WHAT IS A BLOG, ANYWAY?
Heather Austin, Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.
Blogs are everywhere on the web these days. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, with no real rules. Just what is a blog, you ask? Let me fill you in!!
A blog (short for "Web Log") is basically a journal or personal diary that is available on the web. Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain them.
The activity of updating a blog is called "blogging"; someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." A blog can be whatever the author wants it to be, as it gives individuals their own voice on the web. Think of it as a daily pulpit, a political soapbox, a collection of links, or someone’s private thoughts or memos to the world. In simple terms, a blog is a website updated on an ongoing basis. New information shows up at the top, so visitors can read what’s new.
Publish your thoughts…..
A blog is a place to publish your thoughts, allowing you to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it’s your political commentary, hobbies/interests, or sports reviews.
Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts.
Blogger.com (owned by Google) offers an easy to use software which hosts your blog. Other options include Blog-City, Live Journal, Movable Type, MSN Spaces, pMachine, TypePad, and WordPress. One company named Serendipity sells software that allows you to host your blog on your own server.
Get feedback…
The blogging experience is not only about putting your thoughts on the web, it lets you communicate with other like-minded people.
Blogs let readers of your site from all over the world give feedback on what you share on your blog. What makes this different than your typical chat room is that you can choose whether or not you want to allow comments to be shown on your blog on a post-by-post basis (and you can delete anything you don’t like). This keeps your blog reputable and intelligent.
Group blogs can be excellent communication tools for small teams, families, or other groups. Give your group its own space on the web for sharing news, links, and ideas.
So, what’s in it for you professionally?
A blog can be used to create and manage content relating to your destination or property.
It is a place where your guests can interact if they choose.
Search engines reward blogs with traffic; a content-rich blog can be a component of a search engine marketing plan.
A blog is a good way to target a niche
A blog might make sense for your business if you:
are already doing PPC, SEO and e-mail marketing.
have the energy and commitment to produce content daily or weekly.
have knowledge and passion about a specific topic (if you want to attract golfers, a golf blog would make sense; if you want to sell your area, an area-specific blog would make sense).
want to bring return visitors to your website.
want to provide increasing amounts of content to your website visitors.
Stay tuned to future issues of this newsletter for more information on using blogs to market your hotel, bed and breakfast or condo.
Additional Reading…
With Readership Growth, Blogs Continue Marketability by Chris Richardson
"by the end of 2004, blog readership was up 58% (see also Blog Readership Surged 58 Percent in 2004 By Rob McGann). Because readership continues to increase, the chances of visitors responding to blog ads increases as well. Although the article also reveals that while readership has indeed increased, the overall amount of "net citizens" who actually know what blogs are hovers around 38%. This should not be a discouraging figure, however. If readership continues to increase, blogs will soon become a permanent fixture."
Why Blogs Rank High In Search Engines By Fredrik Wacka
An interesting article with some good ideas about why blogs do so well in search engines.
Blog Examples:
Political Wire – one man’s postings of current political news stories.
To be politically correct and non-biased, we’ll let you choose your own political blog….see this huge list!
Bed and Breakfast Blog (Official launch of this site will be in March 2005)
A Travel Blog that shares personal experiences from travelers all over the world.
