During a recent call with a new client, we were discussing her online foundations, web presence and the setup of all parts. When we got to the blog part – she said, “Yes I do have a Blog.”
Well… yes she did, but not one that was working for her. Her ‘Blog’ was in fact a blog hosted on blogspot not directly on her website and once there, it had no way of directing a visitor back to her own website.
This is one of the biggest misunderstandings about blogging. “Who owns your Blog?”
- When you have a blog hosted directly on your website visitors get to it by clicking a link similar to this: www.mysite. com/ blog or www.blog.mywebsite. com .
- When using one of the free blogging platforms, your blog link will be something similar to this: www.myblogname.blogspot. com or www.myblogname.wordpress. com
In example 1, your website has the blog as a part (and pages) of your domain name and the url link – your online real estate. You own it.
In example 2, guess who owns these web links? Exactly – Blogspot or WordPress because the link contains their domain name.
In many cases, the blog on the free hosting platform also is not set up in a way that people can even find or get back to your website, as my client’s case. A big mistake if you are looking to use your blog to bring in more traffic. You are investing time (ultimately money) into creating the blog, you want to make it have a positive effect on your online marketing and work for you not against. People should be able to click and see your about page, contact page, services, products – everything you have on your website.
This is not to say that using the free platforms cannot be helpful, for many businesses starting out this is how we started blogging (I did!). However, when you are ready to go bigger and also to move to the social media world and use those channels to bring traffic and visitors to your website – don’t have people clicking on links to a free site that essentially you do not own. That’s not your online real estate, it belongs to wordpress or blogspot. Get your blog installed right on your website and have these links bringing people to YOUR website with all the different pages about your business, including your blog.
Most hosting platforms allow for a simple install of wordpress onto your site – but it may mean changes in the backend that require help of someone who understand how to do this properly. Some hosting sites are not yet ready for these blogging platforms so you will need to do some homework or get some help before jumping into a change to your site. Time on Task does offer this service and if you would like to book a free consult, please get in touch with me.
The main takeaway here is to look at your blog setup and see if you have one that is working for you or against you! If it’s against, what kind of effort are you investing in something that is not helping you? If you aren’t sure, then post a note on my Facebook Page with a link to your blog and I will let you know.
Online Marketing with IMPACT so you Get Clients! My passion is helping to guide people just like you, dietitians, coaches and service based business owners, who are often frustrated with all the advice and ideas out there and all the wasted time spent on marketing that gets you nowhere. Check out all the free resources on my Pepper It Marketing website, especially this guide for Online and Content Marketing. I also offer several self-study training programs to help you get more traffic to your website, more leads on your email list so you can make More Sales!