Blogging has certainly come a long way! It has grown to become a highly effective technique being used by many as part of their online marketing efforts. It’s a great way to promote a business. Nowadays all types of businesses are creating blogs to stay connected with their target customers and spread awareness about their products or services. The main reason behind the growing importance of blogging is its interactive nature. There are so many blogs out there, and so many different types, that users have tons of options for looking up information that interests them.

Blogs act as a link between a business and its customers. They are especially helpful with increasing traffic to a business’s web site. Here are some ways you can increase traffic to your site via a blog.

* Write relevant content that matches the readers’ interest.

It is essential to always keep in mind what information your target audience is looking for. The relevancy of blog posts with reader’s interest is important as it will attract them to read it. They might even refer it to others. Search engines favor blogs that have user relevant content.

* Make titles appealing.

Having catchy titles to posts help in attracting both readers as well as search engines. Always write articles that can pull people to read the post, and include important keywords if possible.

* Use the right keywords.

Undertake keyword research to find the most appropriate keywords and effectively place them in the posts. Highlight the keywords to attract the readers’ attention.

* Post regularly and often.

It helps in retaining the interest of the visitors if you post often. Readers like to be welcomed with a new entry! To keep readers as well as search engines updated about new posts, make use of RSS Feeds.

* Allow for easy commenting.

Comments are the best way to get feedback and thus may provide some vital information on areas that a business needs to improve upon. Make sure that readers are able to comment on the posts easily.

 Tips for Article Marketing....

The main purpose of online marketing is to drive as much traffic to your site as possible. Providing fantastic content is one of the most effective ways to attract users to your site. Article marketing is an important part of your SEO strategy.

Article marketing is when businesses promote their products and services to their target customers by submitting informative articles to online directories. These online directories usually have a very large user base and also a strong reputation in the online world, so articles published on them bring in a lot of traffic to a site.

How does it work?

Every article published on these online directories contains a resource box which contains the name and contact details of the business, along with a link to its website. Therefore, when someone reads the article, they will see the business information and link, and will hopefully click the link and be directed to the web site. The goal is to bring in customers to increase online sales. In this way, article marketing can achieve the objectives of an online business.

To make article marketing efforts effective, you have to write relevant and user centric articles. In other words, in order to entice the users read your article, it should cater to their area of interest and must present valuable information. If an article is able to do this, the chances of a user visiting the company’s site become much higher.

You also want to create an effective resource box. The resource box is the opportunity for a business to advertise itself effectively. Therefore, the information in it must be made interesting enough to make the readers visit the website. The resource box must be updated regularly to make it further appealing to the readers.

Lastly, it is highly important to write articles using the appropriate keywords. It is wise to undertake keyword research to find the relevant keywords and use them in the right amount.

Highlight.

Writing an article builds trust. When you are communicating through articles, whether it is in a blog, forum or even Facebook, it gives your target audience an image of you in a professional way. You become reliable and dependable. People want to hear what you have to say. I have found that in blogging, people subscribe to my RSS feed and are looking forward to my next article.

Article writing also builds a relationship and creates your reputation. People will start to remember your name. This is why it is extremely important to have a vanity URL in your name. You might change jobs or even careers but you will never change your name. Your name is your reputation.

Good Luck..

Mike Ndegwa ,eMarketing Coach,Dolphins Training and Consultants ltd