Blog software

Be smarter about how you market online

Thursday, November 5, 2009 by Brian Millis

Here is a great post from Seth Godin about online ad clicks. My favorite quote is:

"It's okay to make an ad that isn't easy to measure. If it works, that's enough."

Essentially, this is what every business blog post can be. What other form or online marketing allows you to tell your story from a very human level? As Seth says, the 84% of non-clickers online are looking to make a connection. So use the corporate blog as a way to build familiarity and attention.

This is why we have clients who enjoy over a 10% conversion rate on their Call to Action off of their blog page! People like to buy from people and a blog marketing strategy allows you to take advantage of this MAJORITY of searchers. The stats that Seth discusses in his post also point to why winning organic traffic is so much more valuable (in the majority of cases) than paid search.

Of course, we feel your blog SHOULD be optimized for clicks, but the human nature of a blog works much better for those 84% of non-clickers. Our corporate blogging software makes content creation easy and maximizes its visibility online. With Compendium, you can get in front of that majority of search and use good content to increase conversion.

Proof that brick and mortar purchases begin online.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Megan Glover

Our refrigerator went kaputs last week. After debating whether to fix or toss we decided to purchase a new one.

So, into a cooler all of our food went and our appliance shopping began. But, before we even stepped foot into an appliance store, I searched. I knew I wanted, a stainless steel refrigerator no larger than 20.6 cu ft,and 33 inches wide. (Small spaces in a house built in 1938!) I also wanted a good deal.

My search returned some great qualified results and I was really pleased to see a Compendium client, HHGregg, among the contenders. HH Gregg is a home appliance store that uses our blogging software to target keyword in organic search.

After an hour or so of "window" shopping online we'd identified a handful of refrigerators we wanted to see in person. We jumped in the car, went to the store, and within 45 minutes we had our brand new refrigerator paid for and scheduled for delivery the next morning.

While it was painful to incur an unexpected cost of a new refrigerator, my buying experience (thanks to search) was absolutely not. I'm just one "real-life" example as to how consumers are using search engines to find solutions to their problems. As a marketer... please make sure you follow HHGregg's lead, and be the solution I find.

Demonstrating your point

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Stephanie West

The best way to know how something works is to just listen and learn about it. Professors do this all the time. They stand in from of a classroom and lecture. How effective is lecturing though? Personally, I don't respond well to lectures. I just don't comprehend everything that's being said when a professor stands in from of a classroom and talks.

I need professors to show me what they're talking about. I need a professor to demonstrate his/her point to me.

Demonstrate your point.

It's one of the most effective ways to get the other party to comprehend and fully understand what is being discussed. Both audio and visual aids are the components that make your point most effectively communicated.

Compendium understands this - we offer demonstrations of our product so that you can better understand the software that we offer. Compendium's demos are designed with visual aids that you can view on your computer screen as a blogging expert is talking to you on the phone.

In the demonstrations, the blogging experts at Compendium outline how our blogging software will help you leverage your company in search marketing.

So don't hesitate - schedule a demo today to get a better understanding of what Compendium has to offer, and how your company will benefit!

Exciting Product Release to Preview your Blog Post within Your Template

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Abby Brosmer

This morning, Compendium proudly released the ability to preview your blog post within your live blog template. Prior to today,when creating post as a user the options available were to save as a draft, submit my post to the administrator for moderation or preview the post in new window to ensure video worked properly.

Today, when a user selects preview post, they will now view their content as it would appear live on the web. A nice enhancement to our easy to use blogging software which allows users an extra reassurance that their content will represent the company well on the corporate blog.

As a member of the product support team, we are always working to request enhancements to the product that will enhance each users experience and provide the best blogging software to our clients.

If you have a suggestion, fill our the web form and we will add it to our product log for enhancements. Yes, these enhancements are prioritized by customer request, so every vote matters.

