During the webinar we will focus on three important aspects:
- How to repurpose content.
- Content creation ideas, hints, and tips.
- How to measure blogging ROI.
Webinar Details:
Thursday, November 20 at 1pm EST
Posted Thursday, November 13, 2008 by
Kristen Raves
Next week's webinar will be hosted by Chris Baggot CEO of ExactTarget and Compendium Blogware, along with Doug Karr VP of Blogging Evangelism at Compendium. As business bloggers themselves, they understand the importance of content creation. Content is what drives blogs to be so successful for us, as well as our clients.
During the webinar we will focus on three important aspects:
Webinar Details:
Thursday, November 20 at 1pm EST
During the webinar we will focus on three important aspects:
Webinar Details:
Thursday, November 20 at 1pm EST
Comments
(2)
Posted Wednesday, November 12, 2008 by
Jess Wehner
Last week some members of the Compendium team headed over to the Hilbert Cirlce Theater to attend Happy Hour at the Symphony. We enjoyed appetizers from downtown vendors such as Vitos and Oceanair and had a couple free cocktails prior to the start of the symphony. My favorite appetizers were the oysters provided by Oceanair. And when I say favorite, I don’t mean because I enjoyed them! They were mostly my favorite because it was my first time to try an oyster... I'm not so sure I'll be trying them again anytime soon!Our team had a great time, but the best part about it was that Doug Karr, VP of Blogging Evangelism at Compendium, was able to hook us up with free tickets! Doug’s friend, Pat Coyle, provided the tickets. They are friends through an organization called Smaller Indiana.
Not only does blogging for business help increase search engine rankings, you might also get some sweet kick-backs along the way. Thanks Doug!
Posted Wednesday, November 12, 2008 by
meghan peters
So I'm not exactly the best person to talk about this topic because I fall victim to this as well. But I can't stress enough how important it is to post to your business blog frequently. At Compendium we subscribe to the 2 posts a week per person rule. I think this is the best way to go about posting, it's just enough to keep your blog fresh with topics and it's not too daunting of a task.
I was recently reading an article titled 6 Stupid Marketing Mistakes featured in IMedia Connection. The article did a great job referring to how important it is to keep up to date on your social media strategies and most importantly your business blog.
Adam Broitman the author of the article says, "every branded blog that lies dormant sends a message to the consumers who originally engaged the brand in conversation. The message sent by these brands is, "We simply don't care.""
Blogging can never be a quick fix for marketing, it has to be approached as a relationship that you are building with your readers and customers. Sure it takes some commitment, but in the long run it will pay off.
I was recently reading an article titled 6 Stupid Marketing Mistakes featured in IMedia Connection. The article did a great job referring to how important it is to keep up to date on your social media strategies and most importantly your business blog.
Adam Broitman the author of the article says, "every branded blog that lies dormant sends a message to the consumers who originally engaged the brand in conversation. The message sent by these brands is, "We simply don't care.""
Blogging can never be a quick fix for marketing, it has to be approached as a relationship that you are building with your readers and customers. Sure it takes some commitment, but in the long run it will pay off.
Posted Wednesday, November 12, 2008 by
Jenni Edwards
Thought this was really cool and shows the power of search.
Google is now tracking the flu-bug by looking at relevant search terms and where they are coming from (fever, cough, etc.). This is a project of Google.org --- because, well Google has too much money that they need to do something good, right? You can check it out here: http://www.google.org/flutrends/.
What terms are important to your business? When people are sick, I would think that the drug companies of the world would want to show up on organic results? Or maybe an all natural remedy? By creating business blogs these companies could gain click throughs when people did have the flu and drive their own businesses!
Google is now tracking the flu-bug by looking at relevant search terms and where they are coming from (fever, cough, etc.). This is a project of Google.org --- because, well Google has too much money that they need to do something good, right? You can check it out here: http://www.google.org/flutrends/.
What terms are important to your business? When people are sick, I would think that the drug companies of the world would want to show up on organic results? Or maybe an all natural remedy? By creating business blogs these companies could gain click throughs when people did have the flu and drive their own businesses!
