In earlier parts of this series on marketing with blogs, I discussed the reasons why blogs are excellent tools for marketing, and provided some tips on using your blog to brand yourself, boost your reputation and sell your products and services online.
In this article, I provide specific tips on using your blog help you boost your marketing ROI and visibility online.
- Use Good SEO Practices
Besides using keywords appropriately, take the time to learn about using trackbacks, pingbacks, good linking practices and basic SEO techniques.
Remember that in blogging, public relations equals PageRank. The more you link to others, the more they will link to you.
Submit your blogs and feeds to directories and search engines.
- Track Your Results
Keep track of your sales, inbound links, citations by using tools like adtrackers, Blogpulse and Marketleap. Also offer your readers incentives to participate in surveys.
This information is very valuable because it will help you understand what your market needs and how to give it to them.
It will also help you understand how much your blogging is helping your marketing efforts so you can tweak your methods and get more out of them.
- Listen And Learn
When we're blogging we usually stating our opinions openly. As bloggers it's all right to be controversial and frank while blogging.
But what happens when a potential customer posts a nasty or rude comment? Some bloggers think its OK to be rude right back, and even go so far as to call that person names.
I don't believe that's the way to treat someone who take the trouble to sign-in and post a comment on your blog. For all you know they may have a genuine problem and could be speaking for others who have experienced the same.
Being rude will not only lose you a customer, it will also expose you as someone who is too immature to handle customer complaints.
Granted, some customers can be a pain in the butt, but everyone deserves to be heard. And handling nasty or rude comments with restraint will not only demonstrate your maturity, but build your customers respect for you.
People prefer doing business with someone they like and trust. So if you want your blog to be a place where your potential customers can interact freely and openly, I suggest you learn how to handle brickbats as well as bouquets with grace and maturity.
It used to be said that the internet was the great leveller because it empowers small businesses to compete with big businesses. But blogs have completely levelled the playing field for marketers.
Anyone with an internet connection can now sell their products and services solely on the basis of the quality of information they provide.
And that's the reason blogs are creating a revolution in marketing online.
Priya Florence Shah is a former journalist, editor and online publisher and content marketing consultant. She runs a business blog consulting firm that offers blogging services to help you brand yourself and your business online.
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