Blog for Organization

A Living Breathing Alliteration

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by mikey mioduski

My close colleague and good friend Meghan recently got married to a very cool dude named Ryan. I not only want to congratulate the happy couple, I would like to point out something we recently discovered.

Meghan Manning. Pretty nice name right? A couple M's, a couple AN's.

It get's better.

Meghan Manning recently got promoted from Marketing Coordinator to Marketing Manager. The former Meghan Peters Marketing Coordinator at Compendium Blogware is now Meghan Manning, Marketing Manager at Compendium Blogware.

I couldn't make this up.

But Meghan Manning Marketing Manager is not just a literary or rhetorical stylistic device, she is a smart and savvy search marketer. If you want to get schooled with great tips and ideas on how to motivate a company to blog better, stronger and more frequently, tune into Meghan Manning Marketing Manager's blog, "Why Blogging Matters."

Thanks for all your hard work MMMM and for having such an incredible name.

Post script.

I should also point out that Compendium's Marketing Team is called the M-team for a reason. We only hire people with first names beginning with the letter M. So if your name is Richard or Peggy or something, and you've been thinking about applying for a marketing position with Compendium, you might want to consider going by "Mick" or "Meggy" if you wish to be taken seriously.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

- MM

Keyword Strength Meter: What it Does and What it Does not Do

Monday, November 9, 2009 by P.J. Hinton

Compendium Blogware's post editor features a small widget known as the Keyword Strength Meter (referred to by the development team simply as the "KSM"). It's a display that gives the author a quick indication of the current keyword usage in your post. Starting at a bright red, the appearance will transition to green as keyword phrases are added to the post.

I wrote an introductory post about the KSM soon after it went live in the summer of 2008, and since then it has gone through many changes.

There were revisions to make sure that it was able to compute the score on the fly without imposing too much overhead the host browser.
When we switched editor technologies at the beginning of 2009, we made the code more modular so that it wouldn't be as tightly coupled to the editor that it was monitoring.
Also during the editor revamp, we changed the display to emphasize that the meter is a qualitative measure.
This past summer, after introducing a new moderation dashboard for network administrators, we added a keyword strength meter to the post preview so that network administrators could view the value.

One thing that hasn't changed as our user base has grown is the intense affinity that users have had for the widget. From Sales and Client Success, I have heard stories of users who endured great frustration because they couldn't make their posts turn the right shade of green. I've also heard of network administrators who have rejected posts because they weren't green enough.

As the developer of the original implementation of the KSM and the designer of its scoring algorithm, I think it's important for content authors and network administrators to have an awareness of what the meter measures so that it can be used effectively. I'll also talk about what it can't do for you.

The meter looks at three things in determining its score:

Does the post contain any keyword phrases?
Are the same phrases being used over and over, or is there a variety of keywords being chosen?
Are too many keywords being used relative to the length of the post?

These measures are combined in a way that simultaneously rewards keyword usage and penalizes keyword stuffing, a practice that Compendium discourages because it runs counter to what we are trying to help our clients achieve.

Keyword usage is but one piece of a successful corporate blogging program. Other significant factors include:

Creating Content Steadily -- The primary axis of content organization within a single blog is time. Newer content appears on the lead pages. Older content takes more mouse clicks to reach via pagination. Assuming that search ranking algorithms place greater emphasis pages closer to the root of a URL hierarchy, the new content is what gets the greatest weight. A steady stream of new content ensures that indexers know you're alive and relevant.
Choosing Topics Relevant to the Customer -- If sales of your products fluctuate over time and change of season, you'll probably want to adjust the emphasis of your posts accordingly. Sometimes the keywords you chose initially for your blogging program don't take these topics into account. If you focus too narrowly on the original keywords, you'll wind up creating posts that miss opportunities to convert.
Being Real by Letting the Rank and File be Themselves -- Our application makes it easy for organizations to add new user accounts for blogging. We do this to encourage our clients to a wide variety of employees blogging. Packing the blogging team with people exclusively from the Public Relations team runs the risk of making blog content read like those newsletter inserts that come with utility bills. Do you read those things? I didn't think so. Overemphasis on using exact keyword phrases in every post also runs the danger of making their usage look forced, which can be spammy looking.

What's common to all of these points? They cannot be measured by the KSM.

The content creation time line graphs on the network administrator's dashboard can help keep an eye on frequency. The content ideas panel on the user dashboard can provide timely reading for new ideas. Producing real content requires human beings with inspiration and knowledge of the customer's needs. No computer can replace that.

The bottom line? Use the KSM as part of a comprehensive strategy to make sure that keywords are being used in reasonable measure. Treat it as a rough guide, not an all-knowing oracle.

Don't forget to design your blogs for conversion

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Chris Baggott

Blog Design: Someone on a linked in group I follow mentioned blog design. This is critical, but not for the reason you might think. This specific discussion was focused on Blogging as a Search Marketing tool. This means that the majority of your blog visitors are going to be first timers...and more importantly finding you because they are trying to solve a problem.

In that light, you have to consider your calls to action. What are the CTA's that can turn that prospect into a customer?

So many bloggers focus the most valuable real estate on their blogs to CTA's like "follow me on twitter" or "RSS My Blog" and forget about the actions that actually drive business right now.

Think about these blogs as organic landing pages....akin to a PPC landing page. How does your PPC page convert traffic to leads and customers and apply that same design on your blogs.

Roto Rooter is a great example of this. People find these blogs by searching things like "Plumber Detroit" or "24 Hour Plumber". They are not that interested in being followers right now...right now they are trying to solve a plumbing problem. Help them by using clear Calls to Action on your business blogs.

Blog Template CTA Corporate Blogging software

More marketers are practicing organic search optimization

Friday, November 6, 2009 by Stephanie West

A recent article by Advertising Age titled, Digital Marketing: The State of Search Marketing: 2009, has reported that search marketing is continuing to grow. In addition, about 9 out of 10 marketers are practicing organic search optimization. That's a large percentage of marketers that are going organic to get found in search!

http://2medschool.blogspot.com/2007/10/organic-chemistry-alkyl-halides-part-ii.html

The benefits of leveraging your online marketing strategy by organic search are limitless. Since many people are clicking on organic search results, they are attracting viewers to their blog, which can, in turn, draw potential customers into their website.

If you want to acquire new customers and then convert those customers - corporate blogging might be your answer because blogging humanizes your marketing strategy.

Compendium's corporate blogging software is designed to help leverage your blog in organic search - with a humanized approach. Nine out of 10 marketers are trying to position themselves in organic search - which mean YOU (as the customer) are likely to come into contact with one of these marketer's organic search strategies.

For more information on blogging for organic search and how it pertains to you - click here to speak with a blogging expert. They will explain the benefits of using Compendium's blog software to you!

November Webinar: Finding Business Blogging Success, Real-Life Stories

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Jess Wehner

We have a webinar coming up this month that is sure to be interesting for clients and prospective clients alike.

If you are a current client, this will be a great time to learn about what some of Compendium's most successful customers are doing on their business blog, how they incorporate blogging best practices, and what success really means to them. Come see how you can make improvements to your current blog program.

If you are new to Compendium, come learn about how blogging for search can lead to an increase in traffic to your site, generate leads, and increase sales from people that have actually experienced these results.

As a snapshot, you'll hear from the following types of companies who blog for business:

eCommerce Gymnastics Apparel Company:

Over $100,000 closed business within a year, directly from blog traffic.
$10,000 in sales within the first two months of blogging with cheer uniform network.

SaaS Event Management and Web Survey Company:

500% increase in keyword reach, compared to the number of paid keywords targeted.
Receive over 50,000 keyword referrals each month.

Concrete and Services Company in Minneapolis:

Customer was searching for “spancrete”.
Found the company’s blog and called.
$3000 job complete within 48 hours of search.

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!

Passion.

Thursday, October 29, 2009 by Allison Bowen

While being a Client Success Specialist here at Compendium, I also have the role of being an Orr Fellow. This means that I am a part of the two-year Governor Bob Orr Entreprenurial Fellowship Program and have had many opportunities within Compendium and Indianapolis because of my position. As a part of the Orr Fellowship, I have recently travelled to many colleges throughout the state to recruit for our program.

Last night I went to a networking fair at Butler University and quickly discovered one thing about recruiting - it only works if you have passion for what you are doing! Isn't this the way it is with everything in life? As I stood at our Orr Fellowship table and looked around, it was easy to tell which employees were passionate about their companies. Students instantly gravitated towards those that seemed excited about what they were discussing.

The same goes for blogging. It's all about passion. If you're a client of Compendium's, you know you're using the best blogging software available. So, shouldn't you be passionate about it? How amazing is it that you can tell your story to the entire blogsphere every day? So c'mon! Write some posts! If you're passionate about what you're doing, your company's corporate blog is sure to succeed.

Birthdays and Puppies and... Blogging?

Thursday, October 29, 2009 by Allison Bowen

I've always been one of those people that abolutely loves birthdays. My friends' birthda

ys, my parents' birthdays, but especially my OWN birthday! And wouldn't you know it, my birthday is very soon! This upcoming Tuesday, November 3rd, I will be turning yet another year older.

As I began thinking about what I want for my birthday, my mind automatically drifted to something that I've wanted since I was a small child - a dog. Unfortunately I was never able to have any pets growing up because my mother was so allergic. Now that I am a grown adult and living on my own, I really want to get my own dog!

Since I've never had a dog before, I have no idea what breed I would even begin to want, so every day I spend some time on Google searching for dogs. I would really like to get one from somewhere local, so I tend to search for "Indianapolis dogs" or something of the sort. Amazingly enough, there are not many local places that rise to the top of the search results.

This has left me thinking. Why are there not more humane societies, etc. out there using Compendium's blog software? With our simple blogging software, companies can choose to focus on geographically targeted keywords. Therefore, when someone would search "Indianapolis dogs", the company's Compendium blog would rise to the top! And why stop there? If you're located in Indianapolis, you might also want to target "Greenfield dogs", "Carmel dogs", "Fishers dogs"... The possibilites are endless!

Give Compendium a call today to learn more about our afforadable blogging software and how your company could benefit from focusing on geographical keywords.

New Products = the Perfect Reason to Expand Your Blogging Program

Monday, October 26, 2009 by Compendium Client Reviews

I received an email from Mike at Driver Solutions on Friday with some great news... "We have a new product/website/company spun off from the parent Driver Solutions. It’s an e-learning website targeting truck drivers. We’re in the process of building out a marketing site around the existing store front." Mike is already a customer of Compendium and went on to let us know that he wanted to expand his program by 50 keywords in order to drive targeted prospects to his new product. Mike also paid compliments to Compendium co-founder and CEO Chris Baggott: "I had a chance to see Chris at Blogworld last week. There was a lot of great info and his presentation was well done." Congrats to Mike on his new product launch, we are glad to help him drive new business with an expanded blogging program.

Name: Ali Sales Roach
Company: Compendium
BlogURL:

Go Organic

Thursday, October 22, 2009 by Stephanie West

Just like Google's "Going Google" campaign, Compendium users are "Going Organic."

Organic search results are high traffic areas for internet searchers. (See the heat diagram to the right.) Most people are clicking within the organic search area.

This, alone, should be a reason for searchers to consider corporate blogging software for their business. The blog software platform that Compendium offers helps your company get found in search - organic search.

Blogging is a great tool to help you get found in search and maximize your local search results. Check out Compendium's Whitepaper: Local Search and Blogging for more information on how corporate blogging software can help you get found in organic search.

Looking at Google's campaign, "Going Google," people are joining the Google network. So you may be asking, "What does the blogging network look like?" or "What does the future of business blogging look like?" Blogging with Compendium is organic. Register NOW for the free Webinar: The Future of Business Blogging at 2pm EST. Compendium's Co-founder and CEO, Chris Baggott, will discuss what the future holds for blogging, and why you should go organic with Compendium's blog software.

Human Beings Expect Dialogue Offline... and Online.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Megan Glover

Let's role play for a minute here. Imagine I'm engaged in a phone conversation with a prospect who's not so happy about a marketing email that was sent with a misspelled first name.

Prospect: Hi Megan, thanks for your call, but I'm really put off by the last email I received from Compendium. My name is butchered, yet you still expect me to view a demo of your software?

Megan: Oh no, I'm so sorry, prospect. That's really, really embarassing. I'm looking at your record and it does appear as though your name is mispelled. I'm correcting it in our system as I talk to you... but I also understand this doesn't "undo" what happened. Please accept my apology and if you give me a chance to continue this conversation, I assure you it won't happen again in the future.

Prospect: You're right... it doesn't undo the initial error but I appreciate the prompt follow up and the sincerety. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

As humans, when we're engaged in face-to-face or phone conversation, we can use tone and expression to convey sincerity (or not, I suppose). Consumers expect the same sincere dialogue on social media networks and business blogs.

As an organization, when you chose to engage in social networks or business blogs you must understand and commit to the human dialogue (good and bad) that needs to happen with your audience.

Here's a great example of how one of our clients, Carhartt, is staying a head of the chatter by facilitating online dialogue. They actually have multiple blogs set up specifically for people to submit questions and stories. To make it easy, they use Compendim's Web-to-Post feature to automatically turn the comments generated in a form into a blog post.

As your organization "goes social", make sure you take some time to think about who's at the receiving end... human beings. If you talk to and engage with them as such, you're social strategy will be much, much more sincere.

The importance of generating content

Monday, October 12, 2009 by Stephanie West

When it comes to corporate blogging, generating content is very important. Getting all of the employees in your company to blog is the most effective way to generate content for your blog pages.

Generating a lot of content will help your blog pages rank in search. Search marketing is such an integral part of marketing today, which is why it is important to position your company to benefit from search.

Blogging may be your solution to search marketing.

Setting up a corporate blog and having all of your employees generate content for the blogs will help your business maximize its search engine optimization.

Not sure how to get your employees on-board with blogging? Try implementing weekly incentives or monthly rewards. Fun gifts or gift cards are a great motivation tool for employees. Informing employees how many leads are generated from your blogging strategy is another great way to motivate employees to blog, because generating content for your corporate blog will benefit your entire company.

A Blogging Solution as an SEO Tool

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 by Angela Castelli

Are you currently blogging as a search marketing strategy for your business? Or, do you have maybe 5-6 different blog pages at an attempt to blog as an SEO tool? If so, what type of results are you seeing with this strategy?

The reason I ask is because I speak with many companies each day who are blogging for their businesses as a way to increase their inbound traffic organically online, but they aren't using the best blogging software that's available, so they aren't getting the best results that are available.

Are you using a specific corporate blogging software designed to help drive your blogs high in organic search results? If you aren't working with Compendium, then you are using blogging platforms and tools designed more specifically for first and second generation blogging (citizen journalism, and to create community). In order for you to maximize the results you are wanting to see, you need to be using the best tool designed to help you blog for search engine optimization. If you are looking to do any of the following:

Increase inbound organic traffic
Be found in search for more keywords than you are currently found for
Convert the new traffic into inbound leads
See a return on your blogging investment

Then please request to see a demo to learn more about how we can help you achieve your online marketing goals, and show you how to use the best blogging and SEO tools, to achieve the best results.

Colleges use Corporate Blogging Tools For Recruiting High School Students

Monday, October 5, 2009 by Chris Baggott

New York Times Oct 1 article on Student Blogging at MIT

The New York Times (which I pay to read on my Kindle) had a great article on how MIT and other colleges are using Powerful Blogging Software to leverage their own students in the recruiting effort.

As Seth Godin says: "Websites are for fact & figures, blogs are for stories".   Who better to tell the stories about what your school is really like, than the students who attend?   The present state of marketing consists of two unavoidable elements. The first is that institutions don't control the media, people do. This is a profound shift and the primary driver of organizations leveraging blog software that is designed for Search Engine Optimization.

People (yes, students are people too) are sliding into smaller and smaller niches. To find them, or more importantly, have them find you you have to really focus on creating and distributing lots and lots of relevant content.   Most schools do a great job of talking up their Football team, but what happens when a valedictorian types in "best chess club" or is interested in the environmental work students might be doing.

These kids are searching, they are telling the search engines exactly what they are looking for and if you are not freeing your students to blog you are missing an amazing search marketing opportunity.   The more student bloggers, the more great content showing the total range of what your institution can offer the diverse interests of today's students.

Why are educational institutions turning to Corporate Blogging Software instead of the home grown variety?   A couple of simple reasons.   One is to have a little control. This may come as a surprise to some, but although smart some college students can still make bad decisions. This doesn't make them bad people, but it requires that organizations use tools that permit approval before content gets live.   This isn't designed to stifle creativity or crush the soul of the program.   Monitoring is all about preventing content that can damage both the student and the institution.

The second reason Colleges choose Business Blog Software is because these tools are designed specifically as SEO Tools.    Telling lots of stories that no one ever sees doesn't help anyone.   The Goal is to target specific content to specific individuals by targeting their search terms.

What REALLY matters on your blog?

Friday, October 2, 2009 by Brian Millis

Can I add this news reel to my blog template?

This Twitter Feed is extremely important to my blog, so I'll need that.

Down at the bottom of my blog, I want to put this scrolling image of a hedgehog.

I've spent 3 years blogging and I'm ranking on this one key phrase. If I switch to Compendium will I lose that ranking?

These are all common questions that come up when I'm discussing a blog strategy with a prospect who currently uses a freeware platform. It's not surprising that there is attachment to a blog that someone has spent time keeping updated. But I always try and steer this conversation out of the weeds of what gadgets and gizmos can I put on my blog and keep the conversation focused on lead generation / customer acquisition.

The first part of lead generation is getting found. Compendium is a powerful blogging software that automates the SEO and organization of blog content to squeeze the most value out of every post. Next, what do you want a new visitor to do on your blog? Do you really want them leaving your blog to check out your Twitter updates? Do you think they'll scroll to the bottom of the page to see your hedgehog image? Is that one key phrase all your blog is good for? That is what I propose as a response to these common inquiries.

Instead, win lots of search phrases with your blogs. Then, convert those visitors on an engaging call to action. This will generate qualified leads and more closed business. This is the key difference between blogging on a generation 1 or 2 platform for "thought leadership" and "community" and blogging for search and customer acquisition.

If your blog wore clothes, what would it look like?

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 by Stephanie West

I was reading another blog post regarding blogging best practices. The blogger suggested to "dress it up," referring to your blog post.

So what if you took that phrase (almost) literally? If you dressed your blog post, what would it look like?

Doesn't your own style (at least) somewhat reflect you and your personality?? If so, don't you think your blog should reflect your company?

I challenge you to think of what dressing your blog post would look like... I think mine would look something like this:

It would have green eyes, because Compendium's signature color is green... and "green means go" when it comes to corporate blogging.
It would have a magnifying glass handy to examine blog content.
It would wear a hat/cap... and I'd call it a "thinking cap." Compendium's blogs are always generating new content with fresh ideas.
It would wear boots - because people wear boots when they are searching in the woods. A blog needs boots to search on the internet... boots help the blog get optimized in search engines.

So that's what my blog would look like if you wore clothes. What would YOURS look like??

