Is blogging dying?

Blogging scene has dramatically changed over the past few years, after micro-blogging sites like Twitter took off so quickly and amassed such large amount of members in a short time. Thus, the question lies within that is blogging dying and is it still useful for small businesses? A quick search around the net returns rather positive answers. Primarily, a blog creates a promotable “Social Media Asset” because every post is a potential destination for links and entry points through search engine. Optimizing the blog content for identifying themselves can be very useful for small businesses that wants to be the destination for relevant customers who are looking for those certain keywords too. Besides, a blog is much more customizable than say, a Facebook page or Twitter account. Businesses can present its ideas, promotions better, without have to be restrained by the website.

“More than two-thirds (68%) of online Americans say they visit online blogs, communities or social networks, and 33% engage in product research online to help them make purchase decisions.” Therefore, it is quite important for businesses to manage their blogs properly, if there is one, and to be tweak with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial.

Blogs can also serve the purpose of reinforcing businesses’ brand reputation and the depth of knowledge towards their products. Consumers would really appreciate good discussion, good reviews or useful information towards certain products they might be interested in. However, personally, I do not think blogging is enough as a small business’s marketing tool today. Instead, they should be as important as the marketing platforms on Facebook or Twitter. If handled well, these two can boost revenues and sales without much costs involved, relatively.


Sources:
Blogs as a Useful Business Tool, Cathy Larkin, http://websavvypr.com/blogs-as-a-useful-business-tool/marketing-pr-and-social-media-strategies/blog-ideas/admin/2009/03/


The Value of Small Business Blogging: 3 Key Questions & Answers, Lee Odden, http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/03/the-value-of-small-business-blogging-3-key-questions-answers/