The more cynical among you may see the word ‘blog’ and immediately picture angst ridden teens talking about their latest unrequited crush, or keyboard warriors offering their views on how they could do a better job than Fabio Capello. In fairness, it is an understandable leap to make, personal blogs are generally a mix of general life updates, opinions and research. What you mustn’t underestimate though, is what a business blog can do for your small business. Blogging can and should be a corporate tool for communicating with both customers and employees to share knowledge, experience, and newsworthy content. From there you can build web traffic and interact with your social media community and customers.
Firstly, don’t be intimidated by the idea of starting a company blog. Blog software is easy to use and there are numerous platforms out there which can either host your blog, or let you integrate it into your own website. I love WordPress, it offers both options and is intuitive and straightforward to use. I’ve also had good experiences with Tumblr and Joomla, and have heard good things about Blogger (the most simple set up I know of) and Drupal. Essentially what is great about blogging platforms is that they allow you to write your content, link to resources and publish to your blog – all with just a few clicks of a mouse.
So why consider a blog for your small business? It’s a great low-cost alternative to actually having a full on web presence. You may not have html experience or the time, money or inclination to hire a designer or developer to put together a bells and whistles website for your company. Blogging offers a very affordable and straightforward way to get your company’s name out into the internet, especially when combined with other forms of social media. Business blogging gives your small business the opportunity to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience, and write appealing content that will engage clients and customers.
A business blog can serve as the central hub to publish all your original content and as a quick, cheap, time-saving, low maintenance, meaningful entry into the social media stream. When you manage to consistently publish high-quality relevant articles to your blog, you can then use social media as a platform for growing the visibility of your business.
