How can a blog benefit my business?

• Search Engine Marketing. Blogs give you an increased presence on major search engines. The technology is a magnet for search engines like Yahoo! and Google. A well-written, routinely updated, keyword-oriented blog can enhance your chances of garnering high rankings on search engine return pages. Why is this? Google, in particular, indexes sites based on content – text on your site.
  
  The words comprising the content on your site, whether it is on the home page or in the blog, are like currency to search engines. The more times a certain word or phrase, or a combination of words and phrases, is used on your Web site, the more likely Google, for example, will index your site highly based on that word or phrase. The reasoning is simple; Google ranks pages based on keywords by relevance.
  
  
• Direct Communications. Blogs provide a way for business owners to speak directly, openly and honestly with your customer.
  
  
• Relational Marketing. Blogsallow you to build personal, long-lasting relationships with yourcustomers that foster trust. One person put it this way: “A blog is acontinual tour with a guide you get to know."
  
  
• Brand Building. Blogs serve as another channel on which to promote your brand and your products.
  
  
• Competitive Differentiation. Because blogs give you the opportunity to tell your story over and over again in a manner considered hip within the interactive community, they help set you apart from the competition.
  
  
• Position You as Expert. Blogs enable you to articulate your viewpoints, knowledge and expertise on matters pertaining to your industry.
  
  
• Media & Public Relations. Blogs are excellent PR tools. The media calls you, not your competition.
  
  
• Exploit Marketable Niches. Blogs help you fill your particular industry niche.
  
  
• Lead Generation. Blogs can have bearing on your ROI
  
  
• Internal Communications. Blogs can be used inside the enterprise as a tool for internal communications and project management. Some of the largest companies in the world are using them for just this purpose.
  
  And a couple not on the slide deck...
  
  
• Reputation Management. Blogs help you manage your online reputation.
  
  
• Low Cost. Blogs are inexpensive to set up, operate and maintain. Ongoing marketing costs are minimal. They do require an investment of time in terms of blog posting, but it can pay big returns for the time spent.