WSI Internet Franchise Blog

This is the first post in a series where I will be discussing Blogging, Social Media, Content Marketing and the importance of using these online solutions for your business.

“Content is king, but so is conversation. They work hand in hand but in order to start the conversation, quality content is needed” – Francois Muscat

A blog (short for “web log”) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

Blogs vs Websites

Blogs and websites have very different purposes in a Content Marketing strategy. Blogs are for interacting and communicating with your targeted customers as well as develop your brand. Blogging is an effective way to develop your online credibility, especially when you are considered an authority in your field. A website is your business’ online presence and is designed to sell or provide your services to your visitors. It is the place where your visitors can engage with your business. Blog Content Marketing is a powerful business strategy as well written and optimized posts can vastly increase your online visibility.

Combining a blog with your website has great benefits as your blog posts can attract targeted visitors to your website which can lead to a prospect converting into a customer.

Blogs are active

Blogs enable interaction with the online community very easily and are more effective in engaging with a reader than a website which is generally passive. Blogs broadcasts their content out to the web via RSS (Real Simple Syndication) every time there is something new. Websites on the other hand must wait to be discovered by the search engine bots and spiders. It’s like the difference between fishing and hunting. You can sit and wait for fish or you can actively hunt and pursue.

Blogs are faster

Posting and syndication (RSS) is almost instantaneous. Blog aggregators (Technorati, Afrigator) and other blog search engines index and list your postings within minutes after you publish them. No need to wait for your content to be indexed.

Build a readership

It’s very easy for visitors to subscribe to your blog so that they can be notified of new postings and articles as soon as they are published. Blogs also encourage repeat visits with content being delivered to your favorite feed reader or by email. Compare this to bookmarking a website which depends on the visitor returning.

Blogs have fresher content

By their nature, blogs have regular fresh content and they are more up to date. Blogs tend to deal with breaking events and technology insights.

Blogs are interactive

Blog conversations are encouraged providing multiple viewpoints and discussions. Comments can be made easily from each page.

I look forward to my next post where I will discuss how to include blogging into your digital marketing strategy.

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