When your hear “Internet presence” you may think “web site.” But more and more business owners are finding that the most effective and economical way to establish contact with potential customers is by blogging. The CEOs of Sun Microsystems, Craig’s List, Working Mother Media, and Adobe are just three of an increasing number of major companies with CEOs whose blogs about business are winning raves. But blogging can be even more effective for smaller companies, notes Anita Campbell, editor of Smallbiztrends.com, who says a blog “is one of the best public relations and marketing tools out there for a small business owner.” Still wondering how posting your opinions online can help your company? Here are five ways blogging can boost your business.  

Get Noticed. It’s a little known fact: search engines love blogs. Google and other search engines rank listings by link popularity, freshness of content, and ease of indexing—all of which mesh well with the features built into blogging software. “Search engines love fresh content,” says Campbell. “If you write only once a week, that’s 50 updates a year, which is probably a lot more often than you would update a web site.”

Build Your Reputation. There’s no better way to show off your expertise than regularly sharing some of your insights and experiences with a Web audience. “One of my favorite small business blogs is one by Lincoln Sign Company that tells the stories behind some of the signs they’ve made and addresses some of the questions its customers ask most often,” says Campbell. “That’s a more informative and entertaining way to present information than you could ever offer with standard verbiage on a web site.”  

Connect With Customers. Blogs are all about interaction. Blogging software enables viewers to comment on posts, so you’re not just speaking into the Internet ether but opening a dialog. “Creating that conversation in the blogosphere—the community of 40 million-plus bloggers—is essential,” says Darrell Zahorsky, the small business information guide for About.com. “It’s when others post thoughtful comments or link to your blog that you see the most benefit.”

Market Economically. Blogs are far simpler and less expensive than setting up a site. In fact, you can start a blog for free at sites like www.blogger.com and  www.wordpress.com. And even more sophisticated services such as typepad.com can run as little as $29 a month. “Even if you want to go so far as to get a custom design and add on bells and whistles, you can have a wonderful blogging presence for as little as $500 to $1,000 a year,” says Campbell. (Or ceate your blog at workingmother.com)

Get Press. Journalists regularly troll blogs looking for trends and expert sources to interview about them. And, if publishing articles in a trade journal or newspaper is your goal, a blog is a great way to hone your skills and for editors to assess your writing ability.

Engage! Join Working Mother #workmom blog corps. Find out more here.