Member Article

Businesses fail to capitalise on blog power

Businesses are aware of the growing power of blogs to increase traffic to their websites, but very few intend to follow through with it themselves, a new poll has revealed.

According to the research, conducted by UK hosting provider Fasthosts, nearly half of small businesses believe that using a blog would increase traffic to their website and improve sales. However, a mere 3% of the businesses questioned actually plan to launch their own blog.

The paper, entitled ‘Blogging for Business’, suggests that SMEs understand the potential benefits that a blog could bring, but are failing to put this knowledge into practice.

The research was carried out between June and August 2006 and surveyed 2295 businesses. It revealed that over a quarter of respondents needed a blog to be updated daily to ensure that they returned. However, a larger proportion, of just over one third, felt that it didn’t matter how often a blog was updated as long as it was interesting and informative.

Andrew Michael, CEO of Fasthosts, said: “In today’s hyper-competitive market, blogs provide a fantastic way for small businesses to differentiate themselves through personalising their website and attracting more customers. “The corporate blogs of large companies are bound by corporate guidelines and gate keepers, so for small businesses there is far greater opportunity for interesting comment and genuine dialogue with customers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .