Blogging has soared in popularity, we often get asked ‘Why should I start a blog?’ here are just a few reasons why we think blogging is worth considering.

Blogs are websites that you can update yourself by writing your own articles. You write the articles and build up a collection that can be read and searched by site visitors. Visitors can post comments back and ask questions, so a blog is a truly interactive website. Blog articles also give you marketing opportunities to push out links to the blog from social networking and business networking websites. Regular blog posts give opportunities to keep in regular contact with customers and contacts as well as contributing to that organisation’s branding as experts in their field.

The software is free and it automatically archives past articles (or ‘posts’.) It functions like a content managed website so you can have real depth of content and amend your articles or add to them when you like. This can be really useful for companies with technical information or ranges of products to write about and can be used to publicise company news and events.

Blogs are great if you are an expert because you can build up a comprehensive collection of your knowledge online, share it with others and get feedback or share ideas with your readers. You may have picked up ideas, expertise and ways of working that you could share with others. They might be outside your company or they could be your employees, or they could be customers who want to know that you are an expert before they buy.

Blogs have several advantages over a traditional website but if you already have an HTML website you can have a blog that runs alongside your HTML website. This is done by installing the blogging software onto the web-server where the HTML website is hosted. The advantage of this method is that the blog will share the same domain as the website making it easier to promote the blog as part of the main website and making a more cohesive online presence.

This blogpost is an exerpt from the first Create Design Studio book on creating websites. If you would like to read more visit our website at: www.iwanttobeawebdesigner.com and download a chapter from the book FREE!

Create Design Studio provide graphic design and website services, we also set up blogs and make great PowerPoint presentations. If you’d like us to help you with your next project please call David on 01420 549637.

Here is a snippet from our first book on creating websites, we hope you find it useful.

Do think about usability

If visitors cannot find what they want quickly, they will go elsewhere. Simple menus with easy to understand page titles aid navigation for visitors. They will expect a ‘Home’ and a ‘Contact us’ page to help them find their way around. If your site has many pages set up a site map page and show all the pages grouped under relevant headings. Include text links at the bottom of each page to help search engines and visitors to find major pages. Get an outsider to test your site to see if they can find a specific service, or product, on the site. Can they find out how to buy it and how do they think the navigation could be improved? Try looking at the other websites to compare their navigation systems to yours.

Do good calls to action

Once your site pages have told their visitors all about your great product/service, make sure they also tell them what to do next. Conditional statements can help visitors to move to the next stage of purchasing. If they need more information tell them where it can be found: by signing up to an email newsletter or by telephoning the office to speak to an advisor. They may want to see more examples of the products: inform them they can email to receive a brochure. They could want to buy or place an order, so tell them how to use the shopping cart system so they can make purchases online, or inform them how to download a form they can print out and fax back.

Do consider your information and content carefully

There is no substitute for relevant information on any website. Relevant to: product, service, industry sector, the customer, customer demographic and customer needs.

Do make your contact details visible

Place any phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses and any other ways to make contact (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Ecademy) in a prominent place on the website to cater for how site visitors feel most comfortable making contact. Place this information on the header of the website to ensure it will be seen first on any page. Place the information on every page because as search engines find your website people may be sent to the page that suits their search the best, not necessarily the home page or the contact page. Making it easy to find contact information increases the chances of visitors using it.

Do include testimonials

Showing what other customers think of your client’s services provides authenticity for their services. Collect testimonials from every customer and ask them for their feedback. Display positive comments on every page of the site and refresh them as new comments are received, updated comments show visitors the business is ‘alive’ and show search engines that the content on the site is up-to-date, helping the ranking.

Do add special offers & freebies

Use these to encourage website visitors to part with their contacts details or subscribe to the email newsletter. These can include free “How to Guides”, ‘Top Tips’, “White Papers” and widgets that will be valued enough by site users to encourage them to part with their contact details.

Do use images that create the right impression of your company

Create the right impression for your business online. Poor quality images can be worse than no images in that they create a bad first impression for visitors viewing the site. Good photographs do not necessarily have to be expensive. There are many image libraries online where quality images cost a few pounds. Used carefully they can create a professional image on any website, illustrating the kind of people the business works with or the job it does. Great images bring text to life and reinforce the messages in it. A professional photographer could cost more but will provide you with bespoke images of your products or services, your premises and your staff that can be used to present site visitors with an authentic image of your business. Showing customers who they will be talking to and what the premises look like can be a great investment if they are likely to visit in person.

This blogpost is an exerpt from the first Create Design Studio book on creating websites. If you would like to read more visit our website at: www.iwanttobeawebdesigner.com and download a chapter from our book FREE!

Call us today about your website on 01420 549637. If you want a new website designed and built, or an existing website refreshed, we can help.