Blogging can be a great way to build your online business. Don’t know what blogging is or what a blog looks like? Well, if you’re reading this, you’re on one right now. A blog is basically an online journal where you can share your thoughts and ideas with others, or in this case, expertise.

Blogs can be setup as a website, meaning the blog is the website, or if you already have a website, you can install a blog on your site making your site even more powerful. There are several advantages to having a blog on your website.

Advantage One: Google

Google loves content. Google ranks content very high. Provide relevant and fresh content on a regular basis. Post to your blog at least two or three times a week, if not more. The point here is to keep it updated on an on-going basis.

Advantage Two: Branding

Blogging allows you to brand yourself as an expert in your field. Keep your posts on-topic and relevant to the subject of your blog. Build credibility with your readers and give them a reason to come back.

Advantage Three: Connecting

A blog allows you to connect with your readers on a more personal level. With the use of commenting you can interact with others. Blogging is a more personal approach to online business practices and is sometimes a better way to market and promote what you have to offer. Make sure to create an “About Me” page that includes information about yourself. Remember to add a personal touch to your blog. Build trust with your readers.

Advantage Four: Promoting

Blogging is a great way to promote products and services. You can sign up for affiliate programs and post banners on your blog. This is just one way to monetize the traffic that your blog receives, assuming it’s getting traffic. A blog can allow you to promote anything you want. I would recommend promoting products or services related to the topic of your blog. Get a Google Adsense account and place Adsense ads on your blog for extra income as well.

Here are some blogging essentials:

1. Make sure to use an RSS feed that your readers can easily subscribe to. I recommend FeedBurner.com.
2. Make your blog a “DoFollow” blog so that your readers will want to leave comments on your posts.
3. Use WordPress as your blogging platform to take advantage of the SEO benefits.
4. Install social bookmarking plugins for your WordPress blog.
5. Install CommentLuv and KeywordLuv for your WordPress blog.
6. Actively promote your blog!

Be sure to check out my Blogging Resources for more links and information on blogging.

P.S. Since I’ve started this WordPress blog, my posts are getting idexed almost instantly by Google! That’s the true power of WordPress in action.

Have you ever wondered what all websites are linking to you? Or maybe you would like to know who all is using your articles. Maybe you want to know who is mentioning your name on their blog or website.

Keeping tabs on your name and domain are a great way to see who all uses your content, is talking about you, etc.

Here are some tools to help you do just that:

URLFan.com – Enter your website and see every blog that is linking to your website. Results are in real time and the content is cultivated through the millions of RSS feeds. Your website is ranked and given a number based on every other website. Go see where your website ranks in the blogosphere! This will also provide the content in which bloggers are using to link to you. Very handy, little tool.

Google Alerts – You don’t need a Google Account for this, but I suggest you get one anyway if you don’t yet have one. It’s fast and easy and well worth it for many different reasons. Here’s how Google Alerts works. Enter a search term that you want to receive alerts for. Enter your email address where you want the alerts to be sent. If you’re signed in this will be the email account associated with your Google Account. Any time a reference is made to the search term you entered, you will be emailed alerts for every instance of the term.

Here’s an example: My search terms I use are “Alan Mater” and “http://www.replaceyoursalary.com.” So, every time my name or domain name is mentioned, I receive an alert with a link to the web page that those terms are on. This helps me find out who is talking about me or linking to my website.

These two resources are great if you write articles because you will be able to find out who is using them and posting them on their website or blog.

If you’re not yet keeping tabs on yourself, you should be. It’s quick and easy, and you may just be surprised at the results.