Wired editor Chris Anderson coined the term “the long tail” in his 2004 book of the same name. Anderson hit upon one of the best reasons you should be publishing a business blog: the long tail. In the book, Anderson talks about the way information is sought on the Internet. The “long tail” refers to the effective use of specific keywords to improve search engine placement, and the benefit of using them to describe your site versus the more generic, but less helpful terms that are already overcrowded. That’s something you can build on as a business owner, and you should take advantage of the long tail whenever and wherever possible.

The long tail enables you to reach people in a very specific niche. The more specific and narrow your search terms are, the more likely you are to lead the precise consumers you’re searching for directly to your site. You also don’t have to direct your message at the masses anymore. You can direct your message at a specific audience of people who want to hear it. The instant availability of highly specific information and the ease with which it can be found are two reasons consumers like doing business on the Internet so much.

One reason you should like the long tail is that it puts your small business on equal footing with larger businesses, especially when you use a business blog. You can compete effectively with large corporations, chains or well-established businesses in your niche that are otherwise able to outspend you on traditional advertising. Your business blog can also open up markets that are geographically distant and that you would not otherwise have access to.

You should also like the business blog’s ability to reach out to consumers and potential consumers, and allow them to make a personal connection to your business. Forming consumer relationships is crucial both to conversion and long-term retention strategies. This is a blog’s “sweet spot” and you should make sure your business is positioned to take advantage of it.

Photo Credit: Christa Richert

Tags: adi, advertising, blog, blogging, Business, consumers, content, conversion, corporations, hr, im, IT, keywords, optimization, PR, RSS, search, sse

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Business Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.