We live in a day and age where there are so many similar competing companies and organizations that it is hard to break through all of the noise. One of the ways to stick out from the crowd is for your organization to become a hub of information, or source of fresh content about your industry, vertical, or cause. IE its about having a blog.

There are many benefits to having your own blog, some of which include the benefits of SEO (Search engine optimization), being viewed as a knowledgeable opinion leader, having a sticky site that will keep people coming back for more, and being viewed as an organization that gets the overarching concept of the social web “giving to get”.

1. SEO – Google loves blogs. Almost as much as they love taking over the world. Each post that you create on your blog is another chance for you so rank for a specific set of keywords in Google’s search engines results page. The more posts you have the more “tickets” you have entered into Google’s lottery. Quality content only furthers the effects of SEO as people spread your content across the web and all those links pointing to you give Google the thumbs up.
2. Thought Leadership – Being viewed as an opinion leader or the go to webpage for any vertical has enormous benefits. Not only will it help establish your credibility in the space, it will also put possible donors minds at ease, when they see you know what you are doing and their donations will not go to waste.
3. Increase the “stickiness” of your site – Having quality content that is updated regularly (we recommend at least once a week) will keep people engaged and coming back for more. If your site remains dormant for too long people can easily lose interest and more on to the next, that is keeping their stuff fresh.
4. Your dedication will shine through – Having a blog where you write about the happenings within your organization will not only keep people informed but it will also give you an outlet to let your passions for the cause bleed through. When people see how much this cause means to you, their interest is peaked and will see what they can do to get involved.
5. “Giving to Get” – Asking strangers for donations can be a daunting task. In the social media sphere this approach does not work very well. People are much more likely to give if you are proving some sort of value in return, ie your blog’s content. While building up your blog you will be establishing a relationship with your readership and they are much more likely to give if they know who you are before you ask them for anything in return.
6. You need a home base – Having a Facebook fan page, Myspace page, or Youtube account is great! But, These platforms do not allow you the flexibility or customization that the Word press platform allows. The idea is to use all these social media sites to point back to home base, your blog. When they click through to your blog, they will be able to see the broader scope of what your cause is all about.

Remember your blog is like an annuity. Over time as you add more and more content it will become increasingly valuable to your organization and will give your organization a home base on the web, instead of being scattered across the web as social media sites rise and fall in popularity. There are no guarantees that facebook, myspace, linkedin, & twitter will exist or be the go to hot spot of the internet of tomorrow. It is important to view these social media portals as tools and not as a platform to rely on.

If you are interested in having a blog for your cause, we recommend using a self hosted wordpress site. If you have an existing blog on blogger, tumblr, typepad, etc, that’s a good start. We set up self hosted Wordpress sites free of charge for any cause.