Blogging Is The Ultimate Marketing Tool For The 21st Century
by Allen Taylor

Blogging has become quite the popular sport. People blog the news, sports, politics, their personal lives, and even business. But should you?

As a marketing tool, there’s no question that blogging is a powerful tool. But is it right for everyone? Probably not. However, it is a great way to add valuable content to most web sites.

The popular search engines – Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask – expect webmasters to update their web sites frequently. In fact, one of the best ways to climb in search engine rankings is to keep those sites updated with fresh content. Blogs provide that content so naturally and effectively.

Blogs don’t have to be huge tomes to be successful. In fact, some of the best and most successful blogs are short and sweet. A well-written short blog is actually better than a long, boring Moby Dick-like piece that no one wants to read. Fifty words with two or three dashes of a useful keyword phrase will score big points with the search engines, and if it is useful information for your target audience then you’ll also gain ground with those human visitors you want to turn into customers. Do that three to seven times a week for a year and you’ll have a web site that search engines can’t say “No” to.

It won’t even take a full year. You can build a successful and useful web site in three to six months with valuable blogging that inspires, entertains and enlightens your readers into being valuable, paying customers.

If you do see blogging as a part of your marketing future, don’t develop a narrow view of the skill. It takes more than just throwing out a few phrases and keywords to make a successful blog. You must ensure you are communicating with your audience so ask them what information they want to see and provide them with benefits. And blogging doesn’t just have to mean writing your journals online either. There are two other forms of blogging that are gaining more popularity every day. Which you use depends on your company’s goals, personality, and vision.

Audio blogging and video blogging can be powerful forms of communication. Again, they aren’t for everyone but don’t rule them out. Are you a singer or someone who makes a living with their voice? If so, you might consider a blog that incorporates audio. Maybe not every day, but in some kind of creative and useful way that promotes your voice skills so that potential customers can evaluate your voice and audio technique.

This principle also applies to video blogging. Perhaps you are a struggling actor or video engineer. If one of your core competencies involves corporate video production then video blogging could help sell your services. It’s worth considering, don’t you think?

Blogging is here and so is the 21st century. This powerful marketing strategy can be of benefit to almost any business. I’d encourage you to check it out.

Allen Taylor is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer. He operates a full-service content provider and manages over 30 client blogs. Learn more about quality ghostwriting services at www.taylor-and-associates.com.