Building a successful business blog takes commitment, persistence and patience.  Most importantly, there are a few fundamentals that you need to make sure you address if you want your business blog to thrive in the long term.

Five of the most important fundamentals are described below to help you take your business blog to the next level of success:

1. Unique design and branding

Don’t start a blog using one of the free templates that comes with your chosen blogging application.  Doing so does nothing to communicate your brand promise and makes your business look “small-time” because there are likely to be many other blogs of varying calibers across the web that use the same design.  Instead, invest in a premium theme or custom design by working with a freelance blog designer to make your business blog match your business brand and instantly communicate your brand image.

2. Well written About page

Take the time to write a concise yet compelling About page that describes who you are, what your business does, and what sets you apart from competitors.  Also, make sure that your About page communicates what value your blog brings to your audience.  Consider working with a professional copywriter to make this page really shine.

3. Contact form

Your business blog needs a good contact form.  If you use WordPress.org as your blogging application, check out the free Contact Form 7 for an easy-to-use solution.  If you use WordPress.org and are willing to invest a bit of money to get a powerful contact form tool that you can use for far more than just contact forms, check out Gravity Forms.  This plugin has a price tag, but it’s excellent!

4. Social links

If your business has a presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, SlideShare, or any other social site, make sure you promote those destinations on your business blog by including prominent links and inviting visitors to connect with you on those sites.  You can even include social media icons to cross-promote your other social profiles.

5. Subscription area

Take the time to create your business blog’s feed using a tool like Feedburner, and then include an area on your business blog where you can invite visitors to subscribe to your blog via feed reader or email, which gives you an opportunity to stay top-of-mind amongst an opt-in audience who has already made it clear that they are interested in you, your content, and your business.

Image: stock.xchng

First up — Nuts About Southwest from Southwest Airlines

The Nuts About Southwest blog from Southwest Airlines has been a blog to watch for years.  It’s written by Southwest Airlines employees who are given the freedom to write posts with their own voices and telling their own stories.  I’d recap what the blog is all about here, but you really need to read the About page on the Nuts About Southwest blog to truly understand what makes this blog stand out from the crowd and really connect with readers.

And second — Zappos Blogs

Zappos is another example of a company that does great things with its business blogs.  Zappos operates a number of business blogs, but the two you need to check out first are the main Zappos blog and the Zappos CEO and COO blog.  Even though the former Zappos CEO has left the company, his posts during his tenure (pre-May 2010) demonstrate a company executive who actually “gets” social media.

What business blogs do you read to benchmark as you develop your own?  Leave a comment and share your opinion.

Fortunately, business blogs built using WordPress.org can make it extremely easy to keep up with ongoing conversations on blog posts with the Subscribe to Comments plugin.

In simplest terms, this WordPress plugin is a must-have for business blogs.  One of the most amazing parts of blogging as a marketing tool is the ability it gives you to create a community around your blog and build relationships with the members of that community.  Comments turn your blog into a two-way conversation, and the Subcribe to Comments WordPress plugin makes it easy for that conversation to continue.

Here’s how it works:

1. You install and activate the Subscribe to Comments plugin from your WordPress dashboard.
2. Once activated, visitors to your blog will see a check box followed by the message, “Notify me of follow up comments via email” after the comment form at the end of all of your blog posts.
3. Visitors who complete the comment form and leave a comment on one of your blog posts can check that check box to subscribe and be notified when more comments are published on that post only.
4. Once subscribed, visitors will receive an email message each time a new comment is published on that post.

The image below shows what the comment section looks like at the end of a blog post (along with the Subscribe to Comments check box and message).

The Subscribe to Comments WordPress plugin is one of the first plugins you should add to your business blog.  It’s extremely easy to set up and use, but it’s effect on your blog’s growth and interactivity can be significant.

What’s your favorite WordPress plugin for your business blog?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Find more WordPress plugins for business blogs.

Images: stock.xchng and WomenOnBusiness.com

With that in mind, you can use your business blog as a tool to collect email addresses.  But proceed with caution!  You don’t want the process of obtaining opt-in email addresses to damage the user experience on your business blog.  Remember, successful social media marketing stems from the removal of the gateways to content sharing and conversations.  The last thing you want to do is insist that people provide their email addresses and opt into receiving email messages from you in order to view your shareworthy content.  That content should be freely accessible without barriers.

Therefore, your goal in collecting opt-in email addresses through your business blog is to make the process not seem disruptive.  Here are 5 easy ways to do it:

1. Hold a blog contest.

People love contests, and a contest offers a perfect time to request email addresses and invite people to opt into receiving your email newsletter and marketing emails.  If you use WordPress.org as your blogging application, I recommend Gravity Forms to help you create the entry form to meet your specifications.

2. Include a message at the end of your blog posts.

The message can invite people to sign up for your emails for special offers and information.  Link the message to an opt-in form page on your business blog.

3. Include an ad in your blog feed.

Many bloggers monetize their blog feeds with ads.  Why not advertise your special offer emails with a link to your opt-in form page on your business blog?

4. Include an ad and link in your business blog sidebar.

You should already have links in your business blog sidebar for visitors to subscribe to your blog or follow you on Twitter, Facebook, and so on.  Why not include an ad or link to the email opt-in form page on your business blog or create a form that’s available directly in the sidebar rather than on a separate page (just keep it short).

5. Use an email opt-in plug-in.

If you use WordPress.org, there are a number of plugins that allow you to easily add a double opt-in form to your business blog.  Check out WP-Opt-in or WP Email Capture or conduct a search in the WordPress Plugins Directory.  For example, follow the link to check out the results for a search on “email opt-in“.

