DW Tips

You may have been reading about how companies today need a blog to keep in touch with customers. And perhaps many your competitors have one. But you're not sure whether you have the time or energy to develop and use one as part of your digital marketing strategy. If you want to try out blogging to see if it works, just follow these steps.

• Start as a guest poster. The best way to try out blogging without any commitment is to write a one or more guest entries on the blog of someone else. Look for a company whose products and services complement rather than compete with yours. For example, if you're an accountant, an office supply or computer company can work. Write a short article and end it by asking a question. Encourage readers to post their responses in the comment box. You can then judge how the audience responds to your post. If you're not getting the comments you hoped for, try writing entries for other company blogs as well.

• If you discover an audience for what you have to say, then create a stand-alone blog using one of the free options, such as Blogger. By choosing a template and selecting a few options, you can quickly create a blog. Write a few entries over two or three weeks to judge what readers think. Don't forget to link to the blog from your main company website.

• If you discover that blogging is something that you can sustain, then you can integrate a blog into your company site. This requires technical expertise as well as an artistic sense. Our company can provide both. Your entries will look well-integrated with your online pages.

If you need more information about how to blog or want to include one in your web design, please contact us.