Pros and Cons of Compendium Substance Abuse Training 2K9

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by mikey mioduski

When I first heard that Compendium employees were undergoing a mandatory Substance Abuse Training session, I was initially filled with rage. Maybe not rage. Maybe fury. No, fury's probably an exaggeration too. How about this, I was slightly distraught.

I was initially slightly distraught because I'm 26 years into my life. While today is the oldest I've ever been, tomorrow I will be one day closer to my late twenties, which is daringly close to what I call the point of no return. Sure I tested my limits in college, and grad school, but how am I supposed to know the effects of substance abuse on my professional life if I can't bring them to work with me?

Having said that, I believe in the power of optimism. My scotch glass is always half full, so I tried to keep an open and limber mind, and yesterday, when the nice woman from Management 2000 came and explained why Substance Abuse at the work place sucks, I really tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.

The training session changed my whole perspective. It turns out substance abuse at work is not cool at all. Plus, Compendium is growing like crazy. Our simple blogging software is helping tons of clients get found in organic search. In fact, we are doing such a good job that we won a very large grant. And part of keeping that grant means that we must abide by certain concessions, ie we can't be hammered all day at work.

So here's my list of Pros and Cons in regards to Compendium becoming a Drug and Alcohol free workplace. You will see that my initial rage / fury / distress can be quelled, because the pro's seem to outnumber the cons.

Cons:

no in house blogging for liquor incentives. ask Megan Manning who is our blogging czar... it works.
no more kegerator.
no more of Brian Graham's home brewed beer
no pregaming for the bus ride home

Pros:

no drunken sales calls to the clients that "got away."
turns out a lot of work related deaths are attributed to substance abuse. we will have none of that.
the elevators here are pretty old. not sure how substance abuse plays into that, but if you happened to be on crack or acid, and an elevator got stuck, your bruce willis-like instincts might betray you.
not everyone drinks alcohol, so these non drinkers wont feel left out of anything
kanye west
we get to keep that awesome grant. come on!
we get to make more field trips for any substance induced fun.
more fridge space for... food?
research indicates that that people have to make up for colleagues who abuse drugs and booze, and we have enough work to do as it is.
we don't want an *asterisk next to our name in the SAAS hall of fame as the best business blogging software, or best search marketing tool with aid of Captain Morgan, or heroin. no way. we did this the right way.
nobody really drank out of the kegerator anyway. can i take that home?

The pro's have it. Downtown Indy won't be the same, but overall it's a change for the best. And congrats again to Compendium for winning the grant, truly awesome news.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 by Allison Bowen

Today I officially feel old. Okay, okay, I know 23 is not very old... But STIL

L! 23 is one of those ages that I've always considered to be "old." And now here it is, already! Wow does time fly by!

One thing I know for sure is that birthday wishes today are nothing like they used to be. When I was a kid, I might have a few friends at school tell me happy birthday if they happened to remember the right day. I might even get a birthday cake on our class calendar with my name on it.

But at age 23 I can officially say that I've received the most birthday wishes I have ever received. Is this because I now have so many more friends? Well, maybe in part. However, the more likely scenario is that there are now so many more social media avenues in which friends can offer me well wishes. Facebook provides everyone with my exact birth date; meaning it's just after 4pm and I've already received 56 wall posts. One friend Twitters "Happy Birthday @alliebb44" and all the sudden all my Twitter followers are retweeting the sentiments. Times have certainly changed!

Is your company up to date with this new world of social media? One great place to start is with a corporate blog. With Compendium's easy to use blog software you can quickly and easily write a post that relates to your clients and gives them an insight to your company, which can in turn lead to search engine optimization and sales.

So why not give it a try? Give us a call here at Compendium today!

Keep It Simple

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 by Lee Jorgenson

When considering whether or not your company is going to use a blogging solution for search marketing, keep it simple. It's easy to get side-tracked talking about fancy plug-ins and all of the bells and whistles and end up losing sight of what you are trying to accomplish. Oftentimes, businesses can get so caught up with shiny widgets that they compromise the end goal.

