How Can I Improve My Online Exposure Using Blogs?

For many business owners, large or small, the need to be seen is important to the functioning of their business. After all, a business is about providing goods or services and both clients and potential clients knowing about the existence of the business. Certainly there are numerous ways to advertise and to get known, but in the ever-increasing online world, one very popular way which is free of charge, save for some time writing blog posts, is the blogging method.

A blog or web log is an online website dedicated to regular updates, which is designed to be easy for the business owner to write updates to. The reason I suggest blogs, instead of some other traditional website systems, is that with programs like Word Press or Blogger, it is very easy to set up a blog, which can be done in around ten minutes. This is particularly good for people who do not describe themselves as computer authorities, but rather people who simply wish to get a message out there in the community and online. Another very important advantage with blogs is that they can be easily indexed automatically by search engines. In plain terms, a search engine is a program online, like Google or Yahoo, where a person who is searching for information types a search word or phrase. As an example, a person may type “Information on affiliate marketing”. Now, the search engine will identify as many matches as possible to that phrase, and in may cases, blogs with articles or posts that have those terms in it will pop up in the results. It is then up to the computer user to click on the result that best matches their search. This is not meant to be a technical analysis of search engines, but rather, the point I wish to make is that posts or entries on blogs often feature highly in search engine results. Hence, if your business is making regular posts, they will be more likely to be found online. The secret is to also use keywords in your posts that match your service or product.

I realise this may sound complicated, but by using services like Blogger.com, you will see it is very easy to follow the prompts to set up a blog. The big challenge for many business owners is to get found online, and blogs make it easier for that goal to be achieved. This is based on the fact that search engines place a little more emphasis on blogs, than some websites that have remained stale, and not updated, sometimes for years at a time. Please note that this is only a general guide, and not a full thesis on the subject of search engine optimisation.

I feel that the most important point I can convey here is to set up a blog, and regularly update it with interesting posts that your clients may find relevant to them. Over time, your website for your business will feature more highly than your competitors, given that it is seen as having ‘fresh’ content on a regular basis, in the niche area of your choice.