Tips for a high-traffic business blog

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(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I sell a unique product through my website. It's a liquid, concentrated, caffeine-free tea that doesn't require refrigeration and doesn't go bad. I've been reading about blogs and wondering if this would be a way to get more customers. Perhaps adding a video to show how easy it is to make my product would be good also. However, I need a good source of information on how to tackle these marketing tools. Any suggestions?

- Faith, Cape Coral, Fla.

Dear Faith: The first thing to note is that a blog is a publishing platform that will thrive if and only if it is frequently updated with fresh content.

Business blogs are a form of conversation marketing. Used correctly, they can make a substantial contribute to your company's bottom line.

Writing posts that provide value to the reader is the best way to make your blog attractive to visitors, says Greg Thibodeaux of Houston-based strategic marketing group The Method Agency. Simply talking about how great your company or product is won't do it, though.

Some topics that Thibodeaux says make for a good business blog:

- Product and service details
- How-to videos
- Product tips and tricks
- Customer success stories
- News and announcements
- Articles about complementary products
- Recipes
- Requests for feedback from customers
- Things to look out for when shopping for products or services like your own

Keep in mind that blogging requires a substantial time commitment. Luckily, there are plenty of small agencies and freelancers that can help you with setting everything up.

"Before going down this path, I would carefully look at all my current sales and marketing programs that are already effective and see if I couldn't improve elements of those before venturing out into the blogosphere," says Todd Miechiels, an independent Internet marketing consultant.

To blog effectively, think from your customers' perspective. Firstly, search the Web for the kinds of websites and blogs that they might be visiting already.

"You can then offer to contribute to those blogs, and sometimes take out some banner advertising," says Miechiels.

When your blog is ready, remember, you will make your existing Web site more attractive to search engines by linking it to your blog.

"It is crucial to get your Web site as high as possible within the relevant search results for your product," says Andreas Roell, CEO of San Diego advertising agency Geary Interactive.

People expect to get information quickly online. A how-to video clip would be great for moving your blog and Web site up to the top of search engine results, but you should keep the video's length between 30 seconds and one minute.

If you want to learn more about business blogging, check out Michael Martine's website. His book How to Start a Business Blog is great resource to start with, and it's available online free of charge.