Cre8tive Flow

Introduction

A number of these articles take a non-conventional point of view and this will be the most controversial of all.  Have you spotted why?  We’re talking about Internet Marketing and so we have now arrived at your online presence.  Why is the title The Blog rather than The Website?  The difference is fundamental and is very important. 

If history could be changed, it would be so much better if the blog had come along before the website.  Then you would go to a blog designer rather than a website designer.  For most people that would bring enormous advantages.  It should be emphasized that we live in a Google world where more than half of the visitors to any website will come via a Google search.  This article will explain why developing your blog is the most important marketing task you have.

A blog is most often produced with blogging software.  Images for four of the most frequently used software appear throughout this post and by clicking on the image you can check out further information on that software.

The Difference Between A Blog And A Website

Technically a blog is one type of website. Why the big fuss?  The two may look very similar.  Both may include an online store.  Or there could be a forum included in both cases.  There could even be a wiki involved in either case where the participants aim to build up a knowledge resource.

The critical difference is that a blog most often has an associated RSS news feed. The simple explanation is that the blog is designed to be read by human beings while the news feed is designed to be read by a computer.  Although humans can read both, as can computers, it is helpful to think in this way.

Why is it necessary to make this distinction?  Well blame Google for covering up this factor.  Google is so rapid in detecting web pages from traditional websites that we may sometimes forget that there is a distinction between what is good for human beings and what is good for computers.

Marketing Means Visibility

A story is often quoted to illustrate what marketing is all about.  Suppose someone invented the best mousetrap in the world.  However if they lived in the middle of a forest then no one might ever know about them.  Unless they do some marketing to make themselves visible to customers they will never sell that fine mousetrap.  Even though Google Earth could now even show the sign in front of their workshop and may in the future link that to their data in the Google Local Business Center database.

In some ways the traditional website is a little like that mousetrap producer.  Just being on the Internet, at least before Google was around, did not mean that you were visible.  Someone would have to know the location of your website (your URL) in order to find the website. Some years back, people would talk about how many weeks it might take for Google to find the website so that it might appear in a search.  If other websites that were already indexed by Google had links to your website, then that did speed up the process.  However it still is true that it may take some time for a new website page to appear in Google’s index.

Newsfeeds record the changes that occur in a blog.

Every time a new post is made then this is recorded in the news feed.  There is then what is called a pinging process to alert the Internet world to this change.  Most blogging software will automatically produce such pings.  However if not, there are pinging services such as Pingoat or Ping-O-Matic. 

Such pings are immediately recorded by news feed aggregators such as Google Reader or Bloglines.  That means that your more technically bright clients who follow news feeds will know instantly that you have produced some new information on your blog.  It is a type of early warning system.  This is slowly becoming a much more important way to contact humans as well.

In a way you can regard a traditional website as a passive online facility.  A blog on the other hand can be regarded as a proactive online facility that keeps the world informed. 

Blogs Are Search Engine Friendly

Another reason why a blog is much preferable is that it is much more visible to a search engine such as Google.  As mentioned, the pinging process brings instant visibility and the blog structure and content work well with the keyword algorithms.  The text content of blog posts is exactly what the search engine robots or spiders are designed to evaluate.  In addition blogs have highly interlinked web pages and for Google, links are almost more important than content.

It may also be that content in a blog post is treated with more authority than content on a web page.  Some speculate this to be the case, given that blog posts usually have a named author.  Certainly blog posts do seem to rank well in keyword searches, but it is difficult to separate out the relative importance of their good link structures and their authoritative comments.

Having A Blogging Mindset

It is unfortunate that blogging came along some time after most people had  websites.  Many of the early blogs were also just personal journals.  That has colored how many people see them.  They are seen as optional rather than essential.  In fact given Google’s apparent liking for blogs, we would argue that the blog is the most essential thing you can have on the Internet.  A blog is also an ideal way of communicating with potential customers as we will explain.

The Online Objective - Make Sales To Customers

We have identified a market niche and we believe we have the right product/service package for them.  We now hope to use the Internet to help us grow sales at a sufficiently fast pace to create a satisfactory cash flow.  Potential clients are out there, feeling pain, and will buy a solution from whoever seems to be reliable to them.

There are a number of steps involved in reaching that point.  Whatever we do on the Internet must be effective in finding our prospects and converting them into clients.  The selling cycle involves moving prospects through the AIDA path, that is from awareness through to action

Awareness  >>  Interest  >>  Desire  >>  Action

Taking action does not happen instantly.  It usually will require a number of contacts to give the prospect information and confidence they need for their purchase.  That is where a blog can be extremely effective.

Effective Marketing Is A Dialogue, Not A Monologue

There are many definitions of marketing, but a major distinction can be made between what is called Push Marketing and Pull Marketing.

• Push Marketing
  Messages are beamed to potential customers with the aim of persuading them to take actions.  This is a monologue.  It is the way many websites function.  Potential customers could be put off by this unwanted intrusion.
• Pull Marketing
  Information is provided to customers who are seeking it to help them take purchasing decisions.  This is a dialogue.  People may search using Google and the results give them the answers they were looking for.  A blog with its comments can be a useful way many companies develop a favorable attitude towards their brand.

Are There Any Disadvantages Of Blogging?

Despite the advantages listed above in terms of marketing effectiveness, a number of objections are often raised against business blogging.  Here we will provide you with a list of counter arguments.

Will there be enough to blog about?

If the company is not creating enough news items of interest to potential customers, then it is unlikely it can grow sales to meet its objectives. This may point to a criticism of what they are doing in their total marketing plan.

How can control be exercised over a group of corporate bloggers?

This is only a problem in companies where there is strict top-down control or where staff members may not be fully aligned with the company’s mission and objectives. 

Aren’t blogs being hacked all the time and filled with very questionable links ?

Blogs just like websites can be hacked and filled with wrong or malicious web pages.  Provided the blogging software is always upgraded to the latest version and appropriate security measures are taken, this should not be a problem.

Business Blogging Is Now Accepted As A Key Priority

If there are any lingering doubts about the importance of blogging to successful corporations, a survey will rapidly turn up many corporate blogs which are now in operation.  As one example, GasPedal is presenting the BlogWell Seminar on How Big Companies Use Social Media on October 28th, 2008. The seminar features Cisco Systems, Graco, The Home Depot, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, UPS, Wells Fargo and Wal-mart.  That is a pretty stellar group of companies.

If you don’t have a blog that is working hard for you in helping achieve your goals, then now is the time to start. I would highly recommend using WordPress as your blogging software.  Unfortunately we’ve run out of space here but you’ll find most WordPress users are very strong enthusiasts.

References:

Newsletter Or Blog - Which Works Better?

Link Building: The Future Of Relationships - Aaron Wall