BZA, NJ’s Top NJ Web Design company, has been integrating Blogs into our client’s websites for over three years. Our blogging platform of choice is WordPress.  Due to the popularity and ease of use of WordPress the platform has evolved into a robust development platform complete with a content management system.

WordPress websites are ideal for start-up businesses or for organizations with a limited budget.  They can be quickly and cost efficiently implemented which equates to savings that get passed to the client.  For more information check out our Custom Word Press Theme Design services.

Tonight I am going to be talking about the benefits of blogging for your business.  Here is my handout.

1. You can update your Blog/Website yourself
2. Your blog becomes your central repository for all articles, news items, announcements and events. It’s database driven, so it’s searchable.
3. “Search-friendliness” is built into the blog.
4. Blogs are easy ways to add depth to your web site; Each blog post is indexed as a page in search engines. (just Google NJAWBO Blogging Event)
5. Your blog post title can automatically be displayed as a tweet in your Twitter account.
6. It’s easy to integrate multi-media in posts – Slideshows from Flickr; YouTube Video.
7. Your blog can be linked from your Linkedin account.
8. Drive traffic to your website/blog by including the link on a Facebook update.
9. Your blog demonstrates your expertise- good for attracting press.
10. With a blog you’ll be cool, hip, and you can now call yourself a blogger.

Resources:

• Wordpress.org   Free open source software for integrating a blog into a web site or building a standalone blog. Self hosted (company.com/company_blog); you’ll need your webmaster to accomplish this.
• Wordpress.com  Free open source hosted blogging solution not on your domain (company.wordpress.com).
• Blogger.com  Free Google hosted blogging solution not on your domain.
• Montclair Adult School; www.adultschool.org Registration begins Feb 1, 2010;  Web Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs & Small Business March 23, 2010;  Planning an Effective Web Presence for Entrepreneurs & Small Business; 2 sessions March 2, 2010 and March 9, 2010

Barbara Zaccone, Founder and President of NJ Web Design firm BZA LLC will be a panelist at the January 19^th NJAWBO (New Jersey Association of Woman Business Owners) Essex Chapter Meeting to be held at Wilshire Grand in West Orange, NJ.  The social networking topics that will be discussed include Facebook, Twitter, Email Marketing, Linked-In and Blogging for business. Zaccone will specifically discuss the benefits of integrating a blog into your web site. “Most companies don’t take advantage of the speed at which a Blog article can be picked up in search engines”, claims Zaccone. “Writing and posting articles to your blog not only demonstrates your expertise, but it can add keyword rich content and links to your web site”.

Zaccone to speak at NJAWBO Essex Chapter meeting

For more information about the event visit http://www.njawbo-essex.org.

Want to add news, articles, tips, and events to your web site? The most cost-effective way to accomplish this is to integrate a blog into your web site. Blogs are a fast and easy way to publish, categorize and archive information in our web site. Best of all, you can publish content to your web site without any technical expertise. How does this work?

The most popular blogging platform is WordPress. WordPress is Open Source, meaning it’s FREE. Your webmaster will need to install WordPress on the web server that houses your web hosting account and customize it so it matches the look and feel of your web site. WordPress is actually a database application, which means Individual posts can be retrieved through search, Tags, and a Category index. Additional benefits include:

• Blogs are a great way to build quality keyword driven links that point to key pages on your website. Great for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
• Blog content is almost instantly indexed in Google.
• Blogs are a quick way to integrate multimedia into your site; add a slide show, pictures, or Video (linked from YouTube)
• Think of using a blog for your Press Room or News section of your web site. News Articles are automatically archived by date and can be easily searched.
• Position yourself as an expert. You may not have written a book but you do author a blog.

One of the easy ways to promote your blog (articles and content) is through social media. So once you post an article, you’ll need to tweet about it through your Twitter account. Make sure you include the link to the blog article. 

Your Blog can be configured in such a way that every time you add a post, your home page automatically gets updated with the latest news headlines. Don’t be afraid of the word “Blog”. Just because you have a blog doesn’t mean you have to quit your job and become a blogger. You can update your blog as often as you like. Express yourself.