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by
Brian Millis
I recently saw BJ Novak, co-writer of one of my favorite shows The Office, do a stand up comedy show at Butler University. Here is one of my favorite clips from the show that he calls the story of Wikipedia Brown:
Although this is a satire about how the usefulness of Wikipedia can be distracting to a user, the message is very relevant to a business blogging. When you search on Wikipedia, you find great information that is relevant only to the topic you are interested in. Linking connects all kinds of articles within this "encyclopedia" and you can often times get distracted by other topics.
When you blog with a purpose on Compendium Blogware's business blogging platform, you build relevant content on a specific keyword blog that is easy for a searcher to find. When a searcher finds the blog they want, they can then take the next step by clicking on a call to action, visiting a website, or linking to another relevant blog. This engages the searcher in the conversation within a more relevant network of blogs. I think a good business blog engages enough to offer that linking flexibiligy (like Wikipedia), yet is simple enough to encourage the searcher to take the call to action and not get distracted. This is how Compendium will help turn visitors into customers.
Don't be a Wikipedia Brown for your future customers. Get them engaged and then convert on that intererst!
Although this is a satire about how the usefulness of Wikipedia can be distracting to a user, the message is very relevant to a business blogging. When you search on Wikipedia, you find great information that is relevant only to the topic you are interested in. Linking connects all kinds of articles within this "encyclopedia" and you can often times get distracted by other topics.
When you blog with a purpose on Compendium Blogware's business blogging platform, you build relevant content on a specific keyword blog that is easy for a searcher to find. When a searcher finds the blog they want, they can then take the next step by clicking on a call to action, visiting a website, or linking to another relevant blog. This engages the searcher in the conversation within a more relevant network of blogs. I think a good business blog engages enough to offer that linking flexibiligy (like Wikipedia), yet is simple enough to encourage the searcher to take the call to action and not get distracted. This is how Compendium will help turn visitors into customers.
Don't be a Wikipedia Brown for your future customers. Get them engaged and then convert on that intererst!
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by
Eric Romer
Are blogs a valid source to drive prospective customers?
It's one of the ongoing discussions when approaching a corporate blog. Many companies view blogs as a way to tip their toe in social media, or to "get our name out there." Therein lies the root of the problem -- businesses aren't blogging with a purpose. The focus is not Search Engine Optimization or new customer acquisition, but rather because it seems like a good idea to stay relevant in a Web 2.0 world.
eMarketer just put out a study that re-enforces Compendium's stance: blogs directly influence purchasing decisions.
These stats are very revealing, and take some additional interpretation. This survey is talking to "US blog readers", and doesn't discuss how consumers found these blogs. Based on the following quote, it seems the assumption is that people found blogs from a website, or some other method (but not Search).
Are consumers doing more than just reading or subscribing to blogs?
Yes. The eMarketer study found "four out of 10 blog readers surveyed had taken action as a result of viewing a blog ad."
People are searching. They are trusting information found on blogs, and 40% of them are taking some sort of action, whether downloading a research study, signing up for a newsletter, or clicking through to an e-commerce page. There couldn't be a better example of why it is important for a business to blog.
Create compelling content, and optimize it to be found for search, with clear calls-to-action directly from the blog. It's a simple forumla.
It's one of the ongoing discussions when approaching a corporate blog. Many companies view blogs as a way to tip their toe in social media, or to "get our name out there." Therein lies the root of the problem -- businesses aren't blogging with a purpose. The focus is not Search Engine Optimization or new customer acquisition, but rather because it seems like a good idea to stay relevant in a Web 2.0 world.
eMarketer just put out a study that re-enforces Compendium's stance: blogs directly influence purchasing decisions.
These stats are very revealing, and take some additional interpretation. This survey is talking to "US blog readers", and doesn't discuss how consumers found these blogs. Based on the following quote, it seems the assumption is that people found blogs from a website, or some other method (but not Search).
