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!
Posted Friday, July 18, 2008 by
Kristen Hanschu
Individuals and organizations who are using some of our competitors (and for sake of being respectful, I will not name names) are running into problems with people commenting on their blogs. A reader will leave a negative remark and the accused has no way of monitoring or deleting the comment. In fact, there have been some lawsuits over unlawful statements and comments that are made on blogs and websites.
In a recent article by Wendy Davis, Roommates.com was sued for civil rights violations. With this said, our prospective clients are usually nervous when it comes to the commenting portion of our business blogging software.
Our blogging platform allows the individual or company to view all comments before they go live. Compendium's advanced system give them the power to approve and decline all comments that people leave. Therefore, nothing will be shown on your blog site that you did not approve. To view what our comment section looks like, you can view my blog. Additionally, our comment section requires that the reader fill out a captcha which does not allow for people to spam your site.
In a recent article by Wendy Davis, Roommates.com was sued for civil rights violations. With this said, our prospective clients are usually nervous when it comes to the commenting portion of our business blogging software.
Our blogging platform allows the individual or company to view all comments before they go live. Compendium's advanced system give them the power to approve and decline all comments that people leave. Therefore, nothing will be shown on your blog site that you did not approve. To view what our comment section looks like, you can view my blog. Additionally, our comment section requires that the reader fill out a captcha which does not allow for people to spam your site.
Posted Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by
Eric Romer
I had a "mini-dinner party" with two friends last night from college. It was a pretty good deal, as they provided the food & wine, and I just offered up my portable tailgate grill & kitchen. I'll take that arrangement any day....So, as we were talking, one of my friends said she loved company blogging at her old job because it allowed her to be more creative. It wasn't formal press release writing, which can be a bit dry.
My other friend asked "do people really read blogs?", which was an honest perspective I think many people have. I used to think the same thing, and I'm 93% sure it's just that word: BLOG.
It has a connotation that seems elite, or only for the tech-savvy. That's simply not true. The word "blog" comes from "web log". With simple blog software, t's just an easy way to log/journal/document your life or business on the web.
Don't fear blogs - they're here to make communication easier in a constantly evolving era of technology. A corporate blog allows your business to easily communicate on a human level.
Posted Monday, July 7, 2008 by
Ali Sales
Maybe you've seen this new report from Forrester Research, or just heard the buzz about it from MediaPost.
The 5 second overview is this: Fewer companies started corporate blogs in 2007 than in 2006.
Now the interesting parts are this:
Here's why. Fortune 500 companies a) have huge budgets, which tends to squash creativity and humanization. Why do something like creating corporate weblogs when I can run a commercial that will reach 10 million people all at once? Old habits certainly die hard here.
b) Fortune 500 companies are the most afraid of blogs. Control and compliance is important to them, and with an increase (someone find this article, because I know it's out there) in employee-related blogging incidents, they're scared. And that fear prevents them from doing blogging the right way.
Hopefully that's a good start to getting the wheels spinning and not necessearily taking this report at face value. I have a lot more to say on the topic, but I'll be honest. It's 6pm and I need to be somewhere. More tomorrow.
The 5 second overview is this: Fewer companies started corporate blogs in 2007 than in 2006.
Now the interesting parts are this:
- Who Forrester paid attention to in the study
- What caused the decline
Here's why. Fortune 500 companies a) have huge budgets, which tends to squash creativity and humanization. Why do something like creating corporate weblogs when I can run a commercial that will reach 10 million people all at once? Old habits certainly die hard here.
b) Fortune 500 companies are the most afraid of blogs. Control and compliance is important to them, and with an increase (someone find this article, because I know it's out there) in employee-related blogging incidents, they're scared. And that fear prevents them from doing blogging the right way.
Hopefully that's a good start to getting the wheels spinning and not necessearily taking this report at face value. I have a lot more to say on the topic, but I'll be honest. It's 6pm and I need to be somewhere. More tomorrow.
Posted Friday, June 27, 2008 by
Ali Sales
This year, local advertisers are expected to shift over $13 billion of their budgeted funds to the Internet, according to Borrell Associates. That number is up by 50% over the last year.
Why is this relevant to you? Because we can't ignore the huge role that local search is going to play for nearly every kind of business, even national chains and enterprises who are stretching themselves for ways to get back to the basics of relationship building. And guess what?
Business blogging will most certainly play a role in the migration of dollars from off-line to online and in the local search arena.
There are a few key things driving this shift:
1) People want to buy from people (i.e. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, like in Cheers)
2) People want to buy from people who *are like them* -- of course regional/local means common ground
3) Search is the #1 online activity these days, right behind email marketing
If you attended our Humanize Your Marketing with Blogging webinar this past week, you know that company blogging leverages all of these factors. If you were unable to attend, here is a link to the instant replay.
The numbers and actions of advertisers and all kinds of companies will continue to prove that local/personal marketing is the way of the future. Starting a business blog is one of the best things you can do to get headed in the right direction and jump on a trend that's going to become the norm.
Why is this relevant to you? Because we can't ignore the huge role that local search is going to play for nearly every kind of business, even national chains and enterprises who are stretching themselves for ways to get back to the basics of relationship building. And guess what? Business blogging will most certainly play a role in the migration of dollars from off-line to online and in the local search arena.
There are a few key things driving this shift:
1) People want to buy from people (i.e. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, like in Cheers)
2) People want to buy from people who *are like them* -- of course regional/local means common ground
3) Search is the #1 online activity these days, right behind email marketing
If you attended our Humanize Your Marketing with Blogging webinar this past week, you know that company blogging leverages all of these factors. If you were unable to attend, here is a link to the instant replay.
The numbers and actions of advertisers and all kinds of companies will continue to prove that local/personal marketing is the way of the future. Starting a business blog is one of the best things you can do to get headed in the right direction and jump on a trend that's going to become the norm.
Posted Friday, June 27, 2008 by
mikey mioduski
You know how you ease into a really hot tub or even a really cold body of water? That's how I had to take my first week at Compendium for my newest summer internship as the in-house design guy. Not that I wasn't excited or ready to take on the world of corporate blogging and web 2.0 with the tenacity that these five dollar terms deserve. I just didn't want to hurt myself coming out of grad school into the pro's. I didn't seek medical advice, but I imagine any doctor would have told me this is a good idea. You know, keep a limber mind.
Bonnaroo 2008 was incredible. One of the best times of my life. Some of the best live music I've heard in some time. My advice to anyone who cares, go see My Morning Jacket this summer if at all possible.
Now finishing up my third week I am blown away at the quality of people at Compendium. Great environment. And busy. My plate has been FULL since day one. I have a canker soar in my mouth. I've been informed by a very sweet, very attractive dental hygienist that this is a sign of stress. I haven't felt stressed out. But I sure as hell have been busy. This is good.
This place is busy. That's the bottom line. The more I am learning about our software, services, and corporate blogging in general, the more I am starting to understand why the weeks have flown by.
Time to go!
Bonnaroo 2008 was incredible. One of the best times of my life. Some of the best live music I've heard in some time. My advice to anyone who cares, go see My Morning Jacket this summer if at all possible.
Now finishing up my third week I am blown away at the quality of people at Compendium. Great environment. And busy. My plate has been FULL since day one. I have a canker soar in my mouth. I've been informed by a very sweet, very attractive dental hygienist that this is a sign of stress. I haven't felt stressed out. But I sure as hell have been busy. This is good.
This place is busy. That's the bottom line. The more I am learning about our software, services, and corporate blogging in general, the more I am starting to understand why the weeks have flown by.
Time to go!
Posted Sunday, June 22, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
Trade publication eWeek ran a story on Friday about Google promoting it's App Engine as a workflow tool to bring web designers and developers together. The most interesting part of the story was a collection of remarks by Lindsey Simon, a UX software engineer, and John Skidgel, a web designer, both who work at Google.
Both Simon and Skidgel articulated the need for a close working relationship between engineer and designers. So close, in fact, that Simon said it should be almost spousal. Both roles needed to have a respect for each other's strengths and enough knowledge about the other's job to communicate effectively.
Taking the spousal analogy a step further, Skidgel and Simon described what hypothetical personal ads might say. Simon's designer ad read:
On a related note, If you know of someone who might be thinking about starting a business blog, you might be interested in taking advantage of Compendium's friend referral promotion, which offers a $50 Starbucks card for each valid referral, up to 10 referrals. Details and disclaimers can be found at Compendium's website.
