Does your business need a blog or a website?

Posted by Professional Writing Services

December 8, 2008

I am amazed at just how many local businesses or pet related business don’t have websites–or have horrible ones.

Especially since I find comments like this one:

I would estimate that currently at least 95% of new customers tell me that they find my business online by doing a Google or Yahoo search.

Yikes! That is huge.

So how much business are you losing because you don’t have a website–and if you do have a website just how wonderful is it?

Most people want a bargain but don’t know enough about the Internet to know what constitutes a good deal.

For instance, someone is calling Big Bear Businesses with a “deal” for setting up a website with video–which is pretty easy these days.

The cost? I believe I heard $1500 for the video and $750 for the website.

Now that might sound good to some but it probably isn’t a good deal for most business owners around here because it has to be optimized and you have to define what you want from your website…adding video might look nice but what does it do for your business?

Based on the service charges quoted it sounds like they are focused on the video instead of the website creation–I just wonder how they promise to optimize the thing.

But I digress…should you have a website or a blog for your business?

A blog is a type of website except that it is easily edited by the owner (instead of relying on a webmaster) and is optimized to be search engine friendly.

Today I believe you should use a blog to your advantage and save the webmaster’s work for things related to the site itself instead of updates and content.

Let me give you an example of a project I recently completed.

Not too long ago I was referred to a new business to help them fix their website. They had created a static site but needed one they could easily manage and that would get them some traffic.

Now on first glance you might think it looks good–and if you don’t know much about the Internet–it does! Want to poke around? Find the Holistic Wellness Center static site here.

The site was done by someone associated with the center using a very design template at Go Daddy. He did a great job considering the limitations he had.

However it was missing some key things.

First, it was not optimized for search engines to find it in order to generate traffic for the name of the center or the location.

Next, it was missing key terms for searches, page titles, and descriptions.

What is important about those things is that without them the site was not showing up for the terms they wanted it to–and more importantly it was not coming up on a search.

In addition, the class schedule was an image that didn’t allow editing and the services was only a listing of some of those offered.

Now back to one of the business owners commenting on her website:

I have all the details, policies, and prices on my website so it makes it easy for people to see what they will get with my service, and make a decision on which company they want to hire.

Wow, that can make it simple for potential customers–but more importantly people feel more secure if they can learn a little bit about you before they contact you.

Now the HWC was open to change, so we snagged a domain name that selected based on keyword search research and their location.

Next, the budget was for 15 hours of work (which included some content) so I found a look that fit in with their center instead of spending more money to have a specific look created which looks like this:

I set up the host and got the new domain and blog up within about four hours. Then my content and optimization work began.

No too bad.

Notice that the location, hours, and services are visible immediately to the right of the blog versus the static site. Plus the phone number and city are right up at the top.

This is important!

Within a week (and without a lot of content on it) the site is on the first page under, “Holistic Wellness Center” which is what they wanted.

Today the calendar is set up so that staff can edit it and is viewable online. View the Holistic Wellness Center Calendar now.

Staff can also check the email and edit the blog and customers can get the phone number and address easily. Customers can also leave comments right on the blog.

Another perk is that each practitioner at the center has a page on the website and a link to their specific website as well. This helps the center with further optimization.

PLUS I included search term phrases that would actually benefit the center.

The surprise–infant massage was a term that had not been considered highly important until I noticethe traffic trend and researched the term.

In most cases, business owners don’t really know what people are searching for–it isn’t always what you think and you want to be sure they find you using the terms they will search for–not what you think they will search for.

Finally, another perk is that people who are searching on the names of certain practitioners are finding the HWC website in their searches.

So, my final though for you is YES, you need a website but I would recommend you get a blog going and get someone (like me) to help you get it up and running so that it will work for you.

Want my help? Just give me a call at (800) 818-7387 PST