Image: stock.xchng

Today, I’m going to point you in the direction of 10 websites that are built on WordPress.org that will surprise you.  These sites come from large corporations, political organizations, universities, celebrities and more.

If you’re not sold on what the free WordPress.org blogging application can do for your business blog and website, click through to see some of these examples.  (Note: these are in no particular order.)

1. MTVU

This site is owned by MTV and uses a WordPress magazine theme to draw attention to a wide variety of articles.

2. Boston University Admissions

Several sites owned by Boston University run on WordPress, including the official Boston University Admissions site.

3. Jay-Z

Many celebrities use WordPress, and if WordPress is good enough for Jay-Z …

4 . Forbes Blogs

I write for a Forbes blog (Work in Progress), so I can attest to the fact that Forbes blogs do run on WordPress.

5. National Geographic

This is a cool one!  The National Geographic site in the Netherlands is built on WordPress showing its popularity around the world.

6. Harvard University

Need to see an Ivy League school using WordPress to really be impressed?  Check out the Harvard Gazette.

7. Nokia – Now Playing

Want to see a well-known consumer products brand using WordPress?  Check out Now Playing by Nokia.

8. United States Mission Geneva

Even government agencies use WordPress.  Visit the United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva site to see an example.

9. Pepsi Refresh Blog

Another big brand using WordPress is Pepsi as part of its popular Pepsi Refresh campaign.

10. The Toledo Museum of Art

Even museums use WordPress!  Check out the Toledo Museum of Art site.

What cool business sites do you know of that run on WordPress or another popular blogging application?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Therefore, if you’re a U.S. business or using images on your blog owned by an individual from the United States, then you need to either have permission to use that image or pay to use that image.  Alternately, that image needs to hold a copyright license that allows you to use it on your blog without paying a royalty or asking permission.

That’s a lot to consider.  How do you find images to use on your business blog without violating copyright laws and without having to pay or ask for permission all the time?

Fortunately, there are website that provide free stock photography or images with Creative Commons licenses that allow you to publish them on your blog as long as you provide attribution with a link back to the owner (as well as any other requirements listed with the image).

Following are several trustworthy websites where you can find images that you can freely use on your business blog as long as you follow the requirements published with each image:

1. stock.xchng

Stock.xchng offers a variety of royalty-free images that you can use on your business blog for free as long as you follow the restrictions provided along with each image.  The site also offers a lot of premium images, but you have to pay to use those.

2. morgueFile

MorgueFile, like stock.xchng, offers a variety of stock images that you can use for free as long as you follow the specific requirements attached to each image (typically just providing attribution is enough).

3. Picapp

Picapp is a great solution for people who need images of celebrities or current events for their business blogs.  Images are published on your blog with a link back to Picapp where visitors can find more images (it’s like a form of advertising for Picapp and how it’s how they’re able to allow you to use the images for free).  Image owners are paid when their images are used by publishers and bloggers like you.

4. FreeFoto

FreeFoto offers a wide variety of royalty-free images that you can use for free as long as you provide attribution.  These images do include a small FreeFoto watermark.

5. Dreamstime

Dreamstime is another good source that you can use to find free images that you can legally use on your blog.  You can also access Dreamstime images through morgueFile.

Image: stock.xchng

It’s time to highlight another business doing great things with blogging applications in the WordPress for Business Websites series, and the company website featured today is Le Tutor.

As Aaron of Le Tutor explained in his submission:

“I love WordPress for business applications and advocate that all small businesses convert to using it. It takes all of the pain out of running your own website and you can have an amazing looking website for a quarter of what design agencies will charge you for a sub par site.”

The Le Tutor site has a great color palette.  Its clean design and use of images makes it easy to find information.

The site also makes great use of video by incorporating a testimonials section filled with both videos and written testimonials.  Also, notice the strategic use of the sidebar to include information, a contact form, and video content.

The Le Tutor site also includes a blog filled with written and video posts that offer a mix of informational, educational and fun posts.

Kudos to Le Tutor for demonstrating that there is so much you can do with WordPress to make a business website standout without investing a huge amount of money.

To have your website considered for the WordPress for Business Websites here on BusinessLogs, follow this link, and leave a comment on the Call for Business Submissions post with your company website’s URL.

Link Baiting

Link baiting is a short term blog marketing tactic.  Link baiting refers to the process of writing blog posts for the primary purpose of attracting incoming links and boosting traffic.  Link bait posts are typically written about hot topics, they might break news, or they could be controversial.  Sometimes a link bait post might not even be directly related to the blog topic on which it is published.

Link Building

Link building is a long term blog marketing strategy.  Link building refers to the process of writing shareworthy content and building relationships with people both on and off your business blog in an effort to boost organic links and traffic to your blog.  Evergreen blog posts (that stand the test of time) and pillar blog posts (your very best, most informative posts) are examples of  some of the best link building content you can publish on your business blog.

So how can you marry your short term link baiting tactics with your long term link building strategy in order to develop a successful business blog?

Link baiting helps to drive new visitors to your business blog who may not have found it otherwise, particularly if you are one of the first online sources to write about breaking news.  Hopefully, some of those visitors will like the content they find on your blog and return, eventually becoming loyal readers.  The key is to keep them on your blog and coming back again and again by offering value-added link building content as well as traffic-driving link baiting content.

Therefore, writing link bait blog posts that are directly related to your business blog topic are far more likely to drive new traffic to your blog that might turn into loyal readers than irrelevant link bait blog posts are.  Furthermore, you need to add something of value to the link bait topic if you want new visitors to be motivated to read more of your content than the link bait post.

