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What Does Blogging Actually Mean? [Marketing Cast]

 

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We often refer to business blogging as an essential part of inbound marketing, but what does it actually constitute? Is it a form of social media? Or is it a hybrid between journalism and something else?

"The phrase ‘blogging’ is just semantics," says David Meerman Scott. It basically refers to a platform for someone to create content with passion and build a community around it.

Blogging Is A Way to Run A Business

When it comes down to it, a blog is just a website. It allows you to communicate with an audience and spread a message. Today, many people are running their entire businesses on blogs. Thus, they rank well in search engines and leverage PR opportunities. 

Blogging Is About Interaction

Blogging provides you with a platform to engage with your audience. If someone leaves a comment on your blog, respond to it. Also engage with other bloggers who write on subjects similar to yours. “If you just try to be this island in the middle of the sea, it is much harder to attract people to you,” David points out. Instead, you need to be actively forming new relationships with fellow bloggers.

As David says, "don’t get hung up on the semantics," but go ahead and start publishing!

Free Download: Better Business Blogging in 2011

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This 24-page ebook features tips and ticks from some of the world's best bloggers

Download this free business blogging ebook today!

Posted by Magdalena Georgieva on Mon, Jun 06, 2011 @ 08:00 AM

COMMENTS

This free ebook about business blogging looks attractive. I'm going to check that out. Honestly, I blog to add value, which creates business for me. I also blog because blogging is a trigger that will help my SEO.

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 8:28 AM by Email Lists Dude


Thank You everyday for all the useful information I get via email! It all is awesome!

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 8:34 AM by Rachel Peters Photography


Good points!

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 8:40 AM by Phil Lamb


check our blog http://blog.webbazaar.com and let us know your feedback!

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 10:17 AM by Web Bazaar


I found that you can't sell the concept without defining it, so I wrote a post about blogging, too. Obviously, you guys do it up proud. If someone asks me for more, I'll just direct them to you. 
Thanks for all the great info!

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 11:30 AM by Sally Erickson


@Nick: Absolutely -- blogging really gives you the foundations for a complete inbound marketing startegy. You can't be successful on Facebook or Twitter unless you have something meaningful to share. 
 
@Sally: Thanks for the good words! Everyone has a different perspective, so you should also talk about it.

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 11:33 AM by Magdalena Georgieva


If you waited until your first version was perfect you waited too long. Adapt and adjust from your experiences and mistakes.

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 11:48 AM by sp4 web design


I've always thought of a blog as a mini newsletter or a mini, mini website.

posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 at 7:31 PM by Jack Derby


I view blogging as a personal conversation with the reader. To share experiences or provide knowledge on a subject. If you aim to provide the most information you will keep your readers and build bonds that will last.

posted on Tuesday, June 07, 2011 at 7:13 PM by Dean Wangler


I've started blogging reciently for my e-commerce iste, but I've found the blog posts are stealing SERP from the main product pages. Any advice?

posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 at 8:10 AM by Richard


Hi Richard, 3 thoughts: 
 
1. If you really don't want the blog pages tobe found through search, consider using better internal linking to better surface which page a given query should return on the site. Especially, linking from the offending blog post with a anchor text of the keyword in question to the product page should help. 
 
2. Consider a better call to action in the blog post. If the post is being returned in search, Google sees some value in it for the queries in question. It may be best to let that ride, so to speak, and attempt to siphon the traffic gained into either blog subscription, a relevant offer, or direct to the product page with clear call to actions. 
 
3. If your blog post is canabalizing your standard keyword content instead of expanding it, are you blogging on and optimizing for the right keywords? What I mean by this is that the blog should be a supplement to your product pages, not a competitor, if you have truly helpful and useful blog content. I the is a high degree of kw overlap, I'd be slightly concerned you are just pushing product in the blog and not providing uniquely interesting content. 
 
Good luck!

posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 at 9:46 AM by Mike Redbord


Hi Mike, thanks for getting back to me so quickly!  
 
I suspect you might be spot on with point 3, I have written a few featured product articles which would have been competing with the product pages for keywords. However, the blog at is located at blog.goodboatshop.co.uk, while the shop is onwww.goodboatshop.co.uk. Is the level of keyword competition reduced or eliminated when they appear across sub domains, or does google only look at the root domain when deciding which page should rank? 
 
Thanks again for taking the time to help me out,  
 
Richard

posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 at 10:14 AM by Richard


The salient difference between the blog subdomaina and the primary site is the presence if "blog' in the url. So no real difference in kw competition just by mature of the location. although for some queries, fresher or non-product content is favored (vice versa as well, of course) so you may be running into some non-product queries as classified by google which were previously scooped up by product pages, but now a 'better' page has been found on your site for a segment of queries. 
 
Or if your question was only about subdomain authority keep in mind that in most cases like yours (and this is almost assuredly the case given the your initial question) the subdomain and primary domain will transfer authority as if they were on the same root domain, too.

posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 at 10:27 AM by Mike Redbord


We have just implemented a blog and it was great when we received some comments.

posted on Thursday, June 09, 2011 at 3:24 AM by VIP Security Services


thank you for such great info about blog

posted on Thursday, June 09, 2011 at 4:02 AM by Cuisinart TOB-195


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