Jack of All Blogs

Why Retailers Need to Consider Starting a Blog

Gracielou — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:00:31 +0000

It’s true that having a web presence is very important these days for any business organization. This is one way of reaching out to a global market and providing existing and prospective clients with comprehensive information about your products and services.

But apart from the website, many companies including retailers are not fully aware of the significance of a blog. Often, they do not know the difference between a website and a blog.

There are several factors why retailers today need to seriously consider this tool.

Firstly, for search engine optimization or SEO purposes. Search engines index blogs more than websites particularly when their content is updated on a regular basis. This then is your opportunity to show on the top search results when internet users search for products and services. Make sure you utilize relevant keywords in your blog that you think people will use when looking for your business offerings.

A second factor is building your credibility as an expert. As a blog needs to be updated regularly, this is your opportunity to share valuable information on your business niche and gain the trust of internet users. When they see and feel that you know what you’re sharing, they will eventually turn to you for expert advice.

Thirdly, this online tool is free to use. There are different blog platforms available today and they’re fairly easy to use that a background on HTML is not even necessary.

Finally, you can use a blog to update clients and other internet users about your company’s current activities such as mergers and events, new products and other offerings. This is what Apple has been doing to get the word out about their latest happenings.

About the guest author:

Jenine is a business writer knowledgeable about the technologies businesses utilize today to achieve their goals. She agrees that sage retail is vital for retailers committed to succeed in what they do.

The Essence of a Blog Description

Gracielou — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:38:47 +0000

Many people ignore the importance of providing a description for their blogs. They miss out on getting on the top search results and being found by people looking for relevant information because of this. If you’re serious about sharing your knowledge and expertise on the internet and getting more web traffic, it’s time you take into account the so-called blog SEO strategy. This is about your blog being searched easily and getting a high ranking in search results. An ideal blog description uses keywords relevant to your passion or business. These are terms often used by people when searching for a specific topic or business. They may not necessarily be the popular keywords. There’s also a rule on the number of characters for a blog description. If you’re using the WordPress platform, for instance, the SEO description box recommends at least 160 characters. This is because most search engines normally just show 160 characters in the search results. For this purpose, your description can include keywords of your blog. If you’re posting articles, however, you may include the first sentences that are closely related to your title. Avoid using your article title because it won’t give you benefits at all. Keywords play a significant role in gaining a higher rank in search results. They should go hand in hand with your blog description. A tip here is to use the post categories in your blog as keywords. Remember that they have to be relevant to your blog’s main topic or your particular business industry. Don’t even use your country or state as a keyword if you’re not writing about it in your posts. To determine the keywords your readers frequently use when searching for your blog or posts, you can use Google Analytics. This tool is most useful in giving you information about posts that rank high on search results as well as the keywords visitors often use. So keep in mind that for every new post you create on your blog, always provide a relevant blog description to be indexed by search engines. Photo via szsolutions.com

How to Show Author Info in Search Results

Gracielou — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:02:07 +0000

The Google search engine values quality content. As such, it shows only in its top search results great content from trusted authors whether they’re sharing it on a website, blog or article directories. This is known as the author markup feature. The good news today for authors who are passionate about sharing original and quality information is that their name can now be displayed in Google’s search results. This helps internet users easily find useful and valuable information that they need from specific writers. So for example, when a person now searches for a particular topic which you’ve written about, your name will show in the results. The trick to doing this is to link your content with your Google+ profile. Make sure you create a profile in Google’s social media platform first and include a clear and good headshot photo. The next step is to verify authorship of your content. You can do this by connecting your articles with your Google+ profile. You have two options available. First, you can use a verified email address. If you have a Gmail account, you can very well use this. Secondly, you can set up authorship by linking your Google+ profile with your content. What will happen then is every time you publish new content, it will also show on your Google+ profile. This is a great opportunity to gain links and +1s to your articles wherever they may be posted. Finally, do not forget to include the +1 button on your website or blog and use the author markup to link your content and Google+ profile page. Photo courtesy of Techlila