Every day on the world wide web, hundreds to thousands of new blogs are created. More and more of these blogs are connected to small business websites. In fact, you're reading one such scenario right now. Some of these blogs offer tips and research relative to the kind of business they are attached to. For example, a blog attached to the website of a pet food store might feature articles on pet care, pet shows, and training tips. Other small businesses use their blogs for feedback and customer comments. The efficacy of these blogs is still being sorted out, but they are certainly gaining in popularity as a business tool. Today's Wall Street Journal's Journal Report on small businesses even contains an article on the subject. The newspaper's website requires a subscription to read it online, so I am not including the link here, but if you have access, I suggest checking it out. Or, just go down to your local news stand and pick up a copy as I do....there's nothing like drinking your morning cup of joe with the ink-stained fingers of traditional news media! So, it's clear that these small business linked blogs are picking up steam, but are they working? Is blogging the answer to small business web success? It may be too early to really tell, but I'm willing to make the prediction that yes, blogging absolutely does.
The most obvious way a blog can help your website is by increasing traffic. Blogs that are kept current show up higher in search results for your site. Further, people looking for general-interest information are more likely to stumble across your site via your blog if you are covering the kind of information they are looking for. This also helps to bring people to your site that have genuine interest in what you are selling already. To go back to my earlier example, if someone is reading a blog about pet-care, they probably have a pet, and they probably need supplies. Your pet store's website is now directly reaching people that have a greater probability of becoming actual customers. To put this into real-world perspective, Ekaweeka receives nearly double the amount of hits to our blog than we do for our site. On top of that, the majority of visitors to the blog then head over to the main site to check it out.
Another way a blog could help your business is one that doesn't seem to be brought up by other people discussing this, but that I think is the essential reason why you should consider blogging for your business. That is, a blog can be a hugely successful tool in branding your business. Brand identity is paramount to setting apart your business from competitors. This is particularly true for small businesses creating their own products, but also applies to small business that are selling other people's goods. The short explanation is that people are more likely to buy your products if you convey an identity that is attractive to them or that that can identify with. A blog is a natural way to do this as it is a forum set aside from selling things that allows you the opportunity to show who you are, as a person, or as a company in general. For a good example of what I am talking about, look at Unis ,a high end clothing line based in New York City. Unis' website featured their lines, but also links you to their blog, which simply features pictures of their customer base over the course of the summer. This provides customer's with insight to what the brand is about as well as perhaps promoting a "cool" image to potential customers that may be located outside of NYC, but want to emulate that image.
Sounds great right? Well it is. But there are a few things to keep in mind before launching into a blog for your small business. The main thing to realize is that a blog is time consuming. You need to be prepared for the extra effort necessary to add this element to your online marketing. As I mentioned earlier, a successful blog is one that is consistently updated. Not only will this keep your search engine visibility up, but it will also keep readers coming back with a greater frequency. Fresh content equals more repeat readers. Another thing to keep in mind is that results in the sense of increased sales are hard to measure and will probably take a while before it is really evident. The blog is a long term tool to increase your brand recognition and presence, not an overnight way to drum up profit.
That said, it is still my belief that a blog for your small business website is a worthwhile marketing tool. Ekaweeka makes it easy to embed a blog in your Eka page, and the Eka users that currently utilize this feature have enjoyed a boost on their Eka page's web presence. So give it a try. A few extra hours a week can keep your blog fresh and relevant, a price well worth the extra traffic you'll receive.