Why Would You Use Blogs Instead of a Web Site For Your Online Business?

Why would you use Blogs instead of a web site for your online business?

What's wrong with using a web site for conducting your online business? How can Blogs help and why should I need one anyway?

Combining a website and a Blog however offer a number of superior advantages in terms of traffic generation, marketing and efficiency which a stand-alone website cannot do.

(a) Automatic push-button publishing.

Blogs are the easiest and cheapest way to have an online presence. For example, if you're using Blogger, your Blog is hosted free by Blogger. Blogs allow you to publish your website without the need to know about any technical or programming issues such as HTML, FrontPage, FTP and so on.

Blogs provide a simple editorial interface. All you need to do is write your content, and publish it just by clicking the 'publish' button in most cases, and you're done.

(b) Fosters relationship building, trust and 'stickyness'

Unlike websites, which are static, Blogs allows interaction between you and your readers. Blogs have a commenting function, and if turned on, it allows readers and visitors to post their comments, thoughts or opinions to a particular article you have written.

Constant interaction with your readers builds a feeling of community and 'stickyness' factor. You can then recommend products more easily to them, and they would be more ready and willing to accept your product or services.

(c) Increase search engine ranking

Almost every major search engine has a software program called a 'bot' that searches or 'spiders' websites online to find new content which it can then bring back to update the search engine databases.

Basically what this means is the more frequently you update your site, the more frequently the search engine 'bot' will visit your site, and this helps to boost your search engine rankings.

If you make regular postings to your Blog, you can be sure that search engines will visit your Blog again and again.

You can then place links of your other websites in your Blog and these will get indexed quickly by the search engines.

Of course you could also update your existing web site with new content, but you would have to go through a more technical process, that of using an HTML editor or FrontPage and uploading through FTP and so on.

(d) Free listing in Google, Yahoo and MSN

The traditional way of getting your website listed in these three major search engines: Google, Yahoo and MSN is slow and inefficient.

A listing in Yahoo directory alone would cost you $299.

However, with the inclusion of RSS feeds by these search engines, you can now gain a 'backdoor' listing which is legal and free. If you have an RSS feed, you can have it included in Yahoo and MSN and your website will be immediately listed in these major search engines within 24 hours!

My videos shows you the step-by-step process on how to do this.

e) Syndication Power

The most powerful feature of a Blog is its syndication function. Blogs can be turned into RSS feeds, and most Blogging service providers have this built-in function.

It is just a matter of turning it on from within your account.

Once it's turned into an RSS feed, you can syndicate your Blog contents by:

? Submitting to the major RSS directories and search engines like Yahoo and MSN, gaining free exposure and free traffic

? Allow other website owners to publish your feed on their sites, again, getting free traffic you otherwise will not have

? Gain new readers, subscribers and potential clients by letting them subscribe to your RSS feed via a newsreader

http://www.marketing-rampage-with-blogs-and-rss.com

Brandon is the author of the "Marketing Rampage with Blogs and RSS" Videos. He'll show you businesses strategies to getting more highly responsive visitors and more sales to your website without additional advertising costs, as well as increasing search engine rankings and obtaining quick listings in Google, Yahoo and MSN, by using Blogs and RSS.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Blogging/RSS Information:

