Blogs
Make it interesting and topical if possible
Another way to help optimise your website and raise the profile of your business is to write a blog. You don't have to have the qualities of JK Rowling to write an interesting blog, nor does it need to be a boring record of the ins-and-outs of your company. If you haven't already seen it, Vizcom's Graphic Design Blog is nearly nothing to do with Vizcom - it is written from the point of view of the office dog, and consists of funny stories about the office staff here with links to quirky internet articles and websites.
Blog of The Dog does making passing comments about changes within the company, such as the latest newsletter being produced or website being created, but the rest of the time, it simply offers links to other entertaining websites. The system we currently use for The Blog Of The Dog is multi-faceted; it began life originally as a Wordpress Blog, linked to our main website. We also used the Facebook Notes application to publish new blog entries automatically on our Facebook Profile.
Promote your blog
This worked all very fine until we realised that it was only other Wordpress and Facebook users that could leave comments, so The Blog of The Dog was then duplicated across several sites, including MySpace and Blogger, as well as various regional business networking sites local to our area that featured a blog facility. You may also consider Technorati and claim your blog.
At Vizcom Design, we've found the best way to work an effective Blog system is to create a spreadsheet of websites with blog facilities and after updating one, duplicate the entry across all of the other blogs. Ensure that with each blog site you become a member of that you have completed your profile; that is, included a good quality photograph, a little required information about yourself and your business, and a link back to the homepage of your website.
When it comes to writing a blog entry, use a healthy dollop of common sense; at the end of the day, you are trying to target potential customers, so they will want to read about subjects related to your business. These can be as tenuous as you like, as long as you don't reveal too much about yourself (customers don't want to hear about your weekend of binge drinking antics) and are critical of others (we all hate Cheryl Cole and Christiano Ronaldo, but there's no need to write about it, you'll just sound like you're angry and unbalanced, and not the responsible business owner we know you are).
Try to keep your entries upbeat, informative and chatty, and do a spelling and grammar check before you publish. Blog entries are a good place to write about any promotions, new products and services, introduce new staff to the team, write about charity fundraisers and events relevant to your business.
Write about other websites that may benefit your readers
If you find any websites relevant to your business, that you think may be of interest, write about those too, or maybe there's a celebrity relevant to your business (for example, if you sell vintage ladies' clothing, Vivienne Westwood and V. V. Brown) that is doing something worth writing about, like attending an event, a book signing or awards ceremony? Remember, people like reading about celebrities, and often it doesn't matter how tenuous the link is, as long as they get a mention - celebrities' names alone are often higly prized keywords in search engine world, so give them a mention on your blog as there's plenty of extra traffic to be had there.
The bottom line is that Google currently likes blogs - it generally 'trusts' them more than some other kinds of websites because they are often based on recent topics and public opinion, and are usually written in non-search engine speak. One final word of advice - if you're not going to update it on a regular basis, don't bother with a blog as the stagnation will be online for all to see. You have to enjoy writing or have someone in your company that does.
If you write about something which is new and topical within your industry then the chances are your blog will be found for 'long-tailed search terms' so if you sell something which is relevant to what's in the news - write about it. For example at the time of writing Swine Flu is big news so if you sold medical equipment or disinfectant then writing a blog post about it may attract traffic. An example of a long-tailed search term for this type of blog post might be "Protection for schools against Swine Flu".