeWebMonitoring - Monitor your web site's availability 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week with email alerts and weekly web site statistics.
DropJack - Add news, blog posts and links to one of the fastest
growing social bookmarking services on the Web. Join over 190,000
active members.
Top 10 Exposure - Forget PPC. Get Google-Type ads for $3 - $4 per
month and top 10 exposure across 100's of search engines & web
directories.
Rapid Paid Inclusion - Add Your URL to 50+ Search Engines. Fast
Inclusion, Recrawls and Backlinks.
Get a Featured Article Position on GoArticles - Put your article at
the top of any GoArticles.com category or sub-category for greater
exposure and better rankings.
SPNbabble for WebPros
SPNbabble is a Twitter clone for Web Professionals and anyone
interested in quickly posting to multiple Web 2.0 sites.
AddMe
Blog Search
SPN Videos
DropJack.com
Web Position
SubmitExpress
Top SEO Tools
SPN Micro-Blog
Website Builder
Top 10 Exposure
NewWebDirectory
Website Templates
FreeWebMonitoring
FreeWebSubmission
Rapid Paid Inclusion
Hostway Web Solutions
SmartWebGadgets.com
10 Tips for
Launching your Business Blog
By Beth Hrusch (c) 2010
[image: SiteProNews RSS Feed] - Grab the SiteProNews RSS Feed
Video: How to Get Better Visibility on Google
Are you thinking about launching your business blog? You're not alone.
A recent study by GuideWireGroup revealed that approximately 89
percent of businesses polled use blogs as a way to communicate with
their customers. In another survey, Burson-Marsteller found that 15%
of Fortune 500 companies have blogs. A successful business blog can
generate tens of thousands of dollars in revenue each year, with
figures for large corporations typically much higher.
So, business blogging is becoming a mainstream marketing tool. That
does not mean, however, that blogging comes easily or naturally for
many companies, their owners and employees. Blogging, like any form of
content, is a commitment of time and resources - namely, you have to
know how to write (or have access to good writers) and you have to
maintain your blogs with fresh, original and insightful new material
on a regular basis.
This should not scare you away. It should, though, inspire you to
learn the basics of business blogging before you turn your baby loose
on the world. Planning out your blogging strategy first is a wise
move, because it gives your blog a greater chance of success. Here are
10 tips for launching your business blog:
1. Identify your readers.
Before you start writing anything, make sure you understand who your
target market is. This is also known as your "buyer persona", which
marketing guru David Meerman Scott defines as "...a distinct group of
potential customers, an archetypal person whom you want your marketing
to reach." Basically, you want to tailor your topics to the groups of
people who are most interested in your company. Otherwise, you're
missing the mark and losing out on potential leads and sales. To
identify these buyer personas, there are 3 questions you should ask
yourself--
Where do your customers come from?
What type of content will be useful to them?
Where do your customers hang out online?
2. Create social media accounts.
If you haven't already done this, register accounts with Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Start with these and expand later. This
is important because you need places to post links to each new blog,
so that your groups, fans, and followers can read them. Posting on
social media also encourages people to subscribe to your RSS feed,
another great way to promote your blog.
3. Establish your social media presence.
Lay the groundwork for later blog promotion by establishing
relationships with your target markets. One of the best ways to do
this is through social media. Now that you have accounts started, you
can go in and join forums, listen to conversations and hear what
people are saying about your industry. Add thoughtful and insightful
comments whenever possible. Hire employees to do this if you don't
have time, but try to contribute every once in a while if you can.
4. Determine where to place your blog.
You can either put your blog on a page within your website or give it
its own domain. Your choice depends largely on your goals. Do you want
the blog to be part of your site, and linked to it directly? Or do you
have plans to use your blog for other purposes, such as to earn
revenue through ads or creating a secondary business from it?
A blog can help your website to rank higher, and it can also rank
highly on its own. So, think about your long-term objectives when
deciding where to place it.
5. Use the right keywords.
If you're placing your business blog on a page within your site, most
likely you'll be using the same keywords for your blog that you are
using for your site. If you've done good keyword research, then these
are the keywords that reflect your business and are the search terms
that people are using to find you. If your blog is separate, consider
if any keyword changes need to be made. You may want to take your blog
site in a different direction from your site. Again, this depends on
your goals for your blog.
Incidentally, if your blog does have its own domain, you'll want the
domain name to be brandable, easy for consumers to recognize and
search engine-friendly.
6. Choose a blogging platform.
You have options here. WordPress is the most popular blogging
platform, but you can also check out Joomla, Blogger, TypePad and
others.