Finally, it’s important to understand that link bait posts should enhance the conversation happening on your business blog rather than detract from it.  Building a blog is like building a brand.  Consumers develop expectations for a brand over time just as readers develop expectations for a blog over time.  Don’t confuse your loyal audience by publishing link bait contests that are meaningless to them.  In other words, don’t sacrifice confusing, frustrating, or annoying your existing audience in an effort to pick up new readers through irrelevant link bait blog posts.

Image: stock.xchng

Think of it this way — your business blog content is only as good as how it is received by visitors.  That means you need to not only write shareworthy content, but you also need to adhere to your brand promise by presenting a business blog that is well-developed and designed.  In other words, brand, design and usability must live cohesively in order for your business blog to be the best it can be.

Let’s look at those three keys to business blogging success more closely:

1. Brand

Your business blog is an excellent channel to communicate your brand promise, messages and image and enables you to connect with and build relationships with consumers around the world.  It gives you a unique opportunity to develop loyal brand advocates who will help you spread the word about your brand, defend your brand, and build your business both on and off the social web.  Follow the link to learn about business blogging and brand building.

2. Design

Your business blog design creates an immediate perception in consumers’ minds about your brand and instantly creates expectations for the business behind that blog.  It’s essential that you invest the time and money necessary to design a blog that clearly communicates your brand promise.  For example, when I created my blog for women working in the field of business, Women on Business, one of my goals was to bridge the gender gap that’s inherently part of the business world.  Therefore, I avoided using pink and other overtly feminine elements in the design.  Ensure that your blog design is appropriate for your business, brand and audience for maximum impact.

3. Usability

Your business blog should be easy to use.  In other words, it should load quickly, have clear navigation, and just work.  For awhile, every new website and blog was filled with flash animation, pop-up ads, and other nifty features that seemed cool but really only hurt the user experience on the site or blog.  That’s because people want to be able to find the information they want or need quickly.  The Internet is a cluttered place and people are fickle in their travels across the web.  If they can’t find the information they’re looking for on your business blog quickly, then they’ll leave and find another blog to suit their needs.

For example, visit the Walt Disney World website when you have a few minutes (or perhaps many minutes).  This is a perfect example of a website that is simply not usable.  It takes forever for pages to load, often they load incorrectly, and it’s simply a cumbersome site to navigate due to all the extra animation, features, etc. cluttering every page.  I love Disney.  I live near Disney World.  I have reasons to visit the Disney World website often (e.g., to check park hours, make dining reservations, etc.), but I dread every time that I have to visit because I know I’ll end up annoyed and spending five times longer than I should have to in order to accomplish a simple task.  That’s exactly what you want to avoid on your business blog, so invest both the time and money necessary to ensure your business blog is very usable.

Image: stock.xchng

There are many factors that affect how much a professional blogger will charge you to write blog content for you.  A dozen of the most common factors are as follows:

1. The blogger’s experience with blogging
2. The blogger’s experience on the social Web
3. The blogger’s experience in your industry
4. The blogger’s online reach and reputation
5. Whether the blogger will be ghost blogging or get a byline with links to his/her own site or blog
6. How long posts need to be on your blog
7. If you’ll provide post topics or the blogger will have to find topics to write about
8. If images are required in posts
9. If the blogger will have to categorize, tag, and manage add-ons or plugins that add time to publishing a post
10. If the blogger will have to moderate and respond to comments
11. If the blogger will have to promote the blog to drive traffic to it
12. How often blog posts need to be published

Each of the factors listed above affects the amount of time it takes for the blogger to write and publish a post on your blog and will therefore, affect how much a blogger charges you to produce that content.  Furthermore, the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” certainly holds true in blogging.  Experienced bloggers might charge $50 per 300-500 word post while an extremely popular blogger might charges hundreds of dollars per post.  On the other end of the spectrum, an inexperienced blogger might charge just $3-$5 to write a blog post for you.

The goal for your business is to hire a blogger who can write well, autonomously, and consistently in a voice and style that matches your business.  The blogger should also have experience in your business or the ability (and willingness) to learn about your business in order to write effectively for your audience.  Finally, the blogger you hire should be reliable and write well.  It won’t help you to hire a blogger whose posts need to be completely edited for grammar, spelling, and formatting.

Just remember, publishing content that is substandard, inaccurately reflects your brand, and is not helpful or shareworthy isn’t going to help your business grow significantly.  It’s worth it to pay for quality content from a blogger who knows what he or she is doing.  It’s your business’ reputation and future on the line after all.

Image: stock.xchng

By using search engine optimization techniques as you write your business blog posts, you can attract more search engine traffic to your blog.  Following are five steps you can employ as you write each post you publish on your business blog to make your posts more search-friendly.

1. Use keywords in your blog post title.

First, do some keyword research to learn what keyword phrases related to your business blog are attracting traffic, and select the keyword phrases that you want to focus on to increase targeted traffic to your blog from search engines.  Then, use that keyword phrase in your blog post title.  Following are suggested tools for keyword research:

• Google AdWords Keyword Tool: free
• Google AdWords Traffic Estimator: free
• Wordtracker: free trial available before fees are incurred
• Keyword Discovery: free trial available before fees are incurred

2. Focus on specific keywords in a post.

Pick a keyword phrase that best suits the blog post you’re writing and focus on that one keyword phrase in that post.  Attempting to stuff a single blog post with multiple keyword phrases is likely to do more harm than good.

3. Use keywords in and around links in your blog post.

Search engines like Google value text within and around links higher than other body text in your blog posts.  Therefore, try to use keywords in hyperlinks when you can.

