I was fortunate enough last week to have a really good meeting with a potential client who has been exploring blogging for her company. Over the past 60 days she has been doing research on basic blog software trying to determine which solution may be the easiest to use and manage from a blogging perspective and from an SEO perspective.
She had done her homework but was very discouraged about all of the time and energy she was going to have to spend in an area where she really knew very little. Needless to say when she asked the question..."so, how can Compendium help me" she was very pleased with what she heard.
We were the breath of fresh air she had been looking for simply because we took all of the blog management responsibilities off her shoulders and carried that burden for her. Not only that but our interface made it simple for her to get in create content and get out.
A one stop shop solution for everything she needed right here in one easy solution. So don't fear the things you don't know about. Employ someone who does and allow your business succeed.
Well, I would imagine that most of you reading this post are currently in the middle of figuring out how a corporate blog is going to help your company in 2009 with all of your new social media initiatives. Search no further, as the answers are all around you.
I daily talk to Marketing Directors who are researching corporate blogging software to gather more information on how the blog can help them create community to drive business. If you take anything from this post remember this. People can only JOIN your community if they can GET to your community. As a company you should let your blog work for both. You must be found for people to participate in interacting with you. So, your first order of priority with your blog is making sure to blog for search engine optimization. If you can leverage a blog to allow you to live at the top of the organic search rankings the community aspect will follow.
The benefits of blogging can trump many other types of on-line strategies because of their ability to aid a company with all of their main initiatives at once. We need to win search...done. We need to relate to customers on a personal level....done. We need to create community....done. We need to grow our search traffic.....done. We need to drive our bottom line...done. We need an affordable on-line marketing solution...DONE. All can be accomplished if the blogging architecture is correct.
Don't fear the blog, embrace it. Stop researching, stop worrying, stop thinking about "I hope this works". Embrace a blogging strategy and the desired results will follow. It is time to get to work on your business, it is time to concentrate on return..it is time to blog.
Well....it happened.....I was one of low men on the totem pole of content contribution last month to our corporate blog. So, instead of making a sour face I am going to take the lemons that were handed to me and make lemonade.
In all seriousness, I don't mind making a blogging example of myself. To use a Blog for SEO one of the most important factors is recency and frequency of updated content. To do that it is no blogging secret that you need to contribute content often. Last month I was a "blogging slacker" and everybody knew it.
One of the biggest problems associated with blogging for many companies is finding the resources. Luckily for me everybody at Compendium has a blog account so last month my teammates carried me.
The real issue for me last month wasn't resource. I had everything I needed to blog. I had top notch blogging creation software, tons of content, and the guidance I needed to make it all work together for search. I just didn't realize how my lack of contribution would result in a lot of blogging mockery when it was announced that I was the low man in front of the entire company. Therefore I personally was really only missing one thing...motivation to blog.
This month I know what my blogging motivation is.
Blogging as a business is fun. Not just because of the ability to share stories like this but also the atmosphere that it creates in the office. It is a good way to create some friendly competition but at the same time leverage a tool that can really drive your business.
Set blogging goals for your business, make it known when people hit those goals,.....AND WHEN THEY DON'T. Most importantly have fun with it!
Cheers to your future Blogging Success!!!
So, over the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to talk to so many people who are beginning their strategic planning for 2009 and are considering blogging in that strategy AFTER they revamp their existing website. If you are thinking about starting a blog for your business it is important to really understand why and how, and to incorporate the strategy in at the proper time.
So many marketers consider a company blog to be an extension of what exists but the truth is your blog can actually function as a support system or an SEO cushion for the constant revamp that your website will be in a majority of the time. We have all been there. If you are a marketer I am sure these words or a version of these words have come out of your mouth at some time "Check back with the site in a week or two we are getting ready to launch some new stuff on Wednesday".
Where "new stuff" is great it doesn't really adhere to the rules of relevancy that the search engines set in place for us from an SEO perspective. They like recency, frequecy.....and AGE. Longevity helps determine validity so every time you pay someone to pull content down and put new content up you are actually taking steps backward from an SEO perspective. Allow your blogs to support this.
By using the proper blogging software to help you manage your organizations blog content you can be reassured that your company blog will carry your SEO effort through any type of revamp your organization may go through. By maintaining position in the organic rankings you can be sure you will continue to acquire new customers and drive bottom line.
So remember Blog for SEO first....revamp your site second!
So I know that I have already blogged about this issue but it seems to come up a lot. In fact I just read a post by
Shel Holtz where he also addresses the issue that I hear all the time, "my staff is already maxed...we just don't have time to blog" and it got me thinking again.
