Blogs are the ultimate in “sticky websites”

While your 3 year old’s sticky fingers aren’t necessarily a good thing, a stick web site is. A sticky web site is one that visitors spend time exploring. The more time a visitor spends at your web site, the more likely he or she is to return or make contact with you. Isn’t that why you published a web site in the first place?

Marketing specialists all agree that it takes approximately 6 to 8 contacts from you (whether it be via email, snail mail or phone call) before your prospect will turn into a client.

There are lots of “tools” you can install on your web site to make it more “sticky”… but the positively most effective stickiness tool for any coaching practice is a blog.

The “beautiful” thing about blog stickiness is it’s YOUR insights… YOUR vision…. YOUR blog posts that keep visitors coming back for more.

Many blog “gurus” will tell you that RSS is the reason for a blog. Unfortunately, RSS (which stands for Really Simply Syndication” is not a widely adopted practice… YET!  For that reason, it’s not reason in and of itself to launch a blog.  (Don’t worry… there are lots of GREAT reasons to launch a blog for your coaching practice.  It’s just the ability to deliver RSS is NOT one of them!)

In an effort to raise awareness of what RSS and how you can use it in your daily life, the Daily Blog Tips has announced it’s sponsoring RSS Awareness Day.
RSS Awareness Day

Believe me, I’m ALL for 100% adoption of RSS feeds.  However, when someone like Chris Garret says he’s adding an email newsletter subscription to supplement his RSS feeds, I think we all should sit up a listen.

Chris is very “tech savvy” and as a tech savvy user, he has chosen Aweber to deliver his email newsletter.  However, if you’re not tech savvy, you may find the learning curve at Aweber to be steep.

That’s why I recommend Marketer’s Choice for my “less than tech savvy” clients.

  • First, the live support with Marketer’s Choice is TOP NOTCH.
  • Second, they provide TONS of online videos which make calls to live support very rare indeed.  If you use the link in this post, well… it’s an affiliate link but it also gives you a first month free bonus that you won’t get if you visit the site directly.

The secret to “sticky”…. lots of good quality content… and then remind them that your blog is still there with an email newsletter.

If you’re still fuzzy on the difference between the two… your blog lives “online”.  The content you post there is indexed by the search engines just like a “traditional” static HTML web site.  The big difference between a blog and a web site is how EASY it is to add fresh content to your blog.  This ability to easily add and edit content is the BASIS of the “magic of blogs”.

Your blog will serve as a “sign up point” for your coaching newsletter.  It’s where the sign up form will live so people can sign up to get your email newsletter.   When you SEND your email newsletter, unless you also post that content on your blog, that content will not be available to the search engines for search.

RSS is a way for people to sign up for your blog’s content without sharing their email address.  Less than 10% of web users even KNOW what RSS is.  Some day, RSS will be a great reason to launch a blog.  Until then, a blog is a great “sticky” website.  One that allows you to communicate with potential clients BEFORE they pick up the phone and call.  For that reason alone, you should have a coaching blog.

Posted by | Filed Under Blog Basics, Blogs As Marketing Tools, Web Basics 

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