Sometime in 1997 I was sitting at my computer, fully equipped with Windows 95 and FrontPage 97, writing nonsense about what was going on at school, my plans for the weekend and what level my Diablo character was up to. The pages were built in basic html as per a FrontPage template I had chosen, the layout was done with tables and I included as many animated gifs as possible (short of causing an epileptic fit).
A lot has changed since the 1990’s when the Internet was riddled with “personal home pages” showing off photos of the family pet, a story of the latest holiday and a visitor counter that could show up to three digits.
Enter the blog, or “web log”. The blog replaced the typical personal web page due to its ease of use for posting, reading and interacting with readers. So many blogging systems are available for the average punter to post their happy snaps from the weekend or a tutorial on how to bake a chocolate cake. WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr and other blogging platforms; not to mention the numerous blogging modules and plugins available for various content management systems.
Now, with social media practically taking over the world, we see a decline in blogs in favour of Facebook, Twitter and even Linked In.
These are great for replacing the everyday personal blog and for creating a certain kind of community around brands, but does this discount blogs as a legitimate business tool?
Not at all! Here are a few reasons why your Sydney businesses should seriously consider blogging:
- Boost your search engine rankings – Search engine robots are constantly looking for fresh, relevant content on websites.
- Keep customers coming back to your website – If site content is changing, visitors revisit more often to check for updates.
- Interact and build relationships with your customers – You can allow readers to interact with and discuss the content in the comments section.
- Establish your company as a knowledgeable expert in your field – prove yourself by writing original content on subjects you have expertise and experience in.
- Target a niche market – Regular, highly relevant and targeted content can attract the right kind of customer.
- Build a community around your brand, product or services – Constant communication to your customers with added discussion can grow your following into a community.
Our advice at St.George Web Design is to look at your business goals, determine if they fit any of the above and if you’re not blogging, perhaps it’s time you started.