Both Simon and Skidgel articulated the need for a close working relationship between engineer and designers. So close, in fact, that Simon said it should be almost spousal. Both roles needed to have a respect for each other's strengths and enough knowledge about the other's job to communicate effectively.
Taking the spousal analogy a step further, Skidgel and Simon described what hypothetical personal ads might say. Simon's designer ad read:
"Seeking an unpretentious, scrappy, well-rounded interaction and visual designer." The qualities listed as being sought after were, "Takes criticism without a hissy fit, willing to entertain rants about back-end/front-end code, knows Photoshop kung fu and not afraid of code."Skidgel's ad for a UX engineer read:
"Takes suggestions without going ballistic, appreciates aesthetics, deep and broad understanding of front-end and back-end technology, and not afraid to express himself visually—he can draw [or] chicken-scratch flows."At the heart of this humorous exercise was a serious message. Quoting Simon's words:
"You can't really have a meaningful design for these kinds of applications anymore if you really want to separate strict visual design and interaction design from the act of engineering it. That's not really a productive workflow." As a developer, "you want to work with your designer, and from the beginning."Developing highly advanced blogging software has put this issue front and center with the engineering team at Compendium. Although the overall appearance of our application is drawn up by a professional design team, many of us have to don the designer hat every once in a while as we develop rich user interfaces for things like blog web page customization and content authoring. Soon our team will be growing to include a developer who will be focused on developing more powerful blogging features, the kinds of things that our current and future customers say they want from an Enterprise 2.0 blog.
On a related note, If you know of someone who might be thinking about starting a business blog, you might be interested in taking advantage of Compendium's friend referral promotion, which offers a $50 Starbucks card for each valid referral, up to 10 referrals. Details and disclaimers can be found at Compendium's website.
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008 by
Ali Sales
Here we go again...5 points down, 4 to go. To view points 1-3 on evaluating your online traffic, go here. For points 4-5, go here.
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic (cont)
6. Be aware of navigation paths
Nearly all of us have an ideal way that we'd like visitors to navigate through our business blogs or website. The question is: do your visitors follow that path, or do they create your own? Go ahead and take a hard look at "where" you're driving your traffic to -- where do you want them to go after they show up? Are you hoping that a click or two will lead them to take the next step? Will a download that you want to put them over the edge actually take them away from the path you've mapped out? Ideally you are getting your visitor to take the next step with as few of clicks as possible. That comes down to usability, which is an entire issue in itself!
7. Tie in conversion
This comes back to point 3, which encourages you to pay close attention to traffic quality versus traffic quantity. Tying in conversion numbers should not be an after-thought. Anytime you're evaluating your online traffic, you should be pulling conversion into the equation. Traffic numbers alone can be misleading...there's an end goal you're driving to, and traffic alone won't get you there.
When I first sat down to put these thoughts together, I didn't think that 9 key points would be a stretch. Here I am at point 7, wondering what I've left off the list so far. I could really use a little help.
Is everyone else applying these things to their evaluation of their blogging program or website? What else comes to mind? 2 points to go!
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic (cont)
6. Be aware of navigation paths
Nearly all of us have an ideal way that we'd like visitors to navigate through our business blogs or website. The question is: do your visitors follow that path, or do they create your own? Go ahead and take a hard look at "where" you're driving your traffic to -- where do you want them to go after they show up? Are you hoping that a click or two will lead them to take the next step? Will a download that you want to put them over the edge actually take them away from the path you've mapped out? Ideally you are getting your visitor to take the next step with as few of clicks as possible. That comes down to usability, which is an entire issue in itself!
7. Tie in conversion
This comes back to point 3, which encourages you to pay close attention to traffic quality versus traffic quantity. Tying in conversion numbers should not be an after-thought. Anytime you're evaluating your online traffic, you should be pulling conversion into the equation. Traffic numbers alone can be misleading...there's an end goal you're driving to, and traffic alone won't get you there.
When I first sat down to put these thoughts together, I didn't think that 9 key points would be a stretch. Here I am at point 7, wondering what I've left off the list so far. I could really use a little help.
Is everyone else applying these things to their evaluation of their blogging program or website? What else comes to mind? 2 points to go!
