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By Deanna Mascle
If you are not blogging for your business then you should be.
While many people simply dismiss blogging because of its
description as a web diary they are missing a lot of traffic
and revenue generating opportunities every day. Are you one of
those missing out?
In truth blogs are much more than a simple web diary. They are
actually a content management system and/or an easy web site
template. Blogging software allows you to begin posting your
content to the Internet in minutes and when you harness that
ability with an RSS feed you have a powerful traffic magnet.
I have come up with 7 reasons why every business should have a
blog and RSS feed.
1. Publishing a regularly updated blog helps you keep in touch
with your existing audience and/or customer base. You can
publish updates, news, or thoughts in your blog as well as
answer questions.
2. A blog can help you attract new customers. Your blog
entries
(posts or articles) will become fodder for the search engines
and will attract new visitors. If your blog answers the
visitors question or attracts their interest you have just
found another qualified lead.
3. Blogs and RSS feeds often rank higher in search engines
than
traditional web sites. Search engines love blogs and RSS
feeds.
If you design your blog properly then every time you update it
the search engines are notified. Even if you don't regularly
ping most search engines will revisit blogs more frequently.
Plus the very organization of a blog lends itself to spidering
and good search engine ranking.
4. Blogs can help you establish or build your reputation in a
particular field. As your blog grows you will demonstrate your
knowledge in your chosen niche.
5. Blogs and RSS feeds are good revenue streams. You can add
pay-per-click ads, affiliate ads, or sell ad space on your
blogs. In fact, many PPC companies also provide the ability to
add PPC to your RSS feeds.
6. Blogs are great ways to generate leads. Even if you don't
want to put any advertising on your blog you can use it to
promote or capture leads for your own programs. These are
great
leads as the fact that they came from your blog means they are
already interested in your topic and predisposed to your
individual message.
7. Creating your own blog is the easiest way to establish a
presence on the Internet and creating an RSS feed is even
easier. In fact, it is also the cheapest way to get started on
the Internet as there are a number of free blogging sites out
there. I started out with blogger.com and usually
recommend them but have heard others point to several other
top
blogging sites as well. The blogging software that I now use
is
WordPress and also happens to be free. In fact, most web hosts
now offer WordPress (or other free blogging software) as a
free
site add-on through Fantastico. Installing WordPress from
scratch is quick and easy but Fantastico makes it even easier.
Blogs created at Blogger have an RSS feed created for them and
WordPress also creates feeds in several variations
automatically.
As you can see there are several benefits to starting your own
blog and RSS feed. If you can count that many benefits from an
Internet marketing technique that is also free and easy then
you are foolish not to begin using it for yourself.
About The Author: Deanna Mascle publishes the Establish Your
Epresence newsletter which offers helpful tips and advice
about
internet marketing. Learn more at Epresence.biz
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