4. Use keywords at the beginning and end of your blog post with a sprinkling within your post, too.

Try to use your keyword phrase within the first 200 characters of your blog post, several times throughout your post (depending on the length of the post), and near the end of your post.

5. Use keywords in images.

Search engines like Google use the text included in the image HTML Alt-tag (the alternate text that displays online if an image cannot load) as part of their search ranking algorithms.  Therefore, it’s important that you take the time to name your image files with keywords in mind and use those keywords in the Alt-tag when you publish those images in your blog posts.

Whatever you do, don’t sacrifice the quality and readability of your blog posts just so you can fit your keyword phrases.  Remember, much of your business blog’s success comes from writing amazing, shareworthy content that people want to write about, talk about, and link to.  If your blog post quality suffers because you’re trying desperately to fill it with keyword phrases, no one will want to write about it, talk about it, or link to it, and you won’t benefit from the compounding effect of blogging.

And of course, be sure to read about the 5 easiest ways to get banned by Google and avoid committing those wrongs on your business blog.

Image: stock.xchng

Following are 5 commonly used business blogging guidelines to get you started in creating your own list:

1. Ask permission before publishing customer names and stories.

Your business blogger should not publish individual customers’ names or stories related to them without obtaining written permission to do so in order to respect their privacy.

2. Don’t attack competitors.

While it’s certainly fine to discuss how your business is different from competitors and the added benefits you deliver to consumers, you don’t want to publish overtly negative comments and posts about your competitors. Not only does it open your business up for a counter-attack, but it also hurts your business and brand to be associated with those types of conversations.

3. Take individual conversations, problems, or questions offline.

A business blog can serve as a broad customer relations tool, but it should not become a one-on-one customer service destination. Keep customer service-related conversations broad, meaning they appeal to a wide audience, and take specific customer service dialogue about individual customers’ issues offline.

4. Balance personality with professionalism.

A blog should be infused with the blogger’s personality but that personality must merge seamlessly with the business’ brand image and promise. Your business blogger should be allowed to let his or her personality shine through their posts and comments, but that personality should compliment the brand, else you run the risk of confusing or offending your audience and customers.

5. Stay on topic.

While a personal blog can stray from the core topic, a business blog has less flexibility in this area. Just as customers have expectations for a brand and they become loyal to a brand that consistently meets those expectations, they develop expectations for a business blog. Don’t stray too far from what your audience demonstrates that they want, need and expect from your business, brand and blog.

Image: stock.xchng

In simplest terms, Google uses a proprietary search algorithm as well as human analysis to detect sites that use search engine optimization techniques which artificially inflate the results Google returns for keyword searches.  If your business blog is caught doing any of the things listed below, your blog will be flagged as spam and may very well be banned from all Google search results going forward.

In other words, don’t do the things listed below if you want to get traffic from Google:

1. Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is when you stuff a bunch of keywords or links using specific keywords as the linked-text in an effort to boost your Google search traffic related to those keywords.  For example, including a list of links with your keywords in your  blog’s sidebar or footer for no other reason than to stuff your keywords.

2. Scraping Content

Your business blog could be banned from Google if you’re caught scraping content, which means that you copy content from other sites without publishing your own original content.  Not only can scraping content get your business blog banned from Google, but it can also get you in trouble with the law if you violate copyright laws (i.e., you don’t want to commit plagiarism).

3. No Original Content

If your business blog is filled with ads, affiliate links, and so on but no original content, it could get banned from Google’s search results.  You must publish more original content than anything else on your business blog.

4. Hiding Text

Don’t try to hide lists of keywords by making the text the same color as the background of your business blog or making them the tiniest font possible.  You’re likely to get caught and banned from Google search results.

5. Paying for Text Links or Accepting Payment for Text Links

Google uses links that appear in Web sites as criteria in its search result ranking algorithm.  Therefore, Google believes that sites that pay for text links to be published on other sites or sites that publish links in return for payment are artificially inflating search results.  Therefore, both the site that pays for the text links and the site that publishes them can be banned from Google search results if they’re caught.

Google views each of the above techniques as spam techniques.  Once your business blog is banned from Google search results, it is nearly impossible to get back in — even if you’re not guilty of intentionally spamming.  Don’t give Google’s algorithm or human analysts a reason to suspect you of committing any kind of possible spamming.

Image: stock.xchng

Comment spam is bad.  It’s that simple.  Not only does it detract from the conversation happening on your blog, but it also makes it seem like you don’t really care about your business blog, audience or conversations because you can’t even take the time to identify and delete those spam comments.  People who spend a lot of time on blogs can identify spam comments faster than blogging novices, so it’s important that you educate yourself to identify, flag and delete spam comments.

If you use a spam filter or tool like Akismet on your business blog (and you should) then you need to understand that taking the time to flag comments as spam is important because doing so “teaches” the spam filter how to identify future spam.  Simply deleting a spam comment works, but you’ll help yourself in the long run if you flag spam comments that your spam filter or tool doesn’t catch.

So how can you identify a spam comment?  There are a few very common types of spam comments that often make it through spam filters but do nothing to hurt your blog and could even hurt it by cluttering valid conversations or leading your audience to inappropriate sites via links that don’t effectively reflect your brand image.  For example, if you write a blog to support your child care business and a spammer continually leaves comments linking your audience to a pornographic Web site, then that’s something that could definitely offend your audience and negatively impact your business.