“For a portion of Web users, blogs rival search as a navigation tool, which has really interesting implications for advertisers,” said Rob Crumpler, CEO of BuzzLogic, in a statement. “Blogs are becoming trusted guides, steering users who are seeking very specific information to places of interest online.”Now think of blogs as benefiting search, not rivaling it. Roughly 90% of adult Internet users use search engines to find information. With Compendium's proprietary solution, blog content is automatically organized in strategic keyword-driven blog pages, which creates scalable, highly niched content about different aspects of a companies products, services and employees.
Are consumers doing more than just reading or subscribing to blogs?
Yes. The eMarketer study found "four out of 10 blog readers surveyed had taken action as a result of viewing a blog ad."
People are searching. They are trusting information found on blogs, and 40% of them are taking some sort of action, whether downloading a research study, signing up for a newsletter, or clicking through to an e-commerce page. There couldn't be a better example of why it is important for a business to blog.
Create compelling content, and optimize it to be found for search, with clear calls-to-action directly from the blog. It's a simple forumla.
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by
Doug Karr
If you get the opportunity to pick up a copy of Age of Conversation 2, please do. All profit goes to charity and the book is a collection of short stories from Social Media and Marketing professionals from around the globe. It was an honor to be on the author list of this fine book! Special thanks to Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton for doing all of the work to bring it together!The book hits on all chords, "Why Don't They Get It?" provides 237 different stories on the turning tide of marketing in our culture. It fully supports why blogging for business is such a necessity!
Thanks to all the authors who gave selflessly of their time to write this incredible book: Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going&Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne&Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by
Megan Glover
It's true if you want your business blogs to drive traffic, get found in search and generate demand you have to create content, and lots of it.
Last week we decided to drink the Kool-aid and prove that content is truly the catalyst for driving blog traffic. We held and internal "blog in" and offered free breakfast as an incentive to blog. For details on the specifics check out Ali, my colleagues blog: How to Generate 533% Blog Post Increase in a Day
Well, the traffic results are in and they are stunning (if I do say so myself). Check out the Google Analytics chart below. See that spike... yep, that's in direct correlation to our "blog in".
Last week we decided to drink the Kool-aid and prove that content is truly the catalyst for driving blog traffic. We held and internal "blog in" and offered free breakfast as an incentive to blog. For details on the specifics check out Ali, my colleagues blog: How to Generate 533% Blog Post Increase in a Day
Well, the traffic results are in and they are stunning (if I do say so myself). Check out the Google Analytics chart below. See that spike... yep, that's in direct correlation to our "blog in".
For all the business bloggers tunned into this post, I challenge you to hold a blog in, measure your traffic send me a comment. I'd love to know if the concept helped your company drive demand!
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
mikey mioduski
If I were an attorney, I would invest in a few things. I'd probably scoop up one or two of these:
But I guess before I get the Porsches, I might first consider investing in a business blog, targeting as many relevant keywords as I possibly could.
Any and every attorney website should absolutely have a blog. Business blogging is not only affordable, it is an incredible way to tell your story to a larger audience. Especially with Compendium's unrivaled Compending feature, which categorizes all of your blog content-- new and old-- around certain targeted keyword phrases to get you found more often.
Can blogging improve my local search, you might ask. Yep. The more localized or regionalized your stories, the more local or regional your prospects. Blogging can improve your search for anything you target, so really there are no limits to where you can take it if you are commited to adding content.
If you think you don't have time to blog, you're not alone. Compendium was built on this principal-- built for business men and women who have no time to learn a new software or learn how to design websites. Compendium not only takes your blog posts further in search, it truly makes blogging easy, rewarding.
Then you can take that return on your Compendium investment from all of those new clients who found you through your business blog and treat yourself to something... real nice.
But I guess before I get the Porsches, I might first consider investing in a business blog, targeting as many relevant keywords as I possibly could.
Any and every attorney website should absolutely have a blog. Business blogging is not only affordable, it is an incredible way to tell your story to a larger audience. Especially with Compendium's unrivaled Compending feature, which categorizes all of your blog content-- new and old-- around certain targeted keyword phrases to get you found more often.
Can blogging improve my local search, you might ask. Yep. The more localized or regionalized your stories, the more local or regional your prospects. Blogging can improve your search for anything you target, so really there are no limits to where you can take it if you are commited to adding content.