Posted Friday, June 6, 2008 by
Ali Sales
Welcome back to my top 9 list for ways to evaluate your online traffic. (Find the top 3 on my last blog post). I'll let this shake out into a few more posts, with points 4 and 5 included here.
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic (continued)
4. Pay attention to new vs. returning visitors
I've heard a lot of marketers rejoice when they see their "returning traffic" % go up. "Yes, they liked what they found before and they came back!" Well, not so fast. I encourage you to really think about your business blogging goals before you draw this conclusion. In my business (and maybe in yours) someone who comes back to my website over and over again is not necessarily a good thing. They're lingering. They're not moving onto the next step that will help us develop a relationship.
That why, to me, new visits are a more important metric to me. I don't plan on my website or my corporate blogs serving as a long-term nurturing site; I want it to engage people right off the bat so they can quickly move on. Obviously this may be different for membership-based businesses, etc.
5. Keep an eye on bounce rates and time on site
This is a basic one, but a lot of us ignore it. Would I rather have 50 people show up to my blogs and do nothing, or 10 show up, learn a bit more, and convert? Some of the classic issues that come back to high bounce rate are lack of relevancy, lack of fresh content, and bad design. If you have a professional blog or website with fresh, relevant content, you should see good results here.
To be continued again soon...what metrics are you using to evaluate your online traffic?
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic (continued)
4. Pay attention to new vs. returning visitors
I've heard a lot of marketers rejoice when they see their "returning traffic" % go up. "Yes, they liked what they found before and they came back!" Well, not so fast. I encourage you to really think about your business blogging goals before you draw this conclusion. In my business (and maybe in yours) someone who comes back to my website over and over again is not necessarily a good thing. They're lingering. They're not moving onto the next step that will help us develop a relationship.
That why, to me, new visits are a more important metric to me. I don't plan on my website or my corporate blogs serving as a long-term nurturing site; I want it to engage people right off the bat so they can quickly move on. Obviously this may be different for membership-based businesses, etc.
5. Keep an eye on bounce rates and time on site
This is a basic one, but a lot of us ignore it. Would I rather have 50 people show up to my blogs and do nothing, or 10 show up, learn a bit more, and convert? Some of the classic issues that come back to high bounce rate are lack of relevancy, lack of fresh content, and bad design. If you have a professional blog or website with fresh, relevant content, you should see good results here.
To be continued again soon...what metrics are you using to evaluate your online traffic?
Posted Wednesday, June 4, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
Charles Cooper at CNet's news.com website has a thought provoking article about commenter rights. He mentions a blog post at Disqus' corporate weblog that proposes a bill of rights for comments. Support for comments in business blogging software is important because it fosters one of the most important blogging benefits -- customer engagement.
I took a look at the list of rights he mentions, and while the question is interesting, I think that the scope of the rights as proposed verges on overkill.
A comment posting feature helps to encourage reader participation. Where I think the commenter rights goes off the deep end is the implicit assumption the comment area is the sole venue by which the conversation must continue. I think it is just one channel, and to make commenting as feature rich as proposed would turn a blog into a bulletin board where only one user is allowed to initiate a thread.
Rather than a complicated system of post, edit, track, and remove operations, backed with policies that determine whether an after-the-fact edit is OK, why can't we just live with a simple social contract? A blogger shall allow comments from anyone. A commenter is free to write what he or she wants. Either party may delete the comment, but once the removal has been done, it's irreversible. That saves the commenter from regret for posts written in the heat of the moment, and at the same time it prevents the airbrushing that Cooper worries about in his post.
In other words, the relationship between blogger and commenter is that of a host and a guest in a house. The host invites guests, and has the right to dismiss them for bad behavior.
The question of comment ownership from a copyright standpoint is a bit tougher. Of all the comments that I have left on blogs, I've never felt a sense of ownership in the sense that I thought a blogger would needto seek permission to republish my content. If a reader is that passionate about retaining the right to determine whether the blogger can republish, he or she should probably write the comment as a full post on his or her own blog and then post a link in the comment section.
The level of discussion that the bill of rights has raised should give pause to companies rolling out a corporate weblog. Let your readers speak freely and don't be too quick to decline comments. Your customers may not always be right, but they are definitely worth listening to.