With that said, be on the lookout for the comment spam tricks described below that are often used to hide spam comments from spam filters and unsuspecting bloggers:

1. The “Great Blog” Comment: Comments that say little more than “great blog” or “good info” could very well be spam.
2. The Whole-Lotta-Links Comment: Comments that are filled with links are often spam.
3. The Nonsensical Comment: Comments that make no sense or are filled with unrecognizable characters are often spam.
4. The “Your the Best” Comment: Comments that are over-the-top complimentary are often spam.  Be on the lookout for comments that say, “I’m so glad I found this blog.  It’s the best.  Keep up the great work,” which are, unfortunately, often spam.
5. The Unrelated Comment: Comments that have nothing to do with the blog post are typically spam.

Always check where the links included with a suspicious comment lead to before you approve comments like the examples above.  Often spam comments are simply phishing attempts by spambots to find sites that actually publish those comments, so they can exploit that site in the future.  Furthermore, an increasing amount of comment spam is coming from individuals who are paid to leave specific text links across the Web in return for payment.  I see a lot of the “Great Blog” Comments and the “Your the Best” Comments that are clearly left for no other reason than to publish a specific text link.  By flagging spam comments appropriately and deleting them, you can save yourself from the headache of dealing with that spammer in the future and save your business blog’s reputation.

What type of blog comment spam do you think is most annoying?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: stock.xchng

There is no single recipe for success when it comes to posting frequency.  Instead, the time and energy you invest in publishing new content on your blog depends on your goals for your business and your blog.  For example, if you’re 100% committed to growing your business through social media and content marketing efforts as soon as possible, then you need to publish content frequently.

Remember, posting frequency is only part of the success equation.  You have to publish interesting, shareworthy content to benefit from the GPS Effect of Blogging for Business.  If you publish content that no one cares about, then it doesn’t matter how often you publish that sub-standard content.  You’ll only be able to grow your blog’s audience to a small extent before your traffic caps out.

With those considerations in mind, following are suggestions for how often you should publish content on your business blog to ensure it stays fresh:

For Maximum Growth Potential

If your goal is maximum growth, then you should publish new, original content multiple times per day.  Tip: every blog post doesn’t have to be an evergreen pillar piece (meaning it’s an amazing piece that stands the test of time).

For Above Average Growth Potential

If your goal is above average growth, then you should publish new, original content on your business blog at least once per day.  Tip: watch your blog analytics and try to determine if posting at a specific time brings in more page views than other times.

For Average Growth Potential

If your goal for your business blog is average growth, then you should publish new, original content at least 2-3 times per week.  Tip: make sure your posts are shareworthy.  If you’re publishing content sporadically, it’s very important that every post is the best it can be.

Below Average Growth Potential

If your goal is below average growth potential (meaning you have a business blog but you are not yet focusing on it as a marketing tool), then you can publish content inconsistently and less often than 2-3 times per week.  Tip: don’t forget the compounding effect of blogging and the potential a business blog can bring to help you build your business if you focus on using it as an indirect marketing tool.

Image: Flickr

The Related Posts plugin can help boost the amount of time a visitor spends on your business blog and increase page views on your business blog.  It works very simply by adding a list of posts that are deemed to be related to all of the blog posts that you publish on your blog.  The list of related posts is created automatically and is based primarily on keywords, so the list isn’t always perfect.  However, it definitely works to increase page views.

Similar WordPress plugins are Similar Posts and Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP).

You can also publish related posts at the end of your blog posts along with thumbnail images (if you include images in your blog posts) using the handy LinkWithin widget.  Check out the image below to see how the LinkWithin widget results section looks at the bottom of a published blog post.

You can find additional similar WordPress plugins by visiting the WordPress plugin directory and searching for “related posts” or “similar posts”.

Blogging All-in-One for Dummies is over 700 pages and is made up of 8 minibooks that teach anything and everything that beginners need to know to become active bloggers who are welcome members of the blogging community.  When you read this book, you’ll learn how to choose a blogging application, start a blog, publish content, make money from your blog, and grow your blog’s audience.

Business bloggers will be particularly interested in the minibook about business and corporate blogging as well as the minibook about niche blogging, which is essential for businesses who need to raise brand awareness through their blogs, position their brands effectively, and find their target audiences across the social Web in order to deliver their brand messages.  Since I’m a marketer by profession, much of Blogging All-in-One for Dummies touches on business-related subjects.  I can’t help myself!

While a book shouldn’t replace your ongoing online learning, they are a great supplemental tool to help learn the basics of blogging.  My hope is that Blogging All-in-One for Dummies not only teaches the basics of blogging but also teaches bloggers how to set up and maintain successful blogs that enable them to meet their unique blogging goals.

Following is an overview of Blogging All-in-One for Dummies from the back cover:

Prepare to launch into the blogosphere — here’s your ticket!

What do you want to tell the world? Get started today with this guide to creating and solidifying your place in the blogosphere. You’ll discover all the strategies and tools you’ll need to launch a blog and get noticed. From selecting a platform and writing your first post to including ads and using Twitter, you’ll be piloting a blog in no time!

