Blog for trade site??

[thekitchendesigner]

My site & services are business to business, providing design services to those in the kitchen, bedroom & bathroom industry.

the site is being re-designed for 2006 and i am wondering whether to add a link to my blog (set one up a while back, but only used it for a couple of things).

i am thinking i could use the blog to post kitchen projects recently worked on, and to generally extend the portfolio section to something i can update regularly.

i could also post articles, trade info, and news of anything new i am introducing, or events i am taking part in etc etc

my question is, would such a blog be good/useful on a site that is dedicated to the trade??

interested in your thoughts........

[JustOneUK]

in my opinion blogs and business should not mix.
Your business should create revenue/conversions in a few clicks...why add to the confusion. If you add a portfolio to your site that would be more than enough.

[uksbc]

i always try to advise clients to incorporate things like this.

interactivity on websites is so much more important than it used to be.

anything that gets your users to come back to your site is vital.

anyone can put pics on a site and say "i am the best at this" but to show the evoloution of your business and projects through blogs or forums builds a lot more credibility into your service and people are more inclined to work with you

i hope this makes sense - i know what i am trying to say but i am not being too eloquent today :D

[thekitchendesigner]

just one uk: thanks for your comments. i can see your angle on that. i was thinking of a blog for an extended portfolio as i get through a lot of projects and thought it would be good to have a way to update things, especially if i take on a large or unusual project, rather than asking my web guy to change the portfolio so often. do you not think having something extra on the site will get more people talking about it (as there isnt really any design blog for this industry?)

uksbc: also thanks for your comments. what you are saying does make perfect sense! i was kind of thinking along these lines too. there are many interactive elements to the website (live viewing, upload, skype) and thought blog should be another goodun!

[WelshPixels]

If you have a personal blog and company blog you should have the best of both worlds.

[DarrenC]

I was going to create a blog for my main website, but decided to create a new domain, and create a blog and forum to 1) assist clients and holidaymakers 2) gain some income which can be put back into the main business 3) raise the profile of my main business and increase my reputation within the industry.

[JustOneUK]

just one uk: thanks for your comments. i can see your angle on that. i was thinking of a blog for an extended portfolio as i get through a lot of projects and thought it would be good to have a way to update things, especially if i take on a large or unusual project, rather than asking my web guy to change the portfolio so often. do you not think having something extra on the site will get more people talking about it (as there isnt really any design blog for this industry?)


if you keep it as an extension to your portfolio then it sounds ok...

you could have a standard portfolio on your site with a link to 'extended portfolio. It's just blogs and mindless banter that come to mind. 8)

[thekitchendesigner]

it would really be only for an extended portfolio. i would have a certain amount on the site, then have more on the blog.

this would also give me the opportunity to put any photos (as well as CAD pics) as i also do private jobs (save mixing pics on main portfolio). the only other thing i have thought about putting there is any feature articles, events etc that i have published or recognised (as a record for peops to read and marvel!)