Social Success in 2010 Part Two – Blogging

At the start of the 2000s, all the content a company needed could be found on its website. As we move into the next decade, more and more content will be found on external blogs. Search engines love blogs, social networks love blogs, and users love blogs. Why?

Because they’re accessible.  If your business wants to interact online, then a blog is a much friendlier face than a corporate website. It allows you to be spontaneous, charming and witty – and it creates linkable content that social media sites love. Once you’re up and running on Twitter, it’s time to enter the blogosphere. 

Can You Blog?

I’ve heard all the excuses. “I’m not a writer“, “I don’t know how to set up a website“, “I don’t have anything interesting to say.” All of the above excuses are bunk. Go to a search engine, type in any word related to your niche or business, followed by the word “blog”. Hit search.

You’ll see dozens of poorly designed, awfully written, dull as dishwater offerings from the worst bloggers on Earth. If they can blog, you can blog. The difference is, you’ll be doing it properly. Just remember these three things:

1. If you can’t write, read. There are dozens of decent websites that will show you how to write properly, if you take the time to read them. Doing a search for “copywriting blog” is always a good place to start.
2. If you can’t set up a website, use a template. Blogger and WordPress will help you set up a blog in seconds. I personally prefer WordPress, but play around. Set up both and try them out – they’re free – then stick with the one you like best.
3. If you don’t want to bore people, listen. Ask your friends, ask your clients, ask your Twitter network. They’ll be happy to tell you what they’d like to know about your business. All you need to do is listen.

Should You Blog?

Yes. Whether you’re a freelance web developer or a plumber, you should be blogging. There are two main reasons for this:

1. Search Engines love Blogs. If you’ve got your blog submitted to Google webmaster tools, it can be crawled and indexed within a matter of minutes. That means you can write an optimised entry, filled with links to your main business website, and have it start work on the same day. A good example of using a blog entry to create backlinks can be found here.
2. Users love Blogs. Words like linkbait and rantbait were coined to apply to blogs. Write something kooky, funny, or full of kittens, and your blog will be linked to by all and sundry – giving it a big boost in page rank which you can pass along to your main site. Write something snarky, funny and frothing – you’ll get the same effect. People want interesting content, and it’s easier to create that on a blog. A great piece of witty linkbait can be found here.

Promoting Your Blog

It’s not just users and search engines that love blogs, it’s social media too. In my last article, I touched on how Twitter is ideal for sharing linkable content – but Twitter isn’t the only game in town. Digg, Delicious and Sphinn are sites built to share links, and the blogosphere has embraced them wholeheartedly. There’s also YouTube – a place where you can share your audio-visual content, and one other little social networking site that you might have heard of…

In the next in the series, we’ll discuss social bookmarking, viral video and the undisputed king of the social media websites – Facebook.

Social Success in 2010 – Introduction

Social Success in 2010 Part One – Twitter

Social Success in 2010 Part Three – Taking Your Business to the Masses

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