Blogs have been around long enough now that most people know what they are and a large percentage of small business owners have found ways to use blogs as part of their web presence. There are those who are still sitting on the fence though so let’s count up a few good reasons to go ahead and get one started.
Blogs make adding fresh content easy. Posting to your blog is as easy as writing an email. You don’t need any special skills or web design knowledge.
Blogs help to pull traffic in a new way. Blog posts are distributed by RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. If you take some time and submit your RSS feed address to a wide variety of RSS and Blog Directories, every time you post to your blog, the directory will know about it. Recently updated feeds are featured prominently, bringing you greater exposure. RSS also connects you to individuals who subscribe to your feed.
Blogs also help to pull traffic through the search engines as each blog post creates a new page of content.
Blogs give your website the sticky factor. Partly because your readers subscribe to the RSS feed and get alerted whenever you post, but also because readers can comment on the blog if you allow that option. Your visitors return again and again to check for comments.
Blogs add personality to your website and to your business in general. It gives you the freedom to let your customers, potential customers and business acquaintances see your lighter side. You don’t have to get too personal, but sharing little bits of yourself can be beneficial to your business relationships.
Frequency is important but blogs don’t require a lot of time and effort to keep them fresh. You don’t have to write full length articles; you can share shorter, useful tidbits as a series and keep your readers quite satisfied.
Perhaps the biggest reason to have a blog is simply that they are so popular with so many people. Blog fanatics can hardly resist clicking on a link to a blog and will subscribe to your feed to satisfy their hunger for fresh blog reading. Makes you want to come down off the fence doesn’t it?