If you are using Google Blogger for your blog, they now provide a relatively new feature - custom domain. With custom domain, you can have your own domain for your blog and you have a choice of either letting Blogger host the blog for you or hosting it yourself. Many are of the opinion that having your own domain gives your blog more respect, rather than being a sub-domain of blogspot.com. It is much like using a real office address rather than your home address for your business. Further, when you promote your blog, you are promoting your own domain rather than blogspot.com.
There are advantages and disadvantages of letting Blogger host a blog with custom domain for you and hosting yourself, most of which I will not go into here. If there are any issues not discussed here, leave a comment. The disadvantage of letting Blogger host it for you is that you have no access to their servers. That means there will be some things you can't do. You can add a Google sitemap to your blog, but it is not a real sitemap because they use the RSS feed for the sitemap rather than a real sitemap. It is not the real thing. You also cannot do your own HTML form. These will not be a problem to you if you host the blog on your own.
There is now the possibility of using virtual server, also referred to as shared web hosting service. Shared hosting is cheaper than other types of hosting such as dedicated server hosting. Usually the Virtual host provide takes responsibility for management of servers, installation of server software, security updates, etc. This is probably the most economical option for hosting as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance.
Virtual Servers offers Virtual Server services for businesses, webmasters, bloggers especially serious bloggers and business blogs. You get full root access to to install tools and utilities, blogging tools, community platforms, mail servers, etc. They have various Dedicated Virtual Server Plans. You get an easy Control Panel to manage your site. To get a better idea of what you will get, have a look at their Features and Control Panel Demonstration.
Showing posts with label blogging for business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging for business. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Blogging: Effective Marketing
Blogging: Effective Marketing
by: Scott Lindsay
Weblogs, or “blogs” were introduced in 1997. As with most new technology the initial users of blogs were those gifted in the field of technology.
The growth of blogging began as the user interface became more simplified requiring no knowledge of HTML or other specialized coding.
Today blogging is used for personal as well as business applications. In the domain of business blogging (B-Blogging) many businesses are seeing the value of a b-blog and are allowing key personnel to blog on company time. The reasons are varied, but a b-blog is useful in presenting the face behind the brand.
The best b-blogs do not look at this format of information sharing as simply a means to say whatever comes to mind. A helpful b-blog for business is one that provides customers with the following.
1) INFORMATION – Customers are interested in the latest news on the products you offer and they may be very interested in the benefits your product or service has to offer.
2) ANNOUNCEMENTS – By providing important new offerings or staff changes, your client may feel more connected to your firm.
3) CONTESTS – In keeping with the fun nature of a b-blog, contests can be conducted through a blog that can supply visitors with a chance to receive promotional products.
4) SALES – If you will be conducting a sale on your products a b-blog can provide an easy way to pass that information along to people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
5) JUST THE FAQ’S – A b-blog is an effective way to solicit questions and then respond to them in your blog.
One of the key functions of a b-blog is to raise awareness and trust for your products and/or services while keeping things light, informal and highly personable.
B-blogs can be updated as often as you need to and your posts do not need to be exceptionally long. You should say what needs to be said and sign off. By making your comments short and to the point you will likely discover your visitors will respond better than if you insist on drawing things out.
Unlike email, customers who regularly visit b-blogs indicate it is a bonus to see the personality behind the company name. At the end of the day if you have encouraged a customer to remain a customer or if you find new prospects visiting your blog then your goodwill gesture has actually moved from a nice idea to a valuable marketing tool. Isn’t that what you wanted in the first place?
About The Author
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with High Power Sites at: High Power Sites.
by: Scott Lindsay
Weblogs, or “blogs” were introduced in 1997. As with most new technology the initial users of blogs were those gifted in the field of technology.
The growth of blogging began as the user interface became more simplified requiring no knowledge of HTML or other specialized coding.
Today blogging is used for personal as well as business applications. In the domain of business blogging (B-Blogging) many businesses are seeing the value of a b-blog and are allowing key personnel to blog on company time. The reasons are varied, but a b-blog is useful in presenting the face behind the brand.
The best b-blogs do not look at this format of information sharing as simply a means to say whatever comes to mind. A helpful b-blog for business is one that provides customers with the following.
1) INFORMATION – Customers are interested in the latest news on the products you offer and they may be very interested in the benefits your product or service has to offer.
2) ANNOUNCEMENTS – By providing important new offerings or staff changes, your client may feel more connected to your firm.
3) CONTESTS – In keeping with the fun nature of a b-blog, contests can be conducted through a blog that can supply visitors with a chance to receive promotional products.
4) SALES – If you will be conducting a sale on your products a b-blog can provide an easy way to pass that information along to people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
5) JUST THE FAQ’S – A b-blog is an effective way to solicit questions and then respond to them in your blog.
One of the key functions of a b-blog is to raise awareness and trust for your products and/or services while keeping things light, informal and highly personable.
B-blogs can be updated as often as you need to and your posts do not need to be exceptionally long. You should say what needs to be said and sign off. By making your comments short and to the point you will likely discover your visitors will respond better than if you insist on drawing things out.