I took a look at the list of rights he mentions, and while the question is interesting, I think that the scope of the rights as proposed verges on overkill.
A comment posting feature helps to encourage reader participation. Where I think the commenter rights goes off the deep end is the implicit assumption the comment area is the sole venue by which the conversation must continue. I think it is just one channel, and to make commenting as feature rich as proposed would turn a blog into a bulletin board where only one user is allowed to initiate a thread.
Rather than a complicated system of post, edit, track, and remove operations, backed with policies that determine whether an after-the-fact edit is OK, why can't we just live with a simple social contract? A blogger shall allow comments from anyone. A commenter is free to write what he or she wants. Either party may delete the comment, but once the removal has been done, it's irreversible. That saves the commenter from regret for posts written in the heat of the moment, and at the same time it prevents the airbrushing that Cooper worries about in his post.
In other words, the relationship between blogger and commenter is that of a host and a guest in a house. The host invites guests, and has the right to dismiss them for bad behavior.
The question of comment ownership from a copyright standpoint is a bit tougher. Of all the comments that I have left on blogs, I've never felt a sense of ownership in the sense that I thought a blogger would needto seek permission to republish my content. If a reader is that passionate about retaining the right to determine whether the blogger can republish, he or she should probably write the comment as a full post on his or her own blog and then post a link in the comment section.
The level of discussion that the bill of rights has raised should give pause to companies rolling out a corporate weblog. Let your readers speak freely and don't be too quick to decline comments. Your customers may not always be right, but they are definitely worth listening to.
Posted Monday, June 2, 2008 by
Ali Sales
I started thinking about this a few days ago after an in-depth analysis of our website traffic versus our blog traffic.
I have several thoughts on this subject, but I'm afraid it might turn into a meandering essay if I'm not careful.
For that reason, I'm going with the top 9 things to watch for when viewing your online traffic. I'll include 1-3 here and finish up the list over the next few days.
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic
1. Benchmark your website against your corporate blogs.
This is pretty self-explanatory, but so many organizations do not do this. Typically this responsibility falls on the marketing team -- maybe they even provide weekly/monthly metrics reports. The blogs should be included in these reports, and you should constantly keep an eye on how these results compare. You might find that your website isn't needed if your business blogs are consistently outperforming it.
2. Get into the weeds.
What I mean by that is that it isn't enough to say, "The website gets more traffic than the blogs." Or, "The website gets a ton of traffic, so it's doing well."
Where is that traffic coming from? Hopefully one of your largest traffic sources is through the search engines, like Google, and you're able to determine exactly what those keywords are, how many times they referred traffic to you, and what they did once they arrived.
It's worth it to pay attention and get your hands dirty. You'll find some of your best keywords to target and keywords that aren't worth your time. This will also give you some insight into traffic quality, which brings me to my next point.
3. Focus on traffic quality -- it will lead you to quantity.
Here's an example situation:
Let's say your website gets a million visits from various traffic sources each month. Let's say your business blogs get only a fraction of that - around 100,000.
At first glance, you might think: my corporate blogging program is a deadbeat!
But then you find that visitors who arrive at the blog stay twice as long as those who arrive at the website and convert at 15% opposed to 2% on the website. That's high quality traffic, and instead of increasing your spend to get more people to your websites, it would make sense to drive more people to your business blogs.
Even if the conversion % for the blogs stays the same, by now increasing the quantity, you will be even better off. In other words - it will lead you to do more of what's really working and making more than a superficial impact on your business.
Stay tuned for 4-9 in my next two posts. Also, here is a shameless commercial plug for a new webinar you may be interested in:
Free Webinar: How to Humanize Your Marketing
Learn more here.
I have several thoughts on this subject, but I'm afraid it might turn into a meandering essay if I'm not careful.
For that reason, I'm going with the top 9 things to watch for when viewing your online traffic. I'll include 1-3 here and finish up the list over the next few days.
9 Ways to Evaluate Your Online Traffic
1. Benchmark your website against your corporate blogs.
This is pretty self-explanatory, but so many organizations do not do this. Typically this responsibility falls on the marketing team -- maybe they even provide weekly/monthly metrics reports. The blogs should be included in these reports, and you should constantly keep an eye on how these results compare. You might find that your website isn't needed if your business blogs are consistently outperforming it.
