You've already got a Blog on your site right? If not, then you should very seriously consider adding one. Search Engines love Blogs as they typically contain fresh, unique, content. The posts for many sites are crawled and indexed frequently (posts on the ireckon blog typically are crawled and indexed within hours of being published – often much sooner).
This post assumes that you've already established your blog – and highlights some of the strategies that you should be using to maximise the benefits of your blog – to raise your online profile, improve rankings, increase traffic, all with the primary goal of boosting your sales/inquiries.
You should be promoting your blog to drive traffic to it and make it work most effectively for you. Here are number of the ways you can market your blog:
- Use keyword-rich titles. Search engines will only deliver high quality traffic to your blog/site, if they think it's relevant. Use appropriate keywords in your blog titles to improve your rankings.
- Promote your RSS feed. Most blogs generate an RSS feed automatically which allows people to get sent your post automatically whenever they are published. Make sure that you make it easy for people to subscribe to your RSS feed.
- Include an Email subscription option. Not everyone understands RSS – some of your readers will probably prefer to be emailed your blog updates.
- Submit your blog to blog directories. If you want you blog to be found, it's a good idea to let the blog directories know about it. These can categories and make it easier for people who are interested in your particular "niche" to find you. Important blog directories include sites like technorati and blogcatalog – but there are many more. Try a Google search for "Blog Catalog yourkeyword" to help you find catalogs that are most relevant to your niche.
- Tweet it. If you are a Twitter fan, make sure that you tweet your followers each time you add a new post. Also consider adding a Tweetme button to your blog posts, to make it easier for Twitterers to spread the word.
- Contribute to forums. Find which forums your target market hangs out in, and simply participate (without making a sales pitch). Most forums will allow you to include a link back to your website/blog in your signature file.
- Be Responsive. Make sure that you review and respond to any comments you receive on your posts. If people are taking the time to comment on your blog, thank them to encourage more of the same behavior.
Your Blog can be a very effective tool for raising the online profile of your brand or the products/services you offer. Use it wisely and you should be able to significantly improve your online sales and inquiries.
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