• What’s your niche? — follow guidelines to choose a niche and set your blog up for success
• Build your business — create a business blog marketing plan and choose business bloggers
• Make the right decision — select the best blogging applications and blog hosts to meet your goals
• Extend and enhance your blog — from optimizing your content for search engines to creating blog feeds, get up to speed on the available tools
• Gain a following — discover the secrets of blogging success as you market your blog and build a community
• Show me the money — find out how to earn income by adding blog advertising, publishing sponsored reviews, and selling merchandise
• Enter the world of microblogging — learn how to create your Twitter profile, follow other users, write and publish tweets, and more

Open the book and find:

• Advice on choosing a blog topic
• The rules of the blogosphere
• Tips on selecting the right blogging application
• How to write to attract search engines
• Ways to analyze your blog’s performance
• How to find and edit images to spice up your posts
• Guidance on creating a podcast or vlog
• Secrets of making money from your blog

8 books in 1

• Joining the Blogosphere
• Niche Blogging
• Corporate and Business Blogging
• Choosing a Blogging Application
• Blogging Tools
• Promoting and Growing Your Blog
• Making Money from Your Blog
• Microblogging with Twitter

Honestly, all of the data you can collect about your business blog’s performance is useful in some way, but you have to start somewhere.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed and confused by the volume of data at your fingertips thanks to your new Web analytics tool, start small and focus on the most impactful data:

1. How are people finding your business blog?
2. Do people stick around once they find your blog?
3. What other sites are sending visitors to your business blog?
4. How many people are finding your business blog?
5. What content on your business blog are people visiting?

Keep track of the statistics below to answer those questions and learn about what is and is not working on your business blog.

1. Visitors and Unique Visitors

There are two statistics you need to understand when it comes to determining how many people visit your business blog in an effort to gauge your blog’s current and growing popularity.  First, the number of visitors to your blog includes everyone who viewed a page on your blog, meaning the same person can be counted more than once if he visits your business blog multiple times.  On the other hand, unique visitors is the number of unique individuals who visited your blog during a specified time period.  While this number gives you a better indication of the number of different people who visit your business blog, it’s not perfect.  If people clear their Web browsers’ cookies or visit from different systems, they’ll be counted more than once.  Keep these imperfections with both pieces of data in mind as you evaluate your business blog’s performance.

2. Page Views

Page views is an important piece of data because it tells you how many unique pages on your business blog were viewed by all visitors during a specified period of time.  Advertisers consider Page Views to be a more accurate representation of a blog’s popularity than visitors or unique visitors.  It’s also a useful statistic to trend analysis to gauge your business blog’s overall performance over time.

3. Referrers

Referrers is a very important piece of information because it tells you what other sites, blogs, search engines, and so on are sending visitors to your business blog.  Over time, you might notice spikes in traffic from specific sites or blogs or a growing trend in traffic from a specific site or blog.  Both of these occurrences should raise a flag that something good is going on that you should investigate further in order to capitalize on it.

4. Keywords

Aside from referrers, you should also track the keywords that people are typing into their search engines that leads them to your business blog.  You can use this data to tailor future content to exploit those keywords or tweak content to better attract the niche audience you’re looking for — depending on the trends you identify and your goals for your business blog.

5. Top Content

By tracking the Top Content data provided by your Web analytics tool, you can find out what content is attracting the most visitors (and track that data against your referrers and keyword data for a more in-depth analysis) so you can create more of that kind of content that your audience seems to want.

You can use your Web analytics tool to track both trends as well as short term traffic spikes or dips to identify opportunities or problems early.  The data is there (and most of it is available for free).  Use it!

What do you think is the most valuable piece of data to track with a Web analytics tool and why?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: stock.xchng

Stay tuned to BusinessLogs for a post later this week that will help you learn what to track!  In the meantime, take a look at the five Web analytics tools listed below to begin researching in order to find the best tool to help you meet your business blogging goals and budget.

1. Google Analytics

I use Google Analytics for my blogs for a couple of reasons.  First, the statistics provided are fairly comprehensive and second, it’s free.  That’s a combination that’s hard to beat.

2. Omniture

This is an expensive tool, but it’s one of the best if you have the budget.  Many large companies and Web-based companies choose Omniture’s Site Catalyst tool.

3. StatCounter

StatCounter offers a free and paid Web analytics tool.  The free tool offers basic information on a limited number of recent visitors at a time.  For full site performance statistics and history, you need to pay.

4. SiteMeter

SiteMeter offers a limited free tool and a paid tool that offers more comprehensive data.

5. AWStats

AWStats has dropped in popularity in recent years under an online buzz among users that questioned the accuracy of the data provided by the AWStats tools.  However, it is a free tool and might be worth testing before you make a judgment.

Remember, no Web analytics tool is perfect.  Therefore, don’t “bet the farm” on the data provided by these tools.  Instead, use them for trend analysis and strategic planning.

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For example, be sure to include a list of requirements in your blogging job posting such as:

• How often the blog should be updated.
• If the blogger needs to monitor and respond to comments.
• If the blogger is expected to promote the blog and drive traffic to the blog.
• If the blogger is expected to include images in posts.
• If the blogger is expected to research and come up with blog post topics or if topics will be provided by you.

Each of these requirements affects the amount of time it takes a blogger to write a post, which means they also affect the rates bloggers are likely to charge.  It’s also important that you ask applicants to provide samples of their blog post writing and links to their work online as well as their social Web profiles so you can learn more about their skills and experience.

You have two options when it comes to addressing payments in your blogging job posting.  First, you can leave it open to negotiation if you’re not sure what to charge.  You’re likely to get a wide variety of payment requirements from applicants, and you’ll quickly learn to correlate experience and skills with reasonable payment requests.

Alternately, you can include a per post or per word payment structure in your blog post (which is recommended over per hour since it takes some people longer to write than others).  For example, you might find a capable blogger with little experience who charges just $5 per post (blog posts should usually be between 300-600 words for maximum effectiveness).  On the other hand, a highly experienced blogger might charge $50 per post.  The most influential and popular bloggers might charge hundreds of dollars per post.  Just make sure that the rate matches the blogger’s experience and abilities.