Choose a simple blogging software that focuses on what really matters. Stick to your guns on the end results, and don't get lost in the weeds. While slick plug-ins might whet your appetite for tech-toys, they don't necessarily put food dollars in your pocket.

"Real" Blogging

Monday, November 2, 2009 by Allison Bowen

Many people think that in order to write a blog post, you need to a be a subject matter expert. We at Compendium know that this is just not the case. In fact, in order to blog for business all you really need to do is blog! Using our powerful blogging software to write a post, you can get you the search results you are looking for.

We often get the question "Who should be blogging for my company?" Our answer? Any one you empower with an e-mail address you should also empower with a blog. Every person in your company has a story to tell and they should be given the opportunity to tell it!

Take for example students at M.I.T. According to an Oct. 1, 2009 article in the New York Times titled M.I.T. Taking Student Blogs to Nth D

egree, these student bloggers are free to write about whatever they want. One blogger even writes that she was "bored out of her mind" in a class. While this may seem like bad publicty for the school, it's really not. It's a real thought from a real student. This is what your readers will be most interested in.

Your readers will appreciate the posts where your writers offer up their advice or suggestions and they'll enjoy posts of cute stories. But they'll really get into posts were your writers tell exactly what is going on within your company. A product recall? A down quarter? Blog about it! Explain the issue, how it occured and how your company is working to fix the problem. Blog posts should be an area in which you can "get real" with your readers.

So go ahead, let your employees blog about anything they want! Who knows - it could even end up in the New York Times!

Common Mistakes in Blogging (#2)

Monday, November 2, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

Recently I started writing about common mistakes we see when a company begins a blog marketing program. To continue with the series, I wanted to discuss the expectations regarding the amount and frequency of content generation.

(2nd in a series of 5)

Common Mistake #2:

This is one of the most common misconceptions we see with new clients, is the understanding of how a search marketing effort becomes effective. When looking at our most successful clients, it is when they continue to fuel their content machine, and frequently put out new blog posts.

Think about blogs that you read on a regular basis - how often do they publish content? Typically it is multiple times per week, and is on a scheduled basis. So that you as the reader begin to count on when you'll see new information. Same story with the web crawlers - the frequency that your network creates content will train the crawlers to come back and crawl your site more frequently and see you as an authoritative answer.

Answer:

Blogging on a regular basis is a hard habit to get into, but similar to going to the gym, once you get in the routine you'll find that it is an enjoyable experience, and the results will encourage you along the way. Get other individuals at your company to help write content, so that not one person is shouldering the load.

Also, with our easy to use blog software and post scheduling feature, you'll be able to schedule when a blog post shows live to the web, so that if you aren't able to put content out everyday, you'll at least look like you are! ;)

Remember that anything can be good blog fodder so talk about that great conversation you had with a client, or a new product that's coming out, or a recent article in your industry and how your company plays a role.

(Common Mistake #1)

Will blog for Candy

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

Candy, pizza, milkshakes, paid time off, movies during lunch, happy hour drinks, cash... etc, etc. You name it - our blogging administrator has done it. Incentive programs that is. At Compendium all it really takes is a little friendly competition or incentives to get employees to blog. Take me for example: I am not a dedicated blogger. Typically, my name is used when referring to the idea that you "can't appoint bloggers". However, tonight, a Saturday night on Halloween, I am blogging. (and passing out candy to cute tricker treaters from the big bag of candy on the right).

Powerful blogging software needs lots and lots of content to be successful and sometimes its just takes the right type of motivation for each person to become a dedicated blogger. What did I need, you ask? What drives me to blog at 9:00 PM on Saturday night is that it is now part of my job. Each month every blogger on the client success team has a set number of blog posts they need to write. This isn't a huge number - 10-13 posts is all. But knowing that it is part of my job, keeps me motivated to get to that number.

Every day I am talking with blogging administrators on how to keep their bloggers motivated, and sometimes it just takes a little trial and error to find out what motivates the blogging team. Talk with your Compendium Client Success manger today about some ideas for your own blogging program.