7. Plan your posts.
Think about the direction you want your blog posts to go in. A good
way to stay on track is to start with one main topic and draft a few
blogs in advance. Post them on a regular schedule and you'll have a
supply of targeted blogs that add fresh content to your site and point
back to your company each week. Coming up with topics can be a
challenge, but there are a lot of helpful resources on the Web if you
get stuck.
8. Network with influencers.
Once you've got your blog started, it's a good idea to look around at
other bloggers in your industry. See what they're doing, what they
have to say, and leave insightful comments on their blogs. This kind
of web networking will help you establish relationships with these
people, which in turn will prompt them to help spread the word about
your blog and your company. This kind of free advertising is
invaluable. It connects you to credible and respected individuals
within the blogosphere and markets your business for you.
9. Promote your blog.
As mentioned earlier, offering a blog subscription through an RSS feed
is an effective way to promote your blog. There are other ways to get
the word out, as well. Write an optimized press release, submít
articles to directories that link to your blog page, submit your blogs
to social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg (or set up an
account with Ping.fm and have it done automatically). Make sure that
you link to your blogs in your social media posts.
10. Measure results.
If you're going to take the time to blog for marketing purposes,
you'll want to know how well you're doing, right? Since it relies
primarily on the building of human relationships over time, blog ROI
can be tricky to measure. But, you do have many tools at your disposal
to help you determine how much or how little your blog is contributing
to the bottom line.
Free online tools like Google Analytics and Google Alerts provide you
with information about how your customers are finding you online, and
can tell you a lot about your blog page, in particular. Facebook
Insights is a way to track activity on your Facebook account. Other
tools are available, so look into them.
Launching your business blog is, like any project, all about
preparation. If you do your homework and lay a solid foundation, your
blog will produce results. Keep in mind that blogging is a form of
content marketing and, as such, is primarily about building
relationships with customers. So, be patient, follow these tips, and
watch your business grow!
About The Author
Beth Hrusch is Senior Editor at Interact Media, a business blog
writing service that teaches writing tips and best practices
Printer Friendly Version of this Article
Have an Opinion on Today's Article?
Post Your Comments at SiteProNews.com
Need Content for Your Website - GoArticles.com has 2,100,000 + Articles
Top Webmaster Headlines
Breaking Blog News
• Twitter confirms awkward 'auto-follow' bug
• Facebook's New Social Plugins Surpass 100,000 Installs
• Microsoft's Project Natal to Launch in October
• Mozilla's Plans for Firefox 4: Faster & Better Privacy Controls
• How Not To Win Fans: Game Maker Sues Fan Site
• Hot On Google: "How Do I Delete My Facebook Account"
• Google Up While bing and Yahoo Slip
• LinkedIn Integrates Video Posting Via SlideShare
• Bing Adds Facebook, Twitter Sharing To Shopping
• SEO Google Style: Interview with Maile Ohye
• The Internet Has Me In Its Sights
• Facebook Loses Its Face... Board Members Hacked
Recent Articles Posted on SiteProNews.com
Webmaster Resource Sites & Services
3 Main Benefits of Better Time Management for an Online Income
Business By Michelle Jayes - We have all heard about the benefits
that can be derived from better time management. This is a subject
that is discussed by every self-help authority and successful
entrepreneur, and it applies equally whether you are running an online
business from home or if you own a bricks and mortar business.
Proposed Legislation Will Raise Burden for Website Legal Compliance
By Chip Cooper - The U.S. Congress will be voting on two separate
bills, which if they become law will certainly raise the burden on
webmasters for website legal compliance, including new disclosures and
website legal forms.
Dummies Guide to Facebook Marketing By Martin Sejas - Just a couple
of years ago, you had to relentlessly encourage family and friends to
join this social networking website. Nowadays, it's rare to find
someone who hasn't got a Facebook account.
Top SEO Tools - A suite of the best online submission and SEO Tools
available. Sign up for a 7 day free test drive.
Add Me! - a pioneer in search engine submission, and the most popular.
They provide fr-ee submission and paid submission.
WebPosition
WebPosition helps you maximize your site's search engine visibility by
providing a complete SEO solution including rank reporting, keyword
research, page optimization and submission. Download a demo today!
Build a Business Website in Under 5 Minutes.
Over 172,000 people just like you have used Exact Websites to build
professional websites, complete with web pages, photo albums, email,
links and 27 other features without ever having built a website
before.
Webmaster Software • Webmaster Resources • Link to SPN • Top SEO
Tools • SmartWebGadgets • DropJack • SEO-News
You are currently signed up to spn-html as: ditarosi@gmail.com
To not receive further mailings, Use This Link or send a blank email
to leave-spn-html-4109409T@mailjayde.com
Jayde Online, Inc.
Suite 238, 23-845 Dakota Street
Winnipeg, MB R2M 5M3
(c) Copyright 2010 All rights reserved
