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Web Blogs Defined, Explained & Understood
What are Blogs?
Having heard the term previously but not having paid much
attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance
and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the
term blog does not conjure pleasant images.
Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly,
usually on a daily basis. They contain information related
to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as
daily diaries about people's personal lives, political
views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of
the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever
you, the author, want them to be.
Where Did Blogs Come From?
The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid
1990's. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear,
as the art of blogging did not really take hold until
1999. The original "weblogs" were link-driven
sites with personal commentaries. The very first blogs
were human guided Internet web tours. While initially
thought of as diaries or online journals, blogs have
evolved into the latest fresh web content.
The Future of Blogs
A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging"
is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves
to be a new way to communicate with existing and potential
customers it deserves at the very least a cursory look.
Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?
Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the
trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not
beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep
fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure
visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content
is a necessity for online businesses, both for purposes
of being found by search engines but also because it
gives visitors a reason to come back.
Now that we have established that blogs are not only
trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important
to understand how they can be used to your advantage.
We currently manage and update two blogs on a daily
basis. The first is our new business blog at:
http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm
This professional business blog allows us the opportunity
to tell potential, or existing customers industry news,
updates, or generally how mobile or paging software
can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems.
The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated
daily, which increases the chances that search engines
will spider on a regular basis and it helps with page
rank because it's been submitted to all the blogging
directories. Initially started on a whim we've found
it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors
aware of new regulations related to the mobile or paging
industry.
The second blog we manage is at:
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html
This blog is less formal and contains marketing tips,
or promotional advice for software developers or online
marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly
newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very
little effort and would assist us in creating fresh
content which our readers told us was of significant
interest.
Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog
will benefit your business, determine a schedule and
adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and
when to expect it. Blogs provide great supplemental
content and direct attention to areas of your business
that you want to showcase; you direct the content but
let your readers guide you.
Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools that can be used to
create a blog. We found that because of security concerns,
it would just be best to use a standard html program.
In our case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts.
Its really not much more complicated than typing an
email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web server.
If you want to test the waters there are online web-based
tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. The
most popular web based tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.
Other Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your existing
customers, you may find that you can attract new customers
by illustrating your expertise in a specific field.
There are numerous websites that act as "blog search
engines", be sure to submit your sites to these
websites to increase your exposure. This will also help
with your page rank and possibly increase the likelihood
you will receive decent ranking with Google. You can
also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content
and gain additional exposure.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net
a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and
wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by
Sharon can be found at http://www.rss-specifications.com
, http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.monitoring-
software.net
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource
box is included and the links are active. A courtesy
copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
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