Compendium's Newest Client

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

Just yesterday Julie Murphy signed on Compendium's newest client, Western River Expedition.

I for one am super excited about our newest client and am lucky enough to become their client success manager. As a kayaker, mountain biker, rock climber and former river guide myself I love that an outdoor company is taking advantage of powerful blogging software.

Western River Expeditions has a dedicated blog program administrator (which we all know is the one of the biggest success factors for a great blog for search engine optimization), a very forward thinking owner and exciting subject matter to blog about!

Stay tuned for some of Western River Expedition's success stories in the coming months!

Great Blogging Templates

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

New clients coming on board with Compendium are always wondering if they can see some of our best-looking templates . Obviously, "best" is a relative term - and when I say best I mean a template that has great calls-to-action, high conversion rates and high read times. Here are some of the templates that I send new clients to:

CVENT Web Survey Software
CVENT Event Management
Lydia's Uniforms
Roto Rooter
ExactTarget
Widen

Each of these blogs has a great design that follows blogging best practice and makes it easy for the searcher to take the next step with the company. A blog for business should highlight the company's' brand and give the searcher in each stage of the buying process a possible next step. If you'd like to learn more about how to update your blog software template, email us at help@compendium.com!

A trip to visit GK Elite

Saturday, October 31, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

This coming Tuesday I will be heading out to visit one of my favorite clients at GK Elite, Andrew Foss. GK Elite, who sells competitive gymnastics leotards, is about to celebrate their one year

anniversary as a Compendium client so I figured that I would head out to Reading, Pennsylvania (my home state) to meet up with Andrew in person.

The GK Elite blog has paid for itself a few times over and continues to grow every day. One week the blog even produces over $10,000 in sales - in ONE WEEK! A few weeks back we even added a second blog to the network - cheer.gkelite.com.

During this trip I hope to really dive into the GK Elite statistics, ROI, and overall sauces of the program. We know that GK Elite is a very successful client and I cant wait to hear more stories of how a blog for search engine optimization has turned the up the amount of search traffic and what the sales have been over the past year. I will follow up after my trip with great numbers of how easy to use blog software has impacted the company.

The Backbone to a Corporate Blogging Strategy

Saturday, October 31, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

If there is one thing that makes a powerful blogging software even more powerful its a great

blogging administrator. The main job of a blogging administrator is to approve and decline the blog content submitted by the company bloggers. But a great blogging administrator does much more. A great blogging administrator typically does the following as well:

1.) motivates the team of bloggers daily with new ideas
2.) develops incentive programs for the bloggers
3.) understands exactly how to track the success of the blog program back to a clear ROI
4.) is also a blogger and contributes daily to the blog
5.) is personally excited and motivated by the blog program
6.) understands blogging best practices and enforces those with the bloggers.

A great blogging administrator can be the difference between a good and a great blog for search engine optimization.

Blogging and Success

Friday, October 30, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

In the Client Success department we are always monitoring how our clients are doing, and measuring their success. Every network that is set up with Compendium's powerful blogging software is set up with analytics that we are able to share with our customers in order to keep the ultimate goal in mind - return on investment/driving lead generation and sales.

We work hard to help show our clients the success of their blog program, but we are able to see even more results when our clients understand the marathon type success with a blog program.

When looking at our most successful clients we see a few characteristics that are involved with each program - does your blog program have the following?

Dedicated Program Owner- someone who is tied to the success of a program and will work with their bloggers to stay motivated
Tracking - the company has tracking in place in order to see the a visitor from the blog through to conversion

For more information on how to add our powerful blogging software to your marketing's SEO tools, schedule a demo today!

A Good Rule of Thumb For Content Creation

Friday, October 30, 2009 by Jess Wehner

Many clients wonder how much content it will take to start receiving traffic on their keywords - and the answer we most often tell them is you can never write enough! But the truth is, depending on the keywords you are targeting - it could take writing content to each of those keyword phrases as much as one time a day. When you decide to go after words organically, it takes a bit more work than targeting them via a pay per click campaign.

