Seasoned Expert Becomes Aggressive Leader

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Customers are Ignoring You (Photo credit: ronploof)

A blog for business has become a platform for business owners who want to brand themselves as an online business. Blogging has come a long way. It started out as an individual who wanted to share a story of what was happening in their life with the rest of the world. Some individuals still do that. But now businesses can use an online blog to share a lot more than what is happening at an office meeting.

Blogging is constantly evolving. It has become a place for folks with a business – no matter what size – to connect with potential customers. You can not only sell to potential customers but educate them. You are sharing knowledge, answering questions and serving customers. It is connecting with visitors. It is growing your business online. By having a blog for business, you are not only building a business, you are sharing your passions of that business. Here’s how.

Information For Potential Customers

People are always looking for answers to their questions. They are looking for information to understand a problem, satisfy a curiosity, or just simply something they are interested in knowing information. Printed books are decreasing in production while the internet is increasing their information. More and more people are turning to the internet for their answers.

If you have a business blog, you have a platform. You are able to answer questions by serving your potential customers. Those customers are targeted. In other words, you know a little bit of information about them: their needs, their wants, their income, their age or spending habits. Your blog is where they will get their answers.

Potential customers are interested in your business. They are within your industry. What are they typing into that search box when they want answers to their questions? If you think about it, you wouldn’t look up hair styles if you are interested in purchasing a new car. Those two are not connected. But if you are interested in a new car, you will search the internet for new cars. When you realize that you have found millions of sites and know you can’t go through them all, you begin to narrow down your search by type of vehicle (car or truck), brand (make), size (mid-size or compact), etc. That becomes a targeted niche. Your business has to be targeted. It has to have a specific niche. Otherwise, you would be competing with millions of other sites on the internet.

You want to be the leader of information. You want to be at the forefront of your industry. By being the leader, you can build a following of loyal readers. If potential customers can relate to your site or your business, they will return to you when they need answers to their problems.

SEO

How do you target readers? By using SEO (search engine optimization). When the search engines crawl your site, they are looking for fresh, unique and quality content. There was a line in “Home Alone” that said, “have you had enough, or are you thirsty for more?” You want return visitors. Your computer has an area to “add to favorites’ on your home page. What do you have on your favorites? Are they company related news? The latest products? Your competition’s website? These might also be on your customers favorites. By targeting your niche, you target your customers. By targeting your customers, you may end up on their favorites list. That means they liked your website and will return.

When those spiders crawl your site, if they like it because you have unique and fresh content, then they will rank you site higher in the search results. Better rankings will give you more exposure and more people will see your site. That means more traffic. More traffic could mean more sales. And that’s why you are in business.

Social media platforms can also contribute to your growing business. Place the social sharing buttons on your site. This encourages readers to share that great content of yours. They are spreading the word (of your business) for you.

Authority In Your Niche

A blog is used to help build your business. It shows your brand, your products, and your services. And by sharing your knowledge and answering their questions on your blog, you become the expert in your niche and a trusted authority.

This is hard when you are just starting out but it is possible. Take the time to build your blog properly. But once you are established, your business will grow. There is lots of competition in a business. You need to stand out from all the rest. Having a business blog gets you ahead of some of that competition. It can help you stand out. Every business is unique. You need to find out what that is and promote that. That’s what is called your USP or unique selling point. Show your customers what your USP is and customers will remember you as the authority and the go-to person for answers.

The internet is constantly changing. Google updates their algorithms. Facebook changes their policies. Blogs for businesses are always staring up. You need to get ahead of your competition or you will lose business. Get your business online now. What’s keeping you from an online presence by starting a blog?