If you think you don't have time to blog, you're not alone. Compendium was built on this principal-- built for business men and women who have no time to learn a new software or learn how to design websites. Compendium not only takes your blog posts further in search, it truly makes blogging easy, rewarding.
Then you can take that return on your Compendium investment from all of those new clients who found you through your business blog and treat yourself to something... real nice.
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Jess Wehner
The best part about blogging for business is that you can literally write about whatever you want! In fact we encourage it! You can even help a charity with your blog. Below you can see how I'm helping to make a difference (even if it is only $1 at a time.)
All you have to do is add a beard to a picture, email the picture, and Atto will donate a dollar to Kiva. Don't I make a great Poseidon?
Wondering what you would look like? Just follow this link and you too can have a beard and help Kiva.
All you have to do is add a beard to a picture, email the picture, and Atto will donate a dollar to Kiva. Don't I make a great Poseidon?
Wondering what you would look like? Just follow this link and you too can have a beard and help Kiva.
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
meghan peters
Often times generating content isn't the problem when companies start to work on their business blog. The problem is making the content you are writing work to your advantage. To learn more information on how to implement simple tips to make blog content work for you, join our upcoming Webinar with Chris Baggott and Doug Karr on November 20th.
In this Webinar we'll be covering many relevant topics that companies really want to learn when writing their blog posts.
You'll Learn:
- Why should companies blog.
- How to create relevant blog content.
- How to measure blogging ROI.
There are a limited number of spots available.
Register today!
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Jason Gergely
Blog, which is short for Web logs, is almost like an online journal or diary that is visible to the public. You can blog about pretty much anything on the face of the earth. If you want to blog about Global Warming and your opinions on it, there is someone out there that will most likely read it or there might even be a blog about it already. You can talk about your kids and how much you care about them and how you think everyone should raise their child because your children grew up so well. There is probably a few out there already on the idea of parenting. Some people find a feeling of relief when they blog because it is almost like typing without thinking. Just get an idea in your head and let your fingers go (unless you use the old school way of “hunt and peck”, in that case it will take a bit longer). There are great benefits to blogging too. In fact, I didn’t start blogging until I started my internship here at Compendium Blogware and now I feel that I should write something each day (crazy… I know). I realized the power that blogging can give to a company. By using a business blogging technique, a company can increase its search engine optimization which can and most likely will lead to more sales. If you are reading this right now and have never blogged before… go ahead and try it.
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Kristen Raves
A question that I seem to get more and more from customers is "Should I use affiliate programs on my blog." The answer, it really depends on your business. If you use the affiliate marketing programs, will they help add to the success of your organization?
In a recent article by Darren Rowse, he gives 10 tips for using affiliate programs. He adds great insight on how to best leverage these sales marketing programs by doing the following:
In a recent article by Darren Rowse, he gives 10 tips for using affiliate programs. He adds great insight on how to best leverage these sales marketing programs by doing the following:
- Consider Your Audience - Step into the role of your reader when considering what they would want to see on your blog. Avoid adding affiliates that have nothing to do with your business.
- Genuine Recommendations and Personal Endorsements - Try them out yourself to ensure what you are recommending for others is something that you would use yourself.
- Link to Quality Products - Have you ever been sold a "lemon" car? Even if you have not, you have probably known someone who has. This is not a good feeling so avoid selling unsatisfactory products.
- Contextual Deep Links - These work best because they pair up like products/services with what you are blogging about.
- Positioning of Links - Do not position them above any calls to action or products that your company is selling. Keep them visible but not to where they will take action on the affiliate before they do your product.
- Traffic Levels are Important - You can build traffic by adding content on a consistent basis.
- Diversify without Clutter - Avoid too many flashy ads on your blog site. These will just confuse your readers.
- Be Transparent - Don't try to fool your customers, they know what you are doing.
- Combine with Other Revenue Streams - If you have other marketing revenue streams combine them. Like the old adage, two are better than one, it is true in this case as well.
- Track Results - Tracking your results is key. Obviously, if it is not working you do not want to waste money on that program. If it is working, continue promoting it on your blog and enjoy the ROI!
