January 12, 2012 in Blog by admin

Why Do I Need a Blog with my Internet Business?

A simple question really – if you have an eCommerce website (online shop), then why do you need a blog? Not really an uncommon question if you have an internet business.

Well, that depends on what your eCommerce website allows you to do – if you’re customers can leave reviews about products and for you as the business owner to interact with clients about your products and services, or any special offers you have on, then effectively, you already have a blog.

On the other hand however, if your eCommerce site doesn’t allow you to do this, then blogging is a cost effective (often free, other than time investment) way of interacting with your customers, which has many benefits – one of these benefits being that it constantly updates your website with customer feedback; and as such, acts as ‘word of mouth’ advertising for your product or service.

Having a blog, is actually a great idea for other reasons as well. For example, it also allows you to also drive traffic to your website for purchases; when you’re having discussions with clients on your blog.

A good blog also gives you the opportunity to teach people more about your product line, which has the potential of your brand developing as somewhat of a “product expert”.

“Great, but I don’t have an internet business yet”, you might be thinking…

If you’re a ‘local’ business that has never had a website to sell your products or services from, then blogging can be a great way to start adding your business on to the net.

In today’s ‘technical’ society, its virtually critical to have a website of some kind – a blog can act as your business website.

Having a presence on the internet can drive customers into your business as well as allowing potential customers to find your phone number and business address when searching for your business type.

With the increase in Smartphones and Mobile Internet, today’s customers are constantly using the internet (on their handheld devices) to search for local businesses. This is leading to phone directories becoming almost extinct; which begs the question, “if you do not have a presence on the web, how are you going to be found?”

Blogging is a great way to get your business seen on the internet. You can do lots with a blog, such publish sales information, product information and articles that pertain to your niche, be a great source of rich content, increase your business exposure, make you accessible to local searches as well as many more benefits.

I don’t want a blog, I’d much rather have an Online Shop

If you’re selling products or services that can be purchased on the internet, then an eCommerce website is probably a better solution for you, as this streamlines the activity on your website.

Basically, what we mean is that it allows for all your orders to be processed from one central control panel, manage your transactions, add or remove new products, offer discounts and promotions, promote your discount vouchers on other websites (such as Discount for Students) as well as giving you the flexibility to turn Customer Reviews on or off, and responding to any feedback you get on your eCommerce Website – all from the same control panel.

If that’s your preferred option, then this is different to blogging, and you might need some help getting that off the ground. XCEL Web Design can help with setting up internet businesses and promoting them in local business directories as well as other aspects of the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

We can develop your eCommerce website for a fixed price so there’s no hidden costs, which includes getting your marketing campaign off to a good start with £50 Google AdWords vouchers, so you can start promoting your website, and see the sales increasing as the traffic increase.

For a no obligation quote, please contact XCEL Web Design or click here to read about our eCommerce Web Design service

On the other hand

If you just want to create a blog, and need assistance with it, please feel free to contact one of our web designers how we can help you get started!