Blog
is short for Web Log or Weblog and the Blogosphere
is the online blog world, some parts of which are
hyperlinked extensively to each other.
This
is the Wikipedia definition: Blog is short for weblog.
A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently
updated and intended for general public consumption.
Blogs generally represent the personality of the
author or the Web site.
I
recommend that you read lots of people's blogs to
learn what blogs are. Go to your favorite search
engine and type in the word 'blog' and the subject
you're interested in. For example, 'web design blog',
or 'blog music', or 'sports blog'. You'll find lots
of blogs that way.
Blogs
have become a way in which regular, non-technical
people can post information to the Web as easily
as they can access it.
Why
Are Blogs So Important?
Well,
they're not that important, yet. But they could
be soon, and most likely will be. In fact, some
would argue that they are already vital in today's
Web business world. I am not ready to agree to that
yet, but it is becoming more obvious to me over
time that blogs can no longer be ignored in business.
Online
businesses can benefit from blogging by taking advantage
of a vehicle for easily posting new, original, and
business-related content on a regular basis.
Here
Are Some More Business Benefits Of Blogging:
Here
Are Some Ways In Which You Can Make Revenue From
Your Blog:
1.
Selling advertisements. Whether you use
banners or text links, if your site draws a regular
audience interested in your blog topics or theme,
try to offer ad space to organizations that are
looking to market to your audience. In fact, if
your blogs becomes really popular then advertisers
will call you.
2.
Offering Google's AdSense. Google's website
explains, "Google AdSense is a fast and easy
way for website publishers of all sizes to display
relevant Google ads on their website's content pages
and earn monëy." Learn more about AdSense.
3.
AffÃliate Programs. Affïliate programs
allow Web sites that provide links to your site
to receive payments or reciprocal advertising in
exchange for promoting your Web site. In the case
of blogging, this is reversed, where you post links
within your blog, and collect monëy from the owners
of those links when they result in a click-through
and sale.
Here
Are Some Websites Where You Can Get Your Blog Listed:
How
To Blog For Business:
First
you need to get blogging software. You can choose
to create a blog that is housed on another site
such as http://www.blogger.com
(which is a blog service) or you can host it on
your own Web server. I recommend the latter since
the links that are developed by others pointing
to your blog won't be counted in the search engines.
This is because the links are attributed to domains,
so a link to http://MyNewBlog.blogger.com gives
a link credÃt to blogger.com and not your domain.
If
your blog is a business blog, you really ought to
host your own blog as opposed to using a blog service.
You'll need the extra functionality and control.
If
you plan on hostÃng your own blog and if you plan
to use a UNIX Web server platform, then you need
to go with blogging software such as Movable Type,
for example. If you have a Microsoft Web server
platform for your site, then you'll need software
such as BetaParticle blog. Find a great list of
various blog software at: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.html
Next
you'll need a database to hook your blog up to.
The database is what stores the blog entries, among
other things. If you don't know if you have a database
on or connected to your website server, or if you
don't know how to hook up your blog to your database,
contact your host company or Web server administrator
for help.
Once
you have the blog set up on your domain (for example
http://www.MyWebsite.com/blog) and you've hooked
it up to a live database, you can start blogging.
Generally, each entry is also a day. So you can
write a new entry every day, or whenever you want,
and that entry will show up on the blog at the top,
moving older entries below.
You
ought to think of a theme for your blog. In other
words, your blog could be about your personal experiences
in the industry you're in. It could be about your
company's product reviews, or new services. It could
be about your thoughts and opinions about issues
related to your industry. It could be a place where
you regularly find and list new resources to help
others in your industry. The list is endless. But
be sure to stick to a theme and be original. You
want to offer something of value to your website
visitors.
Sticking
to a theme helps you position yourself for future
advertisers and also makes for better reading for
your visitors. Furthermore, you want to give a good
impression with your blog with each and every entry
if you want it to augment your online business.
Finally, sticking to a theme helps with the search
engines since it's believed that engines determine
website themes and use this information for ranking.
Of
course your blog could be about personal things
too. Many blogs are just that, an online journal.
But since we're interested in Web business here,
I am discussing business blogs only.
What's
great is that blogs get indexed easily and quickly
by search engines. Each entry is another "page"
that can be potentially listed in Google for example,
which will drive more traffïc to your site.
Another
neat thing about running a blog once it's set up
is that you do not need to be technical at all to
make regular entries. This is helpful if you want
to delegate the writing to someone else, since technical
skills won't be a prerequisite. This allows you
to have the most qualified person regarding the
blog's theme and, hopefully the best writer, actually
making the entries.
Be
creative. Add images to your blog entries to spice
things up a bit. Although blogging can be lonely,
keep at it. Sometimes it seems like you're just
writing new entries each day for yourself only.
It may be a while before someone chooses to add
a comment to one of your entries. You may not hear
from anyone for a long time. But that doesn't mean
people aren't reading it. In fact, chëck your website
statistics to see just how many people are visiting
your new blog. As you add more entries, get your
blog listed on other sites and market your blog.
It will build, and eventually you'll have a nice
following of engaged readers.
Most
importantly, be sure to pepper your entries with
calls to action. For example, if your business blog
is attached to your travel website and the blog's
theme is traveling and finding great travel deals
all over the world, make sure you add a link to
an entry that points people to a travel special
you're running on your website. What would be even
better is a blog entry about the fantastic vacation
you took to Hawaii and included at the end was a
link to cheap Hawaii vacation deals on your website.
About The Author: Jason
OConnor is President of Oak
Web Works, LLC, an e-strategy firm and
enjoys reading Sports,
Music & Tickets blog. Reach him at:
joconnor888@hotmail.com.
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