Posted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by
Jess Wehner
If you're ever starting to get bored with your business blog and are looking for a way to spice things up- why not pick up a camera and make a rap video about your company? That's what Kristen Raves and I decided to do a couple weeks ago when created our very own blogging video based off SNL's digital short- "Lazy Sunday". Using video in your blog is a great way to engage your readers and increase your organic search engine traffic.
Kristen and I had a really fun time writing the script and pulling this video together to create "Lazy Monday". And we definitely couldn't have made it happen with out the help of her husband- Brian Raves (who truly is a video genius) and Krystal Featherston, who helped shoot some of the footage for us. And I should probably also give a shout out to Abby Rivera, who put up with us through out the day while we filmed this digital short. You can see her hard at work in the background!
Watch below to see it all come together...
Kristen and I had a really fun time writing the script and pulling this video together to create "Lazy Monday". And we definitely couldn't have made it happen with out the help of her husband- Brian Raves (who truly is a video genius) and Krystal Featherston, who helped shoot some of the footage for us. And I should probably also give a shout out to Abby Rivera, who put up with us through out the day while we filmed this digital short. You can see her hard at work in the background!
Watch below to see it all come together...
Posted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
A good reason to blog for your business is to boost your company's reputation. Search engines find your content, and search engine users find you. If your content is compelling, a relationship may be established. Your blog is a chance to make a first impression with a potential customer.
Amid all the buzz of blogs and business, something usually gets short shrift -- application security. The multinational law firm Pinsent Masons maintains an IT and e-commerce issues blog called OUT-LAW.COM, and a recent post takes up this issue.
Citing some statistics and advice from a white paper by computer security system vendor Network Box (free registration required), the post gives some ideas on the scope of the issue and recommendations on what a blogger can do to mitigate the risks, which include potential damage to your company's reputation.
The white paper identifies comment spam and SQL injection as the top threats to a blogging environment.
Comment spam is one of the ways that malicious third parties can abuse the visitor content creation features to your detriment. This was one of the forms of "virtual blight" that Google spam fighter Matt Cutts discussed in his talk from this past Wednesday.
Compendium addresses from several angles:
Cautious parameter validation on the server side provides a first line of defense. The next line is using care in how query strings are formed. Consideration of these points is an integral part of our development process, not an afterthought. Moreover, they are backed up with regular code reviews and continuous refinement of our coding standards.
Unfortunately, bugs are a tough thing to completely eliminate in the real world, so vendors typically have to issue security updates. The Network Box white paper recommends that corporate blog applications be updated when new releases come out.
Here is where relying on sotware as a service, like Compendium Blogware, has a distinct advantage. Instead of tracking when a vendor updates and then going through the process of rolling out the new version to production, the hosted application provider takes care of the updates for you. Here at Compendium, releases are usually pushed out on a weekly basis, so when isues are found, it won't be long before a fix is on the way.
When you base your corporate blogging platform on Compendium Blogware, many of the issues of maintaining a secure blogging environment will be taken out of your "worries" tray. Isn't that a price worth paying?
Amid all the buzz of blogs and business, something usually gets short shrift -- application security. The multinational law firm Pinsent Masons maintains an IT and e-commerce issues blog called OUT-LAW.COM, and a recent post takes up this issue.
Citing some statistics and advice from a white paper by computer security system vendor Network Box (free registration required), the post gives some ideas on the scope of the issue and recommendations on what a blogger can do to mitigate the risks, which include potential damage to your company's reputation.
The white paper identifies comment spam and SQL injection as the top threats to a blogging environment.
Comment spam is one of the ways that malicious third parties can abuse the visitor content creation features to your detriment. This was one of the forms of "virtual blight" that Google spam fighter Matt Cutts discussed in his talk from this past Wednesday.
Compendium addresses from several angles:
- Comment forms require a name and a syntactically valid e-mail address. The comment will be rejected if these form elements are not provided.
- A CAPTCHA must be successfully completed, otherwise the comment will be rejected.
- The text of the comment is stripped of all HTML tags.
