How Can I Make My Business Blog More Successful?

If you already have a blog that accompanies your business, than you're already ahead of the game. Your loyal clients, customers and partners want to be in the loop of what's going on with your company, and a blog gives them the means to follow the goings-on of your business from their computer or mobile phone. However, just having a blog in and of itself isn't going to be enough in this day and age. You have to regularly maintain that blog, keeping it current with quality content, as well as help your target audience connect to your blog in as many ways as possible.

An easy way to do this is to create Facebook and Twitter accounts for your business. This way, your clients, customers and partners can "like" or "follow" you and be constantly reminded in their feed when you upload a new blog post, as people aren't nearly as likely to visit your blog on a regular basis as they are to visit their social media pages. This is a great way to turn your casual blog visitors into more regular visitors. To encourage social media participation connected to your business, try offering incentives, such as a giveaway to a randomly-selected person who connected with you through these social media outlets.

Regularly updating your content doesn't have to be as difficult as it sounds. While you will not always have a giveaway, sale, new product or new service to talk about, there are always hot topics and newsworthy events going on in your industry on which you can lend brief commentary while finding a way to promote your business in the same post.

Another way to make a bigger impact with your business blog is to create a marketable "about" page that clearly outlines your brand. This is not the place to talk about you (although you can do so briefly). This is the place to talk about your business and what it can do for your clients, customers and partners. Remember that there is a big difference between a personal, social blog and a business blog. No one wants to hear how interesting you are as a person and your thoughts on matters unrelated to your business when visiting a business blog. They want to know how your business can best serve their needs, and your welcome page is the welcome mat to that end.

Your business blog can also boost your sales by being a means by which you incorporate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) terms. The more you use easily-searchable keywords in your blog posts, the more likely people looking for the goods and services you offer will turn up your blog, and in turn, your business, in an Internet search.

Finally, you can make your business blog more successful by conducting surveys and reaching out to your audience asking what they think about your product or service, what they like/dislike, and what you can do to improve your product or service. Your customers, clients and partners want to know you care about their opinion and that you will do what it takes to meet their needs.

Author Bio:
Donna Reish, a freelancer who blogs about best universities, contributed this guest post.  She loves to write education, career, frugal living, finance, health, parenting relating articles. She can be reached via email at: donna.reish13@gmail.com.

Why Social Media Is Becoming a Much Bigger Ranking Factor For Google

Social media is something that nearly every person has heard of or is a part of in one way or another with social sites such as Facebook and Twitter becoming incredibly popular over recent years. From the evidence we have seen this trend is only going to increase in the coming months and years.

Up until quite recently we have not really been able to tell how the big search engines such as Google views any businesses with good followings on websites such as Facebook and Twitter and whether it has any impact on how are ranking websites. Google did announce a few months back that they were now officially including Facebook ‘likes’ into their Algorithm as one of the many ranking signals they use to determine how to rank websites in their organic listings.

This is incredibly important because firstly Google is not renowned for volunteering information on any part of their Algorithm and so for web marketers all over the world, this really was a very interesting bit of information. Furthermore what we have also seen in recent months is that Google is moving away from content farms and article directories more with their recent ‘farmer update’ which is why a lot of websites have recently seen a drop in their long-tail keywords as article websites we a good place to use to help optimise for these less competitive key terms.

The excellent thing about social media is that it is an excellent way for companies to keep in touch with their customers and essentially convey promotions, new products and offers to them. So from a business’s perspective the fact is that social media platforms are a very valuable channel to communicate with customers and now they are a ranking factor for big search engines such as Google, there really is no excuse to not be focusing on developing your social media presence.

Another very interesting fact of 2010 is that the most visited site was not Google as it had been for many years but was now Facebook. This fact alone shows that Facebook is a factor that Google cannot ignore and as Facebook gears their social media site more towards businesses in the coming months then it can only mean Google will have to  make social media a bigger ranking factor.

So it seems that we are still at the very early stages of social media being a ranking factor for Google, however from what we are seeing this will surely grow in the coming months and so it is vital for any serious seo companies and internet marketers to start thinking about developing a successful social media strategy for their clients.

Bio:

Jon works for J21Media an affordable seo company based in the UK and is currently working alongside a jewellery box company called Queens Leather.

This article is by Elias Cortez, and demonstates one way to start a blog quickly. Could you actually do it in five minutes? If you've never done it before, maybe not, although Elias and I can, but it certainly demonstrates how quick and easy it can be. Of course another option is to use a hosted service like TypePad.

