Just what is a blog and why should you use one? A blog is an online diary or journal where you can post your thoughts, opinions, articles or anything at all for that matter. What it really is is a 'web log', and that is where the term 'blog' comes from.

Why should you use one for your business? Well first of all search engines love content. They especially like new and frequently updated content. So updating often will help get your site indexed in the search engines. You are also able to notify the blog directories when you make an update, and this will help get your site spidered much more quickly.

So will this help you make money from your blog? It is another tool in your arsenal. Used well, it can certainly help you make money. There are millions of blogs online and growing daily. If your blog becomes popular, you will gain a lot of inbound links from other sites. If you are an expert in your field and post informative, newsworthy, thought-provoking or even controversial posts you will benefit from traffic sent by others who think their own visitors would benefit from what you say.

There is also software available to automatically generate hundreds of pages targeted to specific sets of keywords. RSS feeds can be used to display your blog on other web sites, and this gives you an inbound link back from them. If your site gets used as content for the automatically generated pages this will also result in inbound links and potential traffic for you.

These inbound links and updated fresh content will help you achieve higher search engine rankings. This will translate into more traffic and potential sales. You can also display ads on your blog targeted to your content and get sales in that way also.

Blogging is here to stay so it would be foolish not to consider using it. A lot of marketers are now using their blog as a 'newsletter'. Because of the problems delivering newsletters by email, due to spam filters blocking them, it is easier to send an email to their lists advising them there is an update on their blog.

So you can see that is indeed possible to generate money from your blog. Especially if you are an expert in some niche area and gain a reputation for that. It will also help people to get to know you, as you can be more candid and informal in your blog, building up closer relationships with your readers. Another major benefit is that readers can post comments. From these comments you get to know your readers better also, and could identify possible areas where they need help or assistance. This would help you see recurring themes which could profit you greatly if you come up with solutions for which you now have a readily accessible market waiting for them.

In summary, it is well worth the time and effort into starting your blog. Let it be another area of your main business, supplementing and assisting it. Keep it alive with daily posts, read all comments and the bonus is that you can certainly profit from it, both financially and as a way of building trust with your readership.

Ben O'Rourke is an Online Marketer and Software Developer.

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