- URLs are converted to hyperlinks with the the
rel="nofollow"attribute to prevent spammers from feeding off of your search engine reputation. - Comments must be reviewed and approved by the company's local blog administrator before going live. There is no way for the spammer to bypass this.
Cautious parameter validation on the server side provides a first line of defense. The next line is using care in how query strings are formed. Consideration of these points is an integral part of our development process, not an afterthought. Moreover, they are backed up with regular code reviews and continuous refinement of our coding standards.
Unfortunately, bugs are a tough thing to completely eliminate in the real world, so vendors typically have to issue security updates. The Network Box white paper recommends that corporate blog applications be updated when new releases come out.
Here is where relying on sotware as a service, like Compendium Blogware, has a distinct advantage. Instead of tracking when a vendor updates and then going through the process of rolling out the new version to production, the hosted application provider takes care of the updates for you. Here at Compendium, releases are usually pushed out on a weekly basis, so when isues are found, it won't be long before a fix is on the way.
When you base your corporate blogging platform on Compendium Blogware, many of the issues of maintaining a secure blogging environment will be taken out of your "worries" tray. Isn't that a price worth paying?
Posted Saturday, November 8, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
The relevance of the Long Tail with respect to search is a recurring topic among the blogging employees of Compendium. A Long Tail search marketing strategy attempts to win on niche keyword searches that are specific to the business rather than more generic phrases that may be more frequently targeted.
A recent post over at ReadWriteWeb, a popular read among us here in the Engineering team, reports on some new findings by SEO and web analytics specialist Dustin Woodward, Using statistics collected by Hitwise, Woodward found that the Long Tail is a lot longer and more substantial than anticipated. Quoting from the ReadWriteWeb post (emphasis mine):
What does this mean for a business trying to get found by potential customers? It means that there is a very good likelihood that your potential customers are using specialized keywords to find the products and services you're selling.
Another notable can be found at the end of the post:
A well done blog, keyword rich and frequently updated, will boost your profile in search engine results, and with Compendium's keyword blogs, your employee-created content is automatically organized across different search keywords, so you can get elevated search results on the Long Tail.
If this isn't a good reason to blog for your business, I don't know what is.
A recent post over at ReadWriteWeb, a popular read among us here in the Engineering team, reports on some new findings by SEO and web analytics specialist Dustin Woodward, Using statistics collected by Hitwise, Woodward found that the Long Tail is a lot longer and more substantial than anticipated. Quoting from the ReadWriteWeb post (emphasis mine):
The top 100 search terms account for 5.7% of all search traffic and include keywords like 'myspace,' 'google,' 'bank of america,' and ' yahoo mail.' Those numbers are not unexpected. However, the top 1,000 search terms only account for 10.6% of all search traffic, and even the top 10,000 search terms only drive 18.5% of all search traffic.Note that these statistics filter out keywords that would refer to adult content, so that we're referring to searches that have a greater potential relevance to mainstream businesses.
What does this mean for a business trying to get found by potential customers? It means that there is a very good likelihood that your potential customers are using specialized keywords to find the products and services you're selling.
Another notable can be found at the end of the post:
Also, looking at this data is yet another good reminder of the fact that search has replaced bookmarks and memorizing URLs for a lot of people. Most of the top search terms like 'google,' or 'usps,' are, after all, identical to their URLs.For many, search engines have become a web content database in which search terms are the primary key.
A well done blog, keyword rich and frequently updated, will boost your profile in search engine results, and with Compendium's keyword blogs, your employee-created content is automatically organized across different search keywords, so you can get elevated search results on the Long Tail.
If this isn't a good reason to blog for your business, I don't know what is.
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
meghan peters
The marketing industry is much like technology, things are constantly changing and you can never feel ahead of the curve. I'm sure every company has felt the strain of keeping up with the newest marketing trends.
Blogging has been characterized as a fleeting trend in an effort to try new marketing efforts. And not only labeled a trend, but a trend that won't last. I find it hard to believe that blogging is just a trend, not only for the fact that I work at a blogging company, but for the simple fact that we have dozens of clients that see the great benefits that blogging has to offer every day. Many of which have the revelation that blogs can be more useful then an actual company website.