2. Get into the weeds.
What I mean by that is that it isn't enough to say, "The website gets more traffic than the blogs." Or, "The website gets a ton of traffic, so it's doing well."
Where is that traffic coming from? Hopefully one of your largest traffic sources is through the search engines, like Google, and you're able to determine exactly what those keywords are, how many times they referred traffic to you, and what they did once they arrived.
It's worth it to pay attention and get your hands dirty. You'll find some of your best keywords to target and keywords that aren't worth your time. This will also give you some insight into traffic quality, which brings me to my next point.
3. Focus on traffic quality -- it will lead you to quantity.
Here's an example situation:
Let's say your website gets a million visits from various traffic sources each month. Let's say your business blogs get only a fraction of that - around 100,000.
At first glance, you might think: my corporate blogging program is a deadbeat!
But then you find that visitors who arrive at the blog stay twice as long as those who arrive at the website and convert at 15% opposed to 2% on the website. That's high quality traffic, and instead of increasing your spend to get more people to your websites, it would make sense to drive more people to your business blogs.
Even if the conversion % for the blogs stays the same, by now increasing the quantity, you will be even better off. In other words - it will lead you to do more of what's really working and making more than a superficial impact on your business.
Stay tuned for 4-9 in my next two posts. Also, here is a shameless commercial plug for a new webinar you may be interested in:
Free Webinar: How to Humanize Your Marketing
Learn more here.
Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2008 by
Kristen Hanschu
When taking continuing education courses produced by SEOMOZ I have
found that linking is what Google considers to be the most important
factor in blogs, websites, and other online content. SEOMOZ revealed
that 6 of the top 10 most effective factors involve linking when it
comes to online search.
The 6 linking strategies include:
1. Link Popularity within the Site's Internal Link Structure
This refers to the link quality and quantity. Making sure that you have a good amount of links that lead the reader to a place where they can learn more or take action.
2. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages
Quality of links refers to whether or not you are linking externally to pages that are of importance to what you are blogging about. For example: You would not want to be witting about Ford Mustangs and link to a Hallmark greeting card.
3. Global Link Popularity of Site
If you have a product with substantial brand recognition this can be extremely helpful for you. If you are blogging about Tide detergent, then link to it. People who recognize brands will trust what you say.
4. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site
When linking, make sure that the inbound link is relevant to the topic in which you are blogging about.
5. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community
The link popularity is the authority it carries with peers in the outside world.
6. Domain Extension of Linking Site
The domain extension refers to .com, .edu, .net, etc. Research has shown that the .com extension drives far more traffic than any others.
This is the second blog about linking that I have written in 2 weeks. As you can see, it is very important when it comes to SEO and the world of Google.When taking continuing education courses produced by SEOMOZ I have found that linking is what Google considers to be the most important factor in blogs, websites, and other online content
The 6 linking strategies include:
1. Link Popularity within the Site's Internal Link Structure
This refers to the link quality and quantity. Making sure that you have a good amount of links that lead the reader to a place where they can learn more or take action.
2. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages
Quality of links refers to whether or not you are linking externally to pages that are of importance to what you are blogging about. For example: You would not want to be witting about Ford Mustangs and link to a Hallmark greeting card.
3. Global Link Popularity of Site
If you have a product with substantial brand recognition this can be extremely helpful for you. If you are blogging about Tide detergent, then link to it. People who recognize brands will trust what you say.
4. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site
When linking, make sure that the inbound link is relevant to the topic in which you are blogging about.
5. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community
The link popularity is the authority it carries with peers in the outside world.
6. Domain Extension of Linking Site
The domain extension refers to .com, .edu, .net, etc. Research has shown that the .com extension drives far more traffic than any others.
This is the second blog about linking that I have written in 2 weeks. As you can see, it is very important when it comes to SEO and the world of Google.When taking continuing education courses produced by SEOMOZ I have found that linking is what Google considers to be the most important factor in blogs, websites, and other online content
Posted Friday, May 9, 2008 by
Kristen Hanschu
There are so many blogs on the internet these days. It may make you wonder why some get ranked higher than others. One of the items that can help you get a higher ranking is using links.