Give your blog personality - and let each post reflect your company. My blog post is wearing clothes - what does that tell you about Compendium?!

Blog for Business...and Pizza

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 by Lee Jorgenson

Are you considering blogging but concerned that no one in your company will blog? Here at Compendium, we blog for all kinds of things. Right now we're blogging for pizza, a few weeks ago we blogged to enter a raffle to win gift cards (I won, btw), and about a month ago we blogged for pro tennis tickets. With tangible incentives, it's amazing how our marketing team can motivate the whole office to blog. One day we were enticed with a buffet of junk food if we wrote a post that day. By the time the sugarfest started, all but two people at Compendium had submitted a post.

My point? Don't let employee participation get in the way of starting a blogging solution for your business. Whether your employees blog for snacks, tickets, or PTO you can get them to blog. And at the end of the day, they're all blogging for business. Now THAT'S something worth blogging about

Blogs Drive Organic Search

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 by Stephanie West

What drives you to blog for business?

Most people blog to be found in search - especially organic search.

http://blogging.compendiumblog.com/blog/blogging-for-money

This picture depicts where most "clicks" occur in search. This is just one reason why you should consider corporate blogging. The corporate blogging software that Compendium offers is structured so that if your company to generate relevant blog content - which should lead to organic search results.

Internet searchers are your prospects - and they are searching for the information you are generating. So in addition to generating good blog content, your blog should have links to other pages of information for your prospects to utilize. This element leads to lead generation.

Lead generation is your way (as a company) to connect to these prospective clients.

So let me recap:

Prospective leads search.
Most of them click on organic search results in their search.
These leads then read your blog.
They want more information on what you wrote about (your content)
So they click on a link to another page.
And their interest in your company drives them to contact you with more information.
Or the information they fill out allows your company to contact that prospective lead.

All of this leads me to one point: People read blogs. Blogs humanize your company and are great resources for curious customers. So consider Compendium's corporate blogging software in order to connect to these perspective customers. Click here for our free Whitepaper: Consider Blogging for more information on the benefits of blogging!

Communicating with Your Blog

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 by Stephanie West

Corporate blogging is a great way to update your clients (or perspective clients) on what is going on within your company.

Corporate blogging is a great search marketing tool. It also helps businesses get found in search. Blogging is also a great way to generate leads. And it humanizes your business.

But another great aspect of blogging is communication.

Simply communicating what is going on within your company is equally as important as getting found in search or generating leads.

So as the marketing intern, I'm here to tell you what's going on within the marketing department at Compendium.

This month, the Marketing department is hosting a blogging competition amongst the 5 departments at Compendium. Our Marketing Manager, Meghan, assigned each department weekly blogging goals to reach. The Client Success department won two weeks in a row. No one has caught them yet!
The Marketing department hosted a successful Webinar last week! Look for the replay on Compendium's website soon.
We're preparing for another Webinar and follow-up this Thursday, Sept. 17 from 2-3PM, Third Generation Business Blogging. Click on the link to sign up for this FREE webinar!

These are just a few of the fun things going on at Compendium - particularly within the Marketing department. From now on, look for more regular updates from me on what's going on at Compendium in the Marketing department!

Blogging - 100% Organic

Monday, September 14, 2009 by Stephanie West

http://www.theenergygrid.com/grid/articles/seo/index.htm

I love the idea of 100% organic.

Have you ever stopped to think about how many things are "organic"??

Organic doesn't just involve food - it also involves MANY other products and ideas...

One of these "organic" ideas includes search marketing, and particularly...

Organic Search

Terms found in organic search are found because of their relevance to search terms. This is different from 'pay per click' advertising, which is not a form of organic search.

Items found in organic search are found naturally because of their relevance. Research has found that organic search receives more traffic than 'pay per click' traffic.

So consider the organic search software that Compendium has to offer for your search marketing strategy. For more information on how to get found with organic search, click here to receive our Whitepaper: Blogging's Role in Search Marketing and Social Media.