When you work for a blogging company and see new clients join the Compendium family daily you gain a renewed sense that blogging is here to stay for the long haul. I would suggest jumping on the bus before it's full!
If you need a little more research on the benefits that business blogging has to offer check out our Whitepaper: Considering Blogging?
Blogging has been characterized as a fleeting trend in an effort to try new marketing efforts. And not only labeled a trend, but a trend that won't last. I find it hard to believe that blogging is just a trend, not only for the fact that I work at a blogging company, but for the simple fact that we have dozens of clients that see the great benefits that blogging has to offer every day. Many of which have the revelation that blogs can be more useful then an actual company website.
When you work for a blogging company and see new clients join the Compendium family daily you gain a renewed sense that blogging is here to stay for the long haul. I would suggest jumping on the bus before it's full!
If you need a little more research on the benefits that business blogging has to offer check out our Whitepaper: Considering Blogging?
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
Kaila Woodside
Corporate blogging is a great way to bring your expertise about a particular industry, product or service to those who are searching. However - don't forget to let your personality shine through.
A tool that was introduced to me by Compendium's Creative Designer - Mikey Mioduski as he was putting together the blog role on our website. I was interested in bringing in some more personality through music - however, not everyone at Compendium is as interested in music as I am. So, he recommended that I use IMEEM. IMEEM allowed me to pick my favorite songs and then provided an embedding code.
I know sometimes I get annoyed when music plays on a site and you have no way to turn it off - but IMEEM operates much the application you see in MySpace and allows you to pause and play the music as you see fit!
And because Compendium is a great software as a service tool, you can also embed music videos too! Oh, blogs and business is so very fun!
A tool that was introduced to me by Compendium's Creative Designer - Mikey Mioduski as he was putting together the blog role on our website. I was interested in bringing in some more personality through music - however, not everyone at Compendium is as interested in music as I am. So, he recommended that I use IMEEM. IMEEM allowed me to pick my favorite songs and then provided an embedding code.
I know sometimes I get annoyed when music plays on a site and you have no way to turn it off - but IMEEM operates much the application you see in MySpace and allows you to pause and play the music as you see fit!
And because Compendium is a great software as a service tool, you can also embed music videos too! Oh, blogs and business is so very fun!
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
Lindsey Young
Halloween is my favorite holiday. What's not to love? The leaves turning, the air turning crisp, the feel of the holiday season approaching! It's my favorite time of year. And who can resist the dressing up! And...being the animal lover that I am...dressing up my pets (see inserted photo). I know, I know, a fine line between cute and cruel, right?A blog can be so many different things, and today instead of being informational about blogging for business, I'm adding that "human" side to our marketing and making it personal! I have started reading all of my clients blogs on a pretty regular basis. I find that the ones I enjoy reading the most are the ones they add a personal touch to. I know that I can learn about their business, but I enjoy learning about them as well. Behind these company blogs are what really matter...the employees who write them.
So on that note, I hope everyone had a great Halloween - from everyone who stayed
home and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters, to people like me who go all out, dress up and still act like I'm a kid! Have a great autumn everyone!
Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by
Jenni Edwards
"Relevancy starts on-page and is confirmed off-page."
What am I talking about? SEO of course! This actually comes from a comment on one of Chris Brogan's recent posts "The Vital Importance of Links". (note my well thought out anchor text to help Chris out here). This comment from Jacob Morgan really answers the big question as to the importance of linking for SEO and for a business blogging strategy. At Compendium we are constantly being confronted by questions about link-building...and while no, this is not our business --- we do work with our mature clients on doing this and how they can best do their own blog seeding, however, as Jacob points out Step One of a successful page is related to on-page factors, or in other words --- CONTENT! Once this is under control...content is recently and frequently updated; organized around keywords into narrowly focused, highly relevant pages then it is time to seriously consider a do-it-yourself or hired non-spammy link building strategy. Even with that --- no one will ever link to you naturally without some great content. So before sidetracking your business blogs with a link building strategy, get the on page factors solved with an easy to use blogging platform.
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