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Social media is becoming an integral part of the 21st century. Customers expect business owners to use social media marketing tools such as blogs to promote products and services. In fact, 50% of global companies implement blogs into corporate communication and about 12% of larger Fortune 500 companies blog. While there are many advantages of blogging, business owners must have the time and energy required to maintain a blog, otherwise it’s a lost cause.
Blogging is an increasingly popular way of maintaining relationships with existing customers and attracting new sale leads. Perhaps the greatest advantage of blogging is being able to keep customers in the loop of the daily operations of a specific company. Whether providing important customer updates, details on special promotions for first time buyers, discount information for existing customers or just random ramblings too read for enjoyment, everyone with a garnered interest appreciates being kept informed. Companies that open their doors and share experiences via blogging are more often than not repaid with customer loyalty.
Blogs are also a great tool for building and strengthening business relationships. Not only do blogs allow customers an insight, but also encourage them to participate in blogging by leaving comments and feedback regarding specific products or services. Many blog administrators find it helpful to enable the comment feature on blogs to allow visitors to post comments and replies. This is especially helpful when soliciting customer feedback. Although most feedback is extremely positive or negative, each individual feedback response is vital for continuous improvements of product quality or services
Blogs also help to generate traffic to a particular website. An increase in blog activity is typically a good indicator of increased traffic; thus more traffic means an increase in potential sells. While it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone visiting a blog will make a purchase; however, blogs are a great marketing tool to fish for new sale leads.
Disadvantages of Blogging
The greatest drawback of blogging is the time it requires. Depending on how often a blog is updated dictates how much effort is involved with maintenance. If a blog is only updated once a month, bi-weekly, or weekly, the time required isn’t too demanding; however, for those requiring everyday entries, the task may become daunting. It’s important to post scheduled blogging entries; old and out-of-date entries are a sure way to tarnish one’s reputation.
For blogs requiring daily entries, often the task of posting entries is outsourced to a third party. While smaller companies may not have the resources to hire someone responsible for blogging, larger ventures find that having someone to handle the blog a worthwhile investment.
Spam is another disadvantage of hosting a blog. While it’s not nearly as much of a nuisance as it was just a few years before, robots and malicious users continue to thrive on posting spam and other annoying posts. The good news is that blog administrators have more control over blogs, especially when it comes to thwarting spam attacks.
Conclusion
The decision whether or not to blog depends on the size of the company and available resources. Even though most blog web hosting packages include a free blog, the amount of time and effort required to maintain a functional blog is often too much of a strain on smaller ventures. Mid to large-scale companies with a sizeable customer base, however, reap the most benefits from blogging.
Related posts:
- November 3, 2009 – Choosing the Best Web Hosting Solution for Your Blog
- August 6, 2011 – RankCheck.org – free tool to check rank of your website
- June 27, 2011 – New Facebook Social Media Store
- May 4, 2011 – New Social Media Website Announced
- November 8, 2010 – The Basics of Starting a Blog
- October 18, 2010 – Contextual Advertising vs. Social Media
- April 27, 2010 – Best Methods for Generating YouTube Traffic
- November 5, 2009 – Twitter Lists and Business
- October 22, 2009 – How to Get a Better Service from Your SEO Firm
- October 1, 2009 – Establishing Your Online Presence with WordPress Hosting
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Blogging has become a common way to publish content and express yourself online. This popularity is reflected in the countless number of new blogs that go up each day. No longer do you have to be restricted on who you to run your blog with because you can easily host it yourself on a variety of platforms. Before creating your blog site and throwing up your first post, there are some important factors that deserve careful consideration.
What Blog Software Will You Use?
There are many blogging applications available to you, with WordPress, Blogger and b2evolution being among the most widely used. This is all a matter of preference, but it should help to know that WordPress is the most popular of the bunch. Supported by a large community of developers and users, WordPress is highly customizable through a vast selection themes, widgets and endless plugins. Regardless of the platform, you may want to put an emphasis on ease of use as some blogging applications are more complex than others.
Free or Paid Blog Hosting?
When making the decision to set up a blog site, you also need to determine if you want a free or paid hosting service. Free services are abundant and usually do not force you to litter your pages with third-party advertisements like free web hosting offerings. However, there are some disadvantages you should know about. Opting for free blog hosting restricts you in terms of features and control, factors that could possibly limit your potential. If you want to make the most of your blogging experience, it would be best to purchase an affordable web hosting plan that comes with free blog support. Being that blogging has become such a phenomenon, rest assured that these services are plentiful on today’s competitive market.
Finding a Host
If you decide that paid hosting is the best move for you, the next thing you need to consider is the company that will be hosting your blog site. In the past, finding a good web host was a rather tedious process that often left prospective customers worn and frustrated. Things have changed as more resources are now available to aid in your search. There are numerous sites online that provide side-by-side comparisons of companies offering blog hosting services. These sites generally tell you the price you will need to pay for the service and the type of blog supported along with other specifications such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth included in the package. Review sites also make a good source of information, particularly the ones that offer both expert opinions and feedback from real users.
Technology just keeps moving along but it is hard to imagine an internet and World Wide Web without the blog. This medium is here to stay and will likely evolve with improvements that make the experience even more worthwhile. If you can find a web hosting solution that provides adequate support for your specific needs, a blog can give you a viable and near flawless connection to the rest of the world.