Doing the Business with blogs.

Business blogs (or weblogs) are predicted by some to be the next killer application for online marketing.

Simply put, a blog is a website featuring chronologically-organised time-stamped content. New items, each with their own title, appear at the top as they are posted. Blog publishers can also include links to allow users to enter their own comments.

And, in the words of the Google-owned Blogger.com:

'A blog is your easy-to-use website, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more.

'A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting - whether it's your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to websites you want to remember.

'Many people use a blog just to organise their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts.'

And, in Guardian Unlimited, Jane Perrone writes: 'A weblog is, literally, a "log" of the web - a diary-style site, in which the author (a "blogger") links to other web pages he or she finds interesting using entries posted in reverse chronological order.'

But blogs have more power than simply acting as online journals for self-publishing individuals.

Blogs can be strong business tools, too.

And don't just take it from me. In a speech to an audience of chief executives, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said 'Blogs are good for business!'

Gates went on to say that regular updated business blogs could be a good way for firms to tell customers, staff and partners what they are doing.

And he said that blogs had advantages over other, older ways of communicating such as email.

Indeed, more than 700 Microsoft employees are already using blogs to keep people up to date with their projects.

Here are some of the benefits a business blog can deliver:

• Up-to-the minute information can be published for your customers.
• Updates can be made via the web or email.
• Higher search engine positioning can be achieved (search engines love fresh and regularly updated content).
• Other bloggers may link to your blog for free.
• Subscribers can be automatically emailed when you create a new post.
• A webfeed can be set up so readers automatically receive headings and summaries of new updates with links to the full items (these can also be picked up by aggregator services - sites which dynamically collect feeds).
• Company information can be published to keep internal staff updated (this can be password protected).

If you're interested in setting up a business blog and would like assistance with strategy, copywriting or maintenance, Contact Us today.