Related Articles

7 Questions To Ask Yourself BEFORE Staring A Business Blog
Blogging is the latest buzzword in online marketing and PR. But with so many marketers jumping on the blogging bandwagon, few people are giving a thought to whether blogs are really up their alley, or taking the time to consider the best ways of going about it.
The 6 Top Reasons Marketers Should Blog
If there is a downside to blogging, I have yet to find it. The more you learn about blogging, the more there is to like.
Blog or Ezine? Top 7 Reasons to Blog Now!
Many of my small business clients ask me: "What is a blog and do I need one?" As a marketing consultant and business coach, I too had to address those questions in my own business.A blog is a form of online journal that business owners use to develop customer relationships and establish credibility.
Seven Sizzling Ways to Turn Targeted Traffic Towards Your Blog!
Blogs are an unbelievable way to achieve success on the internet. Blogs can establish a web presence, express your opinions and generate serious profits.
Starting Your Own Blog
I was sitting in my local Internet Cafe yesterday, I like to get away from my 'home office' from time to time and it's a great place to go for a cup of Espresso and to meet interesting people. The rather attractive lady sitting next to me was typing away furiously and, when she had finished, I asked her what she was writing - I'm interested in learning how other people use the Internet.
Blogs: Todays Internet Diary and Marketing Tool
The popular blogger.com owned by Google, Inc.
#1 Mistake Most Blogs Do
As much as this might surprise most bloggers, the #1 mistake most blogs are doing is not publishing their content via e-mail, as a supplement to their RSS feeds.Just think about it: while RSS is growing strong, it still only penetrates about 5-6% of the American online population.
Feeds For Small Business: Real World Examples
A merchant I was talking to the other day asked to me, "Aren't feeds for bigger companies with IT people on staff?" All they knew about feeds was that bigger companies , news providers etc., were using them.
If an RSS feed is the Yahoo Backdoor, is a Blog Googles?
Though the answer is in a book I wrote this July, the question is still asked of me repeatedly. Why does it work for some sites and not others? And how come some blogs get indexed in a day and then are dropped, and others stay in Google indefinitely?Well, let's take one question at a time.
RSS Explained
What is RSS? To begin with, it's one of those things everyone says is easy to understand. And it is, as soon as you have your own 'ah-ha' moment.
RSS: This Publishers Choice
RSS is the interactive communication tool being popularized by bloggers. It is also the newest method for ezine publishers to deliver their content to the web.
Blogging for Dollars
Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.
Blogs As A Marketing Tool
Blogs are the biggest things to happen to the Internet since personal home pages. Blogging software has made it easy for the average Joe to create his own blog,and the thriving community of bloggers have spurred designers to release completely free, and professionally looking templates.
RSS is a Life Raft, Saving Us from a Sea of Useless Information
One of the main problems with the Internet these days is the fact that there is so much information out there; it can be quite hard to find the particular knowledge that you're looking for. It can often feel like you're surfing waves of thick chocolate fudge sauce and your honeycomb board has a crack that's getting wider by the second.
Blog Reflection
I still consider myself to be a blog writing novice but as I've got a few entries under my belt I can tell you about an unexpected bonus of this journaling process. A lot of people think that blog writers are just people who are tooting their own horns blabbering on self-righteously about what they believe to be true in life.
Shared RSS - Syndication for the Rest of Us
RSS Syndication or RSS Newsfeeds (RSS Feeds for short) all refer to the same thing. There are two parts to the process, the publisher, and the consumer.
Using RSS for Publishing and Syndication
There are two reasons why you would want to use RSS as a webmaster and that is for publishing and syndicating your content. If you publish your content via an RSS channel then you can keep your subscribers notified of changes to your site, announcements and news.
Utilize The Power Of Blogs To Market Your Business On A Budget
Budget marketing with blogs is one of today's top methods for cost-effective advertising to the consumers you want to reach, whether they're in your neighborhood or across the global community.'Blogging' is a fairly recent addition to our vocabulary, and it's exactly what you'll be doing if you pursue budget marketing via blogs.
The RSS Promise for Internet Users
The RSS promise for end-users is simple:--> a unified one-stop-shop to consume online content, without having to visit dozens of sites every day to see what's new and without having their online subscriptions interfere with their personal and business e-mail communications;--> complete control over their content consumption, including a quick, easy and reliable mechanism to unsubscribe from content they do not wish to receive;--> the ability to receive breaking news as it becomes available, without having to wait for a monthly, weekly or daily recap sent to their e-mail addresses;--> the certainty of actually receiving the content they want, without the fear of it being stopped by spam filters on the way;--> the ability to receive rich-media content directly to their desktops, including audio and video content;--> the promise of providing the tools to make their lives easier, including receiving critical content updates as soon as they become available.These points are not simple enhancements, but important advancements that can fundamentally change how internet content is consumed.
Top Ten Reason to Publish an Ezine AND a Blog
Blogs are the hottest thing going these days when it comes to marketing on the Internet. A blog is a way of delivering your messages and article to clients.