The truth is by saying you don't have time to blog you are really saying I don't have time to communicate. I know I would never hear the same answer in regard to email or phone calls. The idea of not communicating by phone would be unheard of! We need to re-tune our minds to look at the blog in this exact way....as another form of corporate communication with our clients and business prospects on a human level. The beauty of the blog is now our method of communication is serving multiple purposes. Engaging our prospects, optimizing your company in the search rankings, and turning visitors into customers by your ability to do both of the first two things. But to do so you need the tools that allow you to do this.You need to incorporate methods of advanced business blogging.
The real time issue with managing a corporate blog does not come from communicating...it comes from managing the blog for ROI. There is a lot of lifting that happens to leverage that communication for your maximum benefit. At the end of the day if your company uses the right blogging tools to do this for you, you will inevitably secure the many benefits of blogging you deserve while at the same time never allowing your clients and potential customers to rank below the number one spot on your lists of priorities.
Driving business comes from the ability to acquire new customers by communicating to them you have exactly what they need. So by saying you don't have time to blog you are really saying I don't have time to obtain new forms of revenue. From a business perspective that just doesn't make sense. Blog for SEO. Blog for engagement. Blog for ROI!!!!
Business growth = Good Stuff..........Happy Blogging!
It seems as we move along in this new realm of blogging with a corporate focus for search engine optimization and return on investment one of the largest concerns expressed by management is access to the resources necessary to make a corporate blog successful. What we need to remember here is blogging is simple. Do not over think it. We all know a lot about our business but we don't have to get it all out in a single post. That is the Beauty of a blog.It is not America's next best selling novel instead it is a coffee talk conversation and should be focused on human engagement.
Best practices in blogging- by Compendium tell us that these posts should take 10 -15 minutes MAX! 200-250 words MAX! Remember...the key to SEO is recency and frequency of your blog posts NOT how much you say per post. So don't be worried about who will contribute and how much lost productivity may come from people needing to allocate time to blogging, instead think of it this way, by allowing people within your organization the 20-30 minutes they need each week to contribute a couple posts they will actually be building your lead generating machine.
I recently have been on a vacation with my family to beautiful Destin FL. Sun, sand, and surf were the main intention but even still I couldn't stop thinking about blogging. I figured it made sense to talk about it in relation to our recent road trip.
When looking for things that you aren't familiar with the first thing you need to do is get directions. I know they helped us find our destination successfully and they can do the same for you and your business when navigating the internet.
Jefferson Graham with USA today recently sat down with Matt Cutts, engineer with Google and active blogger, and discussed achieving visibility in Google's organic search rankings and surprise, surprise his advice was to start a business blog for your company.
He outlined 5 easy tips on how to optimize your site:
1. Spotlight your search term on the page
2. Fill in your tags
3.Get other sites to link back to you
4. Register for free tools
5.CREATE A BLOG AND POST OFTEN
Or, if time is limited for you and those in your company like most of our clients, you can skip 1-4 by letting Compendium do this lifting for you on the back end. We have created our blogging software with organizations in mind for the goal of SEO and customer acquisition while at the same time cutting your 5 tips for optimization down to one, create a blog and post often. Easy as that!
If you have been exploring blog tools to allow your company to be found I suggest letting us provide the road map for your customers. It will free up your time to allow you to do what you do best...tell people about your business.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been involved in a lot of conversations about one of the coolest features of the blog; the ability to engage in conversation in more of a human to human setting.
It is always interesting to think about the way in which you conduct your research process when looking for information,or reviews of products you are looking to buy. Over the years this process has evolved as the ability to buy online has become much more secure and convenient. Being a 30 year old guy my search always starts online. I find the most relevant sources of information (usually blogs by other people that already own the item I am looking at) and I read many posts, good and bad, to get a general feel of the publics opinion on this item. Once armed with the culture and feeling around this item I am off to the store to talk specs and technical jargon with the guy on the sales floor.
BUT, WHAT IF...JUST WHAT IF...I could actually achieve that same sense of comfort I now find in the store, online utilizing a corporate blog? The answer to that is simple......my path to purchase is much easier and I am a happy shopper who will probably be back to buy more in the future.
Before I was visiting two places, the internet and the store, before making my purchase. But lets think about how simple,and efficient my process could be if I could engage in a business blog where the customers had a presence as well as the guy on the sales floor so I could find all of the information I need to feel comfortable making a purchase in one spot. I would imagine the next time I needed to buy I would have a good idea of where to start looking.
In short the benefits of corporate blogging tools will definitely not only bring value through SEO but also through the idea of humanized marketing for conversion. People want to buy from other people and they want to talk to other people to feel comfortable with their buying decisions why wouldn't an enterprise want to provide their customers that opportunity at the point that is closest to the point of purchase. Makes sense right?
