Using Weblogs as a Promotional Tool

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by Peter Cooper

If you use the Web a lot, then chances are good that you've probably read a weblog or two on your travels, even if you didn't realize it. In this article I'm going to cover what a weblog is, how it could be useful to your business, and give you some pointers on how to make your own.

What are Weblogs?

There's a debate over the exact definition of 'weblog,' but let me put it simple terms. A weblog is a Web site updated on a regular basis with posts about the author's life or links to interesting Web sites they've seen. As such, weblogs reflect what people are interested in and not what big corporations such as Yahoo! want you to see. Weblogs are giving thousands of people the vehicle to practice their right to freedom of speech.

It's not all 'I went to see my mother yesterday' or 'Look at this movie of someone jumping out of a window!' though. There are a number of commercial weblogs, such as the popular tech forum SlashDot.org. Most of the best weblogs are run by groups of volunteers such as memepool or perfect.co.uk

Many of the more popular sites claim to have a 'mini-slashdot effect' which is when they link to a site and thousands of visitors deluge a normally quiet Web server. Of course, not everyone can have an influence as powerful as this, but you don't need to. There are lots of brilliant weblogs that only receive a trickle of visitors each day, and many webloggers actually prefer a smaller niche audience.