Using Compendium as your business blog software is only the first step in a great SEO strategy. Writing frequent, relevant content is the next step. I found a great post that gives one person's opinion on how much content you can actually expect to write: SEO Copywriting Frequency. Ian Lurie says to look at the competitiveness of the term, and then gives this scale for how much content you should be producing based on the number of competing pages showing up when you search for that term in Google:

<10,000 competing pages: Write once a week.
10,001-100,000 competing pages: Write twice a week.
100,001-200,000 competing pages: Write three times a week.
200,001-2,000,000 competing pages: Write every day.

Keep in mind, these theory applies to each keyword - so if you are targeting 100 keywords, you need to write a lot of content! (You can see why we just tell people to write as much as possible).

Fortunately, Compendium gives each of your posts the biggest bang for your buck, pulling each post out to several different pages based on the number of keywords you use. So instead of having to write 100 posts a day for 100 keywords, our software will take 1 post and put it towards 2-5 keywords (or however many you target). For more information on exactly how our software works, view a demo with one of our business development managers.

Blog Platform Updates

Friday, October 30, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

At Compendium we are consistently striving to make our corporate blogging software more efficient and user friendly as we can. Therefore making it easy to use blog software that allows any size company, in any vertical to incorporate into their online marketing strategy.

As part of this mission, our development team has on average a new release every week, with enhancements to our platform. This week's release is an enhancement to a a previous release we had that allowed admins on a blog network to manage their keywords and select which ones they wanted their users to focus on.

This feature in our platform allows the network as a whole to keep focused on keywords that are relative to their business and as they continue to generate content, will drive search traffic that will convert into new leads for their business.

Compendium is excited about this new feature and looks forward to the enhancements to come. If you have an idea, request, or enhancement that you'd like to submit - contact your Client Success Manager and we'll get it to our Dev Team!

Explaining Compendium to Friends

Friday, October 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

I have always loved the fall season. Football, changing leaves, chilly fall days... and HALLOWEEN! What's better than that?! Despite the fact that I'm now an adult, I still find it fun to dress up and go out on the town. This year, my friends and I decided that our own little Halloween night was just what we needed. Of course this meant that we had to carve pumpkins.

I am one of the lucky individuals who is still best friends with their high school friends; last night's Halloween party was with girls that I have known since kindergarten. As we all sat around reminiscing about the past, our conversations quickly turned to what we are doing know. One friend is a hairdresser, one works for a local health company, two are in grad school.... and then there is me. How do I explain what my company does?

"Oh that's easy," I always say. "We provide the best blogging software for search engine optimization." That's the point at which I always get blank stares.

Compendium's product is really quite easy when you think about it. By writing blog posts, you are able to increase your company's position within Google's rankings for certain keywords. Does your company sell bicyles in Indianapolis? You would probaby want your company to appear first when someone searches for "Indianapolis Bicycles" within Google. Our product helps you do just that! Of course there is a bit more to it, but overall, Compendium helps your company rise to the top of search results through blogging.

Announcing Compendium Client Training!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by Allison Bowen

Well folks, it's here! That's right... I'm proud to announce the release of Compendium User and Administrator Live Training Webinars! Your best blogging software just got better! The trainings will be coming to you live from 55 Monument Circle and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday.

On Tuesdays, user training will take place at 2:00pm, followed by administrator training at 2:30pm. The live webinars on Thursdays will take place at 10:00am for users and 10:30am for administrators.

Accessing the live webinars is very easy. You'll simply need to join the "Go-To-Meeting" session by clicking on the following link at the time given above.

User Training

Admin Training

Who should attend these trainings? Anyone! If you are writing a blog for your business through Compendium's blogging software, we would love to have you attend. Please note, you will be asked to tell us your company name, so you must be a client of Compendium's.

If you would like to learn how to operate our system or would simply like to learn some new tips and tricks, please feel free to join in on the fun! I look forward to training you soon!