With those tips in mind, following are a number of places where you can publish blogging job openings and attract a wide variety of applicants:

1. BloggingPro: Splashpress Media offers a blogging job board on BloggingPro.  There are three types of listings: the first is free and the second two are paid featured listings and 30-day listings.
2. Problogger: Darren Rowse offers a blogging job board on his Problogger blog.  All listings are paid.
3. About.com Blogging: The About.com Blogging forum includes a Blogging Jobs discussion folder where job opportunities can be listed for free.
4. Job Listing Sites: Sites like Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com, Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, etc. provide places to list open jobs for a fee.
5. Freelancer Sites: Sites like Freelancer.com, iFreelance.com, Elance.com, Odesk.com, Guru.com, and others provide a way to list an open job for a fee for freelancers to bid on.
6. Craigslist: Believe it or not, a lot of bloggers search for jobs on Craigslist.  Most job postings on Craigslist are free, but a few local Craigslist sites do charge a fee to post a job.

Don’t be afraid to ask applicants to write a sample post for your blog (which you agree to publish only if the blogger is hired), so you can get an idea of the type of content they could bring to your blog.

There are three primary options for choosing a business blogger:

1. Write your business blog yourself.
2. Enlist an employee to write your business blog.
3. Hire a professional blogger to write your business blog.

Each of the options above has pros and cons.

First, there is no one who knows your business, customers, and goals better than you do, but finding time to write great content doesn’t come easily to everyone.

Second, employees can be great bloggers, particularly if they’re familiar with the social Web and are vocal advocates of your brand and business.  However, you have to monitor your employees’ conversations and behaviors online to ensure they adequately represent your business and brand and don’t disclose any proprietary information. 

Third, hiring a professional blogger is an excellent alternative, but not all bloggers are what they claim to be.  You’ll find a huge variation in writing abilities, social Web experience, and technical knowledge, and those differences are usually very visibile when it comes to the rates that bloggers charge.  There is a reason the old adage, you get what you pay for, is still around.

Following are five skills you should look for in potential business bloggers to ensure you select a blogger who is willing and able to develop a successful blog for your business:

1. Has a knowledge of blogging and the social Web

Just because a person knows how to use WordPress doesn’t mean he or she understands how to effectively write, publish, and promote blog content to build a successful blog.  He or she should have active social networking, social bookmarking, and microblogging accounts and understand how to drive conversations, sharing and traffic to a blog.

2. Has excellent writing skills

The person who writes your business blog should have excellent writing, grammar, spelling, and proofreading skills to represent your brand well and alleviate the need for you to edit his or her work.

3. Listens and understands your wants, needs, and goals for your business blog.

The person who writes your business blog should aggressively learn about your business, industry, competitors, customers, and so on in order to be able to effectively write interesting blog content that attracts an audience and sparks conversations.

4. Is responsive, responsible and ethical.

The person who writes your business blog should actively respond to comments and emails related to your business blog and they should be responsible enough to publish blog posts without being micro-managed.  They should also understand what content is and is not appropriate for your business blog without having to run every post topic by you for approval, and they should understand the ethics and laws of the social Web, so your business blog doesn’t attract a negative reputation or legal trouble.  Otherwise, you might as well write your business blog yourself!

5. Has search engine optimization knowledge

The person who writes your business blog doesn’t have to be a search engine optimization expert (that’s a career unto itself), but he or she should understand the most important do’s and don’ts of search engine optimization and search engine reputation management to effectively write posts for maximum search engine referral traffic.

Keep an eye on Business Logs next week for tips for finding professional bloggers to write your business blog for you.

Image: stock.xchang

I’m looking for business sites that look like Web sites, not like blogs, on the home page at least (of course, a blog can be attached to the site, and it should be).  The goal of the series is to not only show how flexible blogging applications like WordPress are, but also to show how great a business Web site can look when it’s built on WordPress (or another blogging application).

Plus, really cool submissions might even be featured in my upcoming book coming out in 2011, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to WordPress”, but the first priority is sharing the great work businesses are doing in leveraging blogging platforms to create awesome Web sites here on BusinessLogs.

To submit your business site for consideration in the series, just leave a comment on this post with your site’s URL. Chosen submissions will appear in a future blog post with screenshots of your site and links back to your site.

Note that the series won’t critique sites but rather provide an overview of the cool things site owners are doing with WordPress, etc. to build their businesses and brands.

Feel free to share this request with your own audiences via Twitter, Facebook, your business blog, etc.!  Let’s find some really great business sites built on WordPress, etc. to highlight here on BusinessLogs!

So what should you write about on your business blog?

That’s a common question that many businesses struggle to answer.  Fortunately, I compiled a list of 20 business blog posts that add value to your blog, which are listed below:

1. Industry news

What’s going on in your industry?  Write about news, changes, and so on.

2. Company news

Is there anything interesting in your company’s future?  Share an insider’s perspective of your office or store on your business blog (without revealing proprietary information).

3. Customer service issues

Are there common customer service issues that you can resolve by publishing a blog post to clear up confusion?  Your business blog is a great place to discuss misconceptions and common problems that are easily fixed.

4. Answer questions

Are there common questions that you hear about your business or product?  You can publish blog posts that answer those common questions or publish a post asking readers to submit questions to be answered on the blog.

5. Video tutorials

Video content is hot these days, and offering video tutorials that show how to use your products is a great way to add visual and auditory components to your business blog.

6. Video product demonstrations

Product demonstrations are perfect for businesses whose products have to be seen in action to be believed.

7. Video interviews of customers

Invite your best customers to appear in a video interview on your business blog.  Ask them questions about why they choose to do business with you, personal experiences with your products, and so on to add a personal touch to the videos.

8. Video interviews of employees

Let your customers and business blog readers get to know the people behind the scenes by interviewing your employees and publishing the video interviews on your blog.

