Blogs have exploded on the internet scene in the past several years, both as a means for people to share their thoughts and common interests, and as a multi-faceted tool to help advertise services and products. A blog is actually a vague term for a site that is published on the internet for discussion or information. The key characteristic of a blog is the use of separate entries, known as posts that are displayed in reverse chronological order. However, make no mistake; blogging takes strict resolve, a lot of research and real writing skills.

Why do I need a Blog?

Anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of all internet users read blogs on a daily basis. Moreover, if they find the blog informative and/or entertaining, there is a good chance they will come back to read it again and again. Blogs can offer a more intimate and trusting atmosphere to convey your ideas and services. If you are a business, this can give you more presence on the internet and an edge that traditional marketing just can't provide. By having a blog connected with an existing website, you increase the amount of inbound links to your site. This in turn increases your prominence in search engines, which brings even more traffic to your site. It can also be very easy and cheap to start a blog. This is a very nice perk, especially if you are a small business that can't afford to pay for TV commercials and big newspaper ads.

Why should I use it?

Blogs may be easy to start, but maintaining them can be very difficult. In fact, many people who start a blog, give up on it within a few months. The internet is full of old blogs that haven't been updated for months or even years. Even many of the blogs that have been around for a long time are not particularly well-known. The important thing you have to understand here is that there are now over 150 million public blogs scattered across the internet. With so many it can be hard to weed out the bad from the good. There are three key ingredients that can help make your blog stand out from the rest.

The first is, of course, high quality writing. While you might be a good business person and know everything there is to know about your field, if you can't write about it in an attractive, error-free way no one will want to read your blog or use your service. Second, you want an eye-catching layout. Having pictures, diagrams and hyperlinks interspersed through your posts give them a more interactive, entertaining or emotional emphasis that makes people want to read more. Finally, you need to be constantly updating. If you are only putting up posts every other week or once a month, your reader base will grow slowly and many will get bored and not come back. But by having new posts up every few days, you are creating more links, more search results and more chances to catch someone's eye.
All of this takes a lot of experience, research and time, which is precious in the business world. By hiring a professionalblog management service you can continue to focus on your business, while they help bring the world to you by keeping your blog sharp, interesting and up-to-date.