Business Forum Please click here

FEATURED CONTENT

Cisco Customer Kings Cisco Customer Kings

Real Business and Cisco are looking for entrepreneurial firms that provide the very best in customer engagement.
Click here to enter your firm.

  • hot
  • hot
3 comments

To blog or not to blog?


Your email address:   
Friend's email address:   
   

by Guy Levine - Tuesday, 20th May 2008

To blog or not to blog?

This is the page

So, if you need a few tips on getting started, here's our Entrepreneurs' Guide to Blogging:

1. Start a blog for your business, but make sure it is attached to your website. Something like www.yourwebsite.com/blog . The industry standard and my favourite is Wordpress from wordpress.org. You may need a little help having it installed. It’s really expandable and easy to use.

2. Write on your blog regularly. At least once every three days in the beginning. This means when a search engine finds it, it will keep on coming back as there will be fresh content for it to read. Enter your site into http://blogsearch.google.com/ping to let Google know it exists.

3. Encourage people to leave comments on your blog. This is where the real discussion starts, and can be the ultimate source of research and development for your business. Ask people what they think of certain ideas or product development. Start building a community around the blog. You may well be amazed at the results!

And now for the real killer strategy:

4. There are two main purposes of a blog; to share content with people and to promote "search engine love". Most of the search engines now own their own blogging platforms. Google has blogger.com. Yahoo has Yahoo 360. MSN has Live Spaces. Whose blogs do you think the search engines index first, theirs or yours? Correct. Theirs.

5. For a killer blog strategy, have your main blog on your website, but also create multiple search engine-owned blogs. Then write excerpts from your main blog on these satellite blogs, linking back to your main blog. The search engines will love it!

6. Don’t make the writing of a blog a chore, use the time to crystallise your thoughts about key issues. Share them and develop a following.

Guy Levine is CEO of Web Marketing Advisor. For more tips, check out his SEO Blog

Picture source

Tags: blog, search engine optimisation, yahoo, google, web log, guy levine, entrepeneurs guide to blogging, strategy, tips, web marketing advisor,

3 Comments

May 23, 2008 4:17pm
Jon Mather Says:

Thanks Guy for the advice on google blog ping - I often use ping-o-matic to ping all the servers when I update my blog.

May 22, 2008 1:42pm
Vanessa Cobb Says:

Very useful tips - and great timing. I've just uploaded a blog on wordpress and I agree completely. It's simple to manage and has a whole heap of tricks up its sleeves. It's also a good idea to keep your eyes open for ways to link back to your site as apparently search engines love that too.

May 20, 2008 9:59pm
Spencer Adams Says:

Thanks for the tip about the multiple blogs. We have had problems getting our blog indexed. I will try out your tip with google blog ping.

Close X

Leave a comment


Name:
Email:
Comment:
  I have read and understand the terms and conditions
 

Please click the post button only once - your comment will not be published immediately

BUSINESS NEWS >>

Seven steps to start-up success

By Real Business - December 04, 2008 4:54pm GMT

Just been made redundant and thinking about starting up your own business? Before you take the plunge, read our tips for surefire success..

"How do I maximise the cash flow of my business?”

By Martin Dunne - December 04, 2008 2:00pm GMT

Real Business agony uncle Martin Dunne is the answer to all your accounting woes. Each week he will tackle another problem faced by entrepreneurs. This week: it's all about the cash flow.

Wanted: Britain's Customer Kings

By Catherine Woods - December 04, 2008 1:44pm GMT

Net-a-Porter.Com was the winner of this year’s Customer Excellence gong at the CBI/Real Business Growing Business Awards. If you reckon you’re just as dedicated to your customers, why not enter our Customer Kings competition?

All-female angel network launches

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - December 04, 2008 1:38pm GMT

The combined wealth of Britain’s 100 richest women has reached £33bn. These women want to put something back into the entrepreneurial pool. Anna Sofat, founder of Addidi Business Angels, is going to help them with that.

Interest rates cut again

By Catherine Woods - December 04, 2008 12:14pm GMT

Interest rates have been cut by one percentage point to 2 per cent.


BUSINESS COMMENT >>

Caspian's Wise Head helps young entrepreneurs

By Catherine Woods - December 04, 2008 11:10am GMT

Our very own communications director and one of the co-founders of Caspian Publishing, Matthew Rock, is helping Make Your Mark inspire black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs in the UK.

Dragon pulls out of Woolworths bid

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - December 04, 2008 11:10am GMT

Theo Paphitis has been circling the troubled retailer. He was rumoured to be poised to bid for some of the chain's most profitable stores. But the Dragon has now decided to pull out of the race.

Julie Meyer on Glen Manchester's "Gospel"

By Catherine Woods - December 04, 2008 10:52am GMT

Our Entrepreneur of the Year, Glen Manchester, got a mention in Julie Meyer’s excellent column in City A.M. this week.

The Barack Obama medley

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - December 02, 2008 11:18am GMT

The next issue of Real Business features an article on the business lessons we can learn from America's new president elect. In anticipation, here's an example of the kind of marketing that made Obama so successful.

Don't be a twit. Be a Twitter

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - December 01, 2008 1:01pm GMT

So, you've cracked Facebook. You've got a Myspace page. Your LinkedIn recommendations are flooding in and you can't get enough of Second Life. But could you be missing a trick?


Click here to sign up for the Real Business newsletter

In association with
Real Business Front Cover