9. Videos of company events

Again, let your blog readers get to know the people behind the scenes by taking videos at company events and publishing them on your blog.  For example, if your employees participate in charity events, those are perfect for video content!

10. How-to posts

Offer a set of step-by-step instructions teaching readers how to accomplish a task related to using your products.

11. Discount or promotional announcements

If you have a great promotion going on, share it on your business blog.

12. Contests

Give away one of your products or a special discount in a blog contest.  They’re fun and great tools to boost traffic to your business blog.

13. Customer reviews or opinions

Ask your customers to offer their reviews or opinions about your business or products.  Then, publish a blog post to highlight the responses.

14. Trends

What’s next for your industry?  Do you see any new trends on the horizon?  Talk about them in a business blog post.

15. Market research

Publish a poll using a tool like PollDaddy to gather information about your customers’ wants and needs.

16. Hot topics

What are the topics that people are talking about online right now?  Use a tool like Google Trends to track current hot topics and blog about them.  Just make sure the topics you blog about are related to your business in some way.

17. Breaking news

Keep up on breaking news related to your business or industry and blog about it as it happens.

18. Guest posts

Invite an authoritative person within your industry to write a guest post to publish on your business blog.  It’s always interesting to hear varied perspectives, particularly from influencers or experts.

19. Photos

Take some pictures of your employees in the office, at the company picnic, and so on.  You can even take pictures of customers using your products.  Just be sure to get permission before you publish any photos on your blog.  Photo posts are a great way to add visual appeal to your business blog.

20. Opinion

Inject your personality into your business blog by publishing some relevant opinion posts.  For example, share a list of your favorite Twitter users or your favorite business books.  Don’t be afraid to get creative, but always make sure your opinion posts add value to your business blog in some way rather than veering completely off topic, which confuses readers.

Image: stock.xchang

The Web is full of clutter, but you can stand out from the noise by establishing your niche and offering authoritative, reliable, and shareworthy content and conversations related to that niche on your business blog.

The first step is to define your niche by asking yourself the following questions:

1. Who is my target audience and what do they want from me?

Define your best audience, and then find out where they spend time online.  Listen to their conversations and join those conversations to learn about what they want from a niche blog like yours.  Then, create amazing content that meets those wants and needs.

2. Is my niche viable today?

Take some time to learn who else is publishing content related to your niche, and make sure there is an active and engaged audience already seeking information about and talking about your niche.  Also, use a tool like the free Google AdWords Traffic Estimator to get an idea of the traffic a niche blog might attract.

3. What keywords should I target?

Do some keyword research to ensure your content is optimized for search engine referrals and effectively attracts your target audience using tools like Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, or the free Google AdWords Keywords Tool.

4. How can I differentiate my niche content and make it valuable to my audience?

Niche business blogs are highly focused, therefore, it’s important that you learn who else is publishing content related to your niche to ensure you add value to the online conversation.  You don’t want to simply republish the same kind of information that your competitors are already publishing.  Take the time to create amazing, shareworthy content to fully leverage the compounding effect of blogging.

5. Can I make this niche work for the long term?

While it’s important that your niche is viable today, you also need to make sure that you set your business blog up for long term success.  Make sure you can create enough content for your niche blog for years to come while remaining passionate about your subject matter.  Also, don’t choose a trend niche that is hot today but is likely to fade into oblivion in the not too distant future.

Image: stock.xchang

Following are five easy tips to help you pick the best domain name for your business blog:

1. Understand extensions.

There are many Web address extensions available these days with .com, .net and .biz being the most popular options for business sites.  While .com is still the most popular, it’s perfectly acceptable to use a .net or .biz domain name, and doing so won’t detrimentally affect your site’s traffic.

2. Remember search engine optimization.

Do some keyword research using a keyword analysis tool like Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery or the free Google AdWords Keyword Tool.  Including keywords in your domain name that your target audience is likely to use in searches when they’re looking for sites and information like you provide on your business blog can provide a significant boost in search engine traffic.

3. Avoid confusing elements.

Your domain name should be easy to remember and spell.  Therefore, avoid using unusual spellings of common words.  Also, avoid using numbers and punctuation that can be confusing (e.g., 4 or four?).  The best domain names can be verbally communicated without any spelling or clarification required.

4. Consider intuitive vs. creative concerns.

Just as specific elements within your domain name can be confusing, so can words or messages in domain names.  For example, you might like the idea of making up a word for your domain name, but doing so can cause confusion until people learn what that word is, how to spell it, and what it stands for.  That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to have success with a domain name that is highly creative — think of domain names like Squidoo.com or Flickr.com.  However, it takes longer to build recognition of a creative domain name than it does for an intuitive domain name.

5. Don’t worry if the domain you want is already taken.

It is very possible that you might put together a list of 10 domain names that you would consider using for your business blog, search for the availability of those domain names, and learn that none of them are available with a .com extension.  Don’t worry!  There are a number of options you can pursue to get a suitable domain name if the one you want is already registered by another person or entity.  First, consider using a less common extension as mentioned in #1 above.  You could also add a descriptive word to your domain such as best, fast, and so on.  Many people add an article somewhere in their domain name, like a or the, and others add characters to the end of their domain names making a word plural by adding an s or adding an er or est at the end.

Most domain name registrars offer domain name alternative suggestions if the one you want is not available.  You can also find alternatives using a domain name suggestion tool.  Finally, if you’re really attached to a specific domain name but someone else already owns it, you can find the domain name owner and contact information, and then contact that person to learn if they’re willing to sell it to you.

Image: stock.xchang