Unlike email, customers who regularly visit b-blogs indicate it is a bonus to see the personality behind the company name. At the end of the day if you have encouraged a customer to remain a customer or if you find new prospects visiting your blog then your goodwill gesture has actually moved from a nice idea to a valuable marketing tool. Isn’t that what you wanted in the first place?
About The Author
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with High Power Sites at: High Power Sites.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Why Blogging Is Essential To Your Business
Why Blogging Is Essential To Your Business
By: Chet Holcomb
In the 'good old days' - about three years ago - you used to keep in-touch with your customers using phone calls, email messages and face to face meetings. Nowadays the world has changed. People expect even more frequent updates, yet it's nearly impossible to meet with every business contact on a regular basis.
Thankfully, blogging has come to the rescue. Setting up a blog on your web site - and having an associated RSS feed - means you can keep in constant touch with your clients and potential customers. Plus you don't have to email them and they can get your latest news without having to visit your web site.
So how does this all work? A blog is really a fancy name for a web page that gets updated regularly. It's nothing special. There are several methods of writing 'blogs', but they are nothing more than computer programs which allow you to easily update a web page. Far and away the easiest way to start a blog is with a website called blogger.com.
However, for keeping in touch with your customers, RSS is the key. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What this means is that your blog can be automatically delivered to people who want to read it - you don't have to send it to them and neither do they have to come and collect it. All they need is the address of your RSS Feed and their RSS Newsreader can do the job for them. There are several RSS readers available and new web browsers incorporate the ability to read RSS feeds and keep them updated.
Why Blogging is Essential to Your Business
Whenever you add new content to your blog, the RSS Feed automatically gets updated in everyone's Reader program or web browser. That means you are guaranteed to be able to keep in touch with clients and prospects. You don't have to do anything other than produce the content. Equally, you don't face the problems of email filters and anti-spam programs blocking your email. Furthermore, people tend to read RSS Feeds because they have subscribed to them. Whereas they tend to ignore non urgent emails.
As you can see, there are several advantages to Blogs and RSS Feeds. But it doesn't stop there. Search engines love them. That's because blogs provide fresh and new content - precisely what searchers are looking for. Hence the search engines are actively pushing blogs higher up the search engine ranking. This means if you don't have a blog for your business, you are seriously reducing your chances of a high search engine ranking. You need a blog nowadays to get noticed by the search engines.
So, blogging is essential. Not only does it improve your web presence, it also means you can keep in touch with clients and prospects more easily. And all the marketing research you can find will tell you that keeping in regular touch with your customers is an important component in gaining new business. So get blogging!
About the Author:
Chet Holcomb of Internet Promotions is a successful marketing expert providing advice for web marketers and webmasters on how to promote your website, or product using marketing tools that work.
Read more articles by: Chet Holcomb
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
By: Chet Holcomb
In the 'good old days' - about three years ago - you used to keep in-touch with your customers using phone calls, email messages and face to face meetings. Nowadays the world has changed. People expect even more frequent updates, yet it's nearly impossible to meet with every business contact on a regular basis.
Thankfully, blogging has come to the rescue. Setting up a blog on your web site - and having an associated RSS feed - means you can keep in constant touch with your clients and potential customers. Plus you don't have to email them and they can get your latest news without having to visit your web site.
So how does this all work? A blog is really a fancy name for a web page that gets updated regularly. It's nothing special. There are several methods of writing 'blogs', but they are nothing more than computer programs which allow you to easily update a web page. Far and away the easiest way to start a blog is with a website called blogger.com.
However, for keeping in touch with your customers, RSS is the key. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What this means is that your blog can be automatically delivered to people who want to read it - you don't have to send it to them and neither do they have to come and collect it. All they need is the address of your RSS Feed and their RSS Newsreader can do the job for them. There are several RSS readers available and new web browsers incorporate the ability to read RSS feeds and keep them updated.
Why Blogging is Essential to Your Business
Whenever you add new content to your blog, the RSS Feed automatically gets updated in everyone's Reader program or web browser. That means you are guaranteed to be able to keep in touch with clients and prospects. You don't have to do anything other than produce the content. Equally, you don't face the problems of email filters and anti-spam programs blocking your email. Furthermore, people tend to read RSS Feeds because they have subscribed to them. Whereas they tend to ignore non urgent emails.
As you can see, there are several advantages to Blogs and RSS Feeds. But it doesn't stop there. Search engines love them. That's because blogs provide fresh and new content - precisely what searchers are looking for. Hence the search engines are actively pushing blogs higher up the search engine ranking. This means if you don't have a blog for your business, you are seriously reducing your chances of a high search engine ranking. You need a blog nowadays to get noticed by the search engines.
So, blogging is essential. Not only does it improve your web presence, it also means you can keep in touch with clients and prospects more easily. And all the marketing research you can find will tell you that keeping in regular touch with your customers is an important component in gaining new business. So get blogging!
About the Author:
Chet Holcomb of Internet Promotions is a successful marketing expert providing advice for web marketers and webmasters on how to promote your website, or product using marketing tools that work.
Read more articles by: Chet Holcomb
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
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