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BENEFITS OF BLOGGING

A blog is a website where individuals can make regular entries of commentaries, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics. A blog can be useful in the business world in different areas:

• Quick, easy and inexpensive – Blogs are easy to set up and there are also a few free blogging services. This can be a very cost-effective method to start building the company brand.

• Easy access to company news – Instead of using newsletters, customers can be more quickly informed of any major changes, new products or latest offers.

• Appear more accessible – Prior to making a purchase decision, potential consumers often consider comments made on the Internet on the company and the products sold. Maintaining a blog can make potential buyers feel that the company is concerned by its customers and that appropriate support services are available.

• Relationship building – Blogs can be used as a means for direct communication with consumers. This creates a more personal and approachable way of communicating.

• Product development – Via customer direct communication, the company can have better feedback on what consumers really want. Comments made on blogs can help a company to understand its customers better and therefore, develop more appropriate products. Less investment can therefore be made in product development for the purposes of carrying out market research.

• Customer support – Bloggers can share their knowledge on different products and provide technical support to customers. This also reduces the number of emails or telephone calls from customers who need additional advice.

• Brand building – Depending on the company policy, blogs can be used to demonstrate that the company has business transparency. Also, it is an inexpensive way of promoting the company and its brand.

• Viral marketing – Blogs can be classified as a word-of-mouth marketing as the links create a dynamic environment where one post can lead to numerous responses from different bloggers.

• Search engine marketing – Blogs can be used to promote a website. With different posts, blogs can be easily tracked (or spidered) by search engines such as Google and therefore increase the visibility of the website.

• Appear authoritative – Blogs can also be used by the company to give views on the latest events in your industry, offer reviews of related items and comparisons of several items. Customers can then feel that the company has more authority on its business.

However, it is important to consider the fact that bloggers can make negative comments on the blog or create links to inappropriate websites. This can have an impact on the business and therefore it should be important to have control over the blog.