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September 12, 2006 – A blog can help attract more customers, raise awareness

Each of us tends to buy more from a business we know, like, and trust. We’re more likely to try a new product if it’s put out by a brand we have experience with since we already like the products they’ve sold and we trust them to deliver quality products.

If you want to expand your online presence, market your business, grow your brand, and help customers know, like, and trust you then consider starting a blog.

A blog (short for weblog) offers businesses of every size at least 4 advantages over a traditional website and should be used in conjunction with your site.

1) Ease of setup. Even a relative novice can set up a blog and the first post can be up and read by visitors in 60 minutes or less. If you’ve ever tried to build your own website using even the most supposedly simple website builders, you know it takes lots longer than 60 minutes to get up and functioning.

2) Search engines love them. Search engines like Google®, Yahoo®, and MSN® love fresh content. If you post at least once a week, your blog will be full of fresh content. A well thought out post will include lots of keywords, at least one link to your website, and a link to your email address so people can contact you directly. Those things all help raise your organic search engine rankings (those are the links that come up naturally as a result of your search). Your blog helps your overall web presence.

3) Expand your reach. A guy in Sydney, Australia buys a product from your website and suddenly you run a global business. Because of their search engine friendly nature, blog postings can appear in a search engine listing and help drive sales.

4) Raise your KLT Factor. In the not-so-distant past, we dealt with neighborhood businesses whose owners had a history in the community. They knew us and we knew them. In today’s overscheduled and fast-paced world, customers focus on saving time and it can be harder for business owners to build customer loyalty. A blog can help create an emotional connection between customers and the business.

biah Designs, an award-winning brand strategy / full service marketing firm in Linwood recently began a blog to reap the four benefits mentioned and grow their business. Visit their blog at www.brandreturn.com to see how they’ve customized it and learn more about building a brand.