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Web Blogs Defined, Explained and Understood
by NotePage, Inc.
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.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.monitoring-
software.net
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