Home is where the heart is. Your blog, like your small business website, needs to have a home that has been clearly thought out. In my opinion, your blog should either be your website’s front page, or your website’s main attraction. But there are other options.

Depending on the platform you choose to have your blog run on, you may decide to have your small business blog completely separate from your main website. You may also choose to have it be a low key addition to your website. It really depends on your business, but by putting your blog front and center, you gain the benefits of increased search engine rankings and more targeted traffic to your website.

What you need to think about before deciding on a home for your small business blog – You have three main options for finding a home for your blog:

• Use the blog as your website or its front page
• Use the blog as the main attraction of your website
• Host your blog somewhere other than your website and treat them as two separate entities

What are the advantages of each? – Each option has its own benefit. See below for the one that will gain you the most leverage with your prospects:

• By using your blog as your website or front page, you are guaranteed that your posting efforts will bring you better search engine rankings, as well as a high level of repeat visitors enabling you to tell your story over time
• By using your website as the main attraction to your website, you are able to clearly state your business goals and products or services, as well as bring targeted traffic from your blog to your site
• By hosting your blog somewhere other than on your main website, you double your online presence and keep potentially damaging editorial content away from your main website

Which is best for your needs? – Depending on your business and your blogging goals, each option may be the best for your needs:

• If you are planning on building a community around your products or services, you will very likely want to build your blog as your website or as its front page
• If your business relies on the sales copy of your website to sell your products or services, but want to add value to your site with your blog, you will probably want to build your blog as the main feature to your website
• If you plan on using controversy to build traffic, you may want to keep your blog separate from your website

The true value of a blog is to bring consistent traffic to your website and keep your products, services and brand in the forefront. If you plan on maintaining a consistent posting schedule for your blog, you are best off making your blog a major feature of your website. By doing so, you will bring the conversation to the arena you have the most control over - your online storefront.

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