These days I feel fairly solid on the subject of blogs. Last year one of the blogs I write got 1,600,000 hits – that is the site was visited 1,600,000 times (also known in the trade as “page impressions”)

And just before you think that maybe I sat at home going onto my own site 4500 times a night, I would add that by the end of the year we were getting 120,000 individual readers going onto the site each month. It wasn’t just me.

One of the great bonuses of the site is that in the past year more and more of the pieces I have written have being copied onto other sites – usually in full, and usually citing my site as the origin. This has helped make the blog one of the most popular in its field. All from a standing start of zero readers two and a half years ago.

During last year I also started writing regular blogs for other companies, and in doing this, I began to get a deeper understanding of how firms see blogs, why some feel that the blog concept is not right for them, and why some blogs don’t get high levels of readership.

The point is that the blog is not an advert, but is a way of engaging with customers and potential customers. It does not always make a complete sale, but it puts the customer into a more positive frame of mind about you. It builds a brand, at a very low cost. And it means that when you do advertise to people they are more likely to accept what you say, rather than think “just another advert”.

This lack of understanding about blogs can also be a huge benefit to those who do use blogs successfully, because it means that in most industries if you start writing a successful blog, you can be sure most of your competitors won’t be doing this.

I am happy to send you an example of a blog I have written for a client, and to talk with you about how a blog might work for your company. I’ll even sketch out an idea or two for you if you are interested. Call me on 01536 399 013 or email Tony@hamilton-house.com and write Blogs in the subject line.

Tony Attwood