So many questions: Adrian, I have recently put an ERP software WordPress blog on my site and have employed a few blog writers, each putting 2 or 3 posts per week up.  I feel foolish for spending so much time and money on a blog.  It is just that the so-called SEO and Social Media "experts" are telling me I should do it.  Does having an ERP software blog really help to attract new customers?  If so, should I syndicate the same articles to my LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages?  Should the articles have anchor text linking back to my site?  How can I make my blogs more effective so I don't waste time and money?  What is this I hear about the importance of guest blogging?  Why would an ERP software Value-Added-Reseller (VAR) want to guest blog on a ERP software community blog?  Isn't that just helping out my competitors?  Why would I want to help my competitors on a community ERP software blog?

Answer:  Larry, an ERP software blog on your own website can definitely help for SEO and your ERP software social presence.  However, a blog sitting alone on your site will have less SEO impact than if you also participate on a blog community site.  The way to maximize your blog's SEO potential is to have other people share your blog by referencing it on their site or through social media conversations with a link back to your ERP software blog.  This works the same for any page on your website when it is shared.  Readers will often reference your material if they find it useful to help them serve information to customers or make their point on their websites or in social media conversations. The content should be relevant and compelling enough for people to want to share it with others.  

Beware of Duplicate Content and Marketers Who Sell Canned Blogs 

I don't recommend duplicating your content anywhere else.  You can be penalized by the search engines for duplicate content.  I do recommend syndicating the content through as many social media profiles as possible since this is not the same as duplicate content.  If your content is syndicated through social media, it is always attributed to the original source.  You may have heard that Google would soon be looking at penalizing content that is put up for purely SEO reasons i.e. put up for the sake of putting it up.  I believe the search engines will use social signals to weed out the good blogs from the superficial blogs published purely for SEO.  I recommend publishing link worthy and shareable content. If you have great content but no social signals your blog may suffer. The goal is to get people to discuss your topics in social media rather than push them out to social crowds that don't care.  

I have worked with ERP software resellers in a sales and marketing capacity since 1997 and it is my experience most ERP software resellers would love to write a check to make their marketing headache disappear.  Many do not believe in marketing and do not allocate time or resources to blogging.  Many do believe in marketing and do allocate resources to blogging.  The ERP software VARS who do allocate resources to blogging often sell much more ERP software than those who don't.

The Best ERP Software Customers Buy From ERP Value-Added-Resellers (VARS) They Trust

It is my experience the best ERP software customers are customers who buy ERP software from ERP value-added-resellers (VARS) they trust.   In order to build trust it takes understanding of the customers need.  In order to understand the customers need an ERP software VAR builds the relationship on their experience and knowledge.  My recommendation to the ERP software VAR is to write your own blogs on community blogs sharing the same target market.  These blogs will tend to have higher readership and are more likely to get shared.  This way the ERP software VAR doesn't have the burden of writing a new blog daily instead they share the burden with other ERP software VARS.  It is the ERP software VAR's intellectual property and experience the customer ultimately buys.  

If no one sees your blog no one will link to it and if no one sees it or links to it you are wasting your time.  If there are opportunities to guest blog on more well known blogs, I recommend linking back to your blog when available.  You will not only receive the high page rank link you are seeking back to your blog, in addition, you will receive more audience who can potentially share your blog with their social networks.  I have read social sharing sends signals to the search engines to indicate that your content is credible and newsworthy.  If a community blog has many subscribers it is possible for you to attract those same subscribers by indicating a link back to your website within the guest blog you write.  If you are just starting to blog or starting to get more active with writing your blog I recommend getting in front of a wider audience to get more exposure.  If you are looking for SEO you will need those inbound links.  To get the most BANG for your BLOG you will need a following.   Happy Holidays and Happy Blogging!