Every now and then, thousands of blogs get launched. Be it a commoner or a businessman, everybody aspires to create a blog and share his feelings or ideas with the world. With the escalating demand of creation of blogs, the process has been simplified by leaps and bounds. Now for a person to start blogging, it is just a matter of five minutes and not more than that.

Step 1

Get Yourself a Domain Name

A domain name registration is a must before you set up a blog. While registering your domain name, you ought to be very sure that the domain name is pertinent to the niche with which you wish to share your thoughts. Also, make sure that the length of the blog is short as readers often tend to forget lengthy domain names. For instance: you wish to create a blog regarding your little pup then the domain name should be chosen accordingly.

Set Up a Hosting Account

Choose a good web host. You can find many web hosts that have nice packages to set up your blog. You can generally find these plans with the name WordPress that has a WordPress blog already set up in it. However, it is not mandatory to go ahead with these plans as you can install a blog at any other web host.

Install Blogging Software/Script

Once you register your web hosting account, it is fundamental to set up a blogging script. WordPress can work the best for you. Here, the script doesn’t cost a single penny and can be installed effortlessly on a web server. All you need is a little web space, FTP client as well as a database. Firstly, you need to upload the files via FTP client, make a database, as well as run the installer. The installer needs FTP details as well as your database.

Modify the Blog Settings

Varied customizations can be set up with the help of GUI. For this, you even don’t have to be a coding specialist. Also, you don’t even have to code any single line just to customize the overall lookout of your blog. You can modify the title, sub-title, links, as well as theme of the blog.

Install Plug-ins

For fervent bloggers, there is an option to customize the blogs further, which is characterized as plug-ins. The plug-ins can alter a previous functionality and can even add a new one.

Start Blogging

This is it. You have your own blog on which you can share your thoughts and that too in less than 5 minutes.

There are many hosts that provide an option for installation namely Fantastico, which permits the installation of a large number of scripts and that too in about a minute. Even WordPress is one of those. So now that you know the easy steps to create a blog and that too in less than 5 minutes, what are you waiting for? Go and start blogging…

About The Author: Elias Cortez is a freelance writer and the editor of www.topnetbookpicks.com - a website which provides detailed reviews and information for popular netbook models such as the Asus eee pc 1015pem and the Asus eee pc 1215N series. You can learn more about the world of netbooks at his website.

Your Business Has a Blog, But Does It Need More?

Maintaining a business blog is a great way to keep in touch with your consumers and build your brand's reputation and image. However, the rapidly advancing popularity and capabilities of social media in the consumer community makes just blogging alone look minimal. In order to truly promote your business and show your target audience that your brand is modern and up-to-date, your business may need more than just a business blog.

Social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook are seen as common methods of communication by consumers, and businesses are latching on to the fact that having a Twitter feed and Facebook page makes their brand seem more in-touch and current. A Facebook page in particular allows businesses to get in touch with their consumers. Consumers can "like" or "become a fan" of a business's profile page, and the friends of these consumers may become exposed to your brand through this action. It is a quick way for businesses to reach other potential consumers through their current ones. To encourage your audience to interact with your Facebook page, you can even offer a discount to Facebook fans for a service or product. All in all, Facebook is an excellent way to provide your consumers with a forum on which to talk about your business, which will undoubtedly earn your brand many more loyal customers.

Twitter, on the other hand, allows you to demonstrate how up-to-date you are with developments in your business's niche. For example, if your business is centered around fashion and merchandising, you can easily update your brand's Twitter feed with the latest relevant news on fashion editorials, runway shows, and much more. By the same token, if your business is centered around technology, you can update your brand's Twitter with news about inventions, products, and technological advancements that your consumers will find fascinating. Just as your blog posts can demonstrate to consumers that you are in-tune with your brand's field, your Twitter feed can do the same thing. Twitter also has the bonus of allowing you to interact easily with your followers, which consumers typically enjoy. In addition, you can tactfully resolve any issues a consumer may address through Twitter, further boosting your brand's positive reputation.

In today's increasingly social media-heavy society, a business blog may not be enough to show consumers that you are current and invested in creating quality products or offering a quality service. Consider taking your business to Facebook and Twitter in addition to maintaining your official brand blog you may find the extra exposure and interaction good for business.

Author Bio:
Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.