Warning: If you have a blog address similar to blogname.blogspot.com, blogname.wordpress.com or other, you may not want to read this. This also applies to anyone that has pointed a custom domain at these services.

Small businesses usually use blogs for three reasons: gaining attention, adding keywords for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and as a platform for Content Marketing.  The hope is to grow your business using these great online tools and it’s true, you should start a blog, just not an externally hosted one.

There are significant roadblocks in your path to SEO and Content Marketing success when using externally hosted blogs. These limitations so badly injure your efforts that those who have implemented different platforms to correct these problems report significant and sometimes immediate jumps in website traffic.

Here are the main problems.

Growth 

External blogs are not designed to grow with your business. All your hard work to create valuable content to build a tiny space online that is all yours and that garners you attention is limited. Your business will grow and one day you will find yourself needing a full website. A blog is not a website and it is very frustrating to try and fit your business into the limited space allocated by these external blog platforms. This is especially true if you are trying to implement Content Marketing strategies.

Purchasing your own domain name and hosting your own blog is not difficult or expensive. This choice will relieve much frustration later when your business is ready to expand online.

Flexibility

External blog platforms are often completely free and do offer some great features but there is no compromising when it comes to moving them in with you. As your business grows and you see value in creating your own website, you’ll want your content-filled blog to join forces with that new website. Since 2010 Blogger/BlogSpot and WordPress Blog removed the ability to truly do this for security reasons. This means, all that hard work and valuable content you created, never gets to do the SEO job it was really intended to do. Your blog content will never help to show Google a clear path to your website, because it will never actually be on your website.

A self-hosted blog can move freely and your growing business needs this type of flexibility.

If you are a small business with an externally hosted blog, it’s not the end of the world. The process of migrating all your content to a self-hosted blog platform is fairly straightforward. However, it’s definitely worth having someone that knows what they’re doing assist you to ensure everything is done properly to maintain your SEO rankings.

So, what’s the best way for a small business to start a blog? Here’s what we recommend:

• Purchase a domain name.
• Purchase hosting.
• Install the self-hosted version of WordPress (Free) or other content management system.
• Pick a free theme.
• Start blogging!

Later, if your business is as successful as we hope it is, you’ll be laughing at how easy it is to expand online.

Collaborative Haus Marketing is a full-service marketing company in Ontario serving Midland, Penetanguishene, Barrie, Orillia, Parry Sound, Toronto, and surrounding areas. We’re a group of committed, honest, creative and knowledgeable professionals determined to build solutions that help your business succeed. We believe small, medium and big businesses deserve the same caliber of professionalism, quality of service and exceptional results.
Contact us today! Our first meeting is always free!