This does not mean "stuffing" your blog posts with 20 irrelevant links that have nothing to do with what you are talking about. Getting a link from a relevant industry site that has a page rank of 7 or 8 will carry much more weight with the search engines than having 20-30 links from sites that do not have any page rank or are not relevant to your business.
At Compendium Blogware, our software offers an easy to use interface for bloggers. They can add links, images with links, and even documents from their web pages into the blog posts. This all resulting in higher search engine rankings.
This does not mean "stuffing" your blog posts with 20 irrelevant links that have nothing to do with what you are talking about. Getting a link from a relevant industry site that has a page rank of 7 or 8 will carry much more weight with the search engines than having 20-30 links from sites that do not have any page rank or are not relevant to your business.
Another important strategy when using a blog is linking in and out of the blog. Meaning that you are linking from your website into your blog and from your blog into your website. This is something that is easy enough to do, but too often looked over.
At Compendium Blogware, our software offers an easy to use interface for bloggers. They can add links, images with links, and even documents from their web pages into the blog posts. This all resulting in higher search engine rankings.
Posted Friday, May 9, 2008 by
Chantelle Flannery
I was at a networking event the other night and someone asked me what a blog was. At first I was kind of taken back by this then I realized that it was a really good question and I am sure many people wonder the same exact thing. So I did a little research to see how it has been defined before …
I started my research by first Googling “What is a blog”. Of course I figured that Google would answer my question or at least lead me down the right path but with 65.9 million results there was a bit to sort through.
As usual my research buddy Wikipedia was at the top of the results. Here is the definition that they provide:
“A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.”
Definition taken from Wikipedia.com
After reading over content in several websites I realized that all of these definitions are perfect for individual bloggers blogs but it doesn’t truly capture what Compendium can do for you. How would you define what your corporate blog?
Posted Thursday, May 1, 2008 by
Kristen Hanschu
Now more than ever small businesses are able to compete with larger organizations. It is all about being found on the web. The easiest way to be found on the first page of Google is by creating a blog. A blog can help a business in a number of ways:
- Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. Blog software companies such as Compendium all offer easy blogging tools to get started.
- Blogging is a low-cost alternative to having a web presence. For small business owners without the time to learn web html or the money to hire a designer/developer, blogging offers an inexpensive method to get your company's name out on the Internet.
- Updating the weblog is a much quicker process than contacting a web designer with changes or doing the coding and uploading yourself.
- Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. A powerful benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.
Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2008 by
Megan Glover
For those of you who attended and would like a recap, or if you were unable to attend Chris' last webinar: How to Create and Manage Blog content you can access the entire Webinar here.
Our friends at Webinar Resources put this great on demand presentation together! We're really excited to be able to share.
Also, mark your calendars for April 30th for another can't miss Webinar: 5 Compelling Reasons Small Businesses Should Blog. You can register here.
I've been so overwhelmed with the participation, particularly the Q&A portion at our blogging Webinars, that I'm absolutely convinced many if not all businesses out there are toying around the idea of implementing a blogging strategy.
The major hurdle seems to be "but how". And, that's where Compendium enters the picture. Let us be your blogging experts. We're not just blogging software - we're a full service blogging solution. We want businesses to blog, but want businesses to blog well.
If you're one of those who knows you should blog but a little caught up in the "how", I really encourage you to attend one of our blogging webinars or contact us and speak to a live individual. We'd be more than happy to walk you through it - no experience necessary, just a desire to grow your business through blogging.
Our friends at Webinar Resources put this great on demand presentation together! We're really excited to be able to share.
Also, mark your calendars for April 30th for another can't miss Webinar: 5 Compelling Reasons Small Businesses Should Blog. You can register here.
I've been so overwhelmed with the participation, particularly the Q&A portion at our blogging Webinars, that I'm absolutely convinced many if not all businesses out there are toying around the idea of implementing a blogging strategy.
The major hurdle seems to be "but how". And, that's where Compendium enters the picture. Let us be your blogging experts. We're not just blogging software - we're a full service blogging solution. We want businesses to blog, but want businesses to blog well.
If you're one of those who knows you should blog but a little caught up in the "how", I really encourage you to attend one of our blogging webinars or contact us and speak to a live individual. We'd be more than happy to walk you through it - no experience necessary, just a desire to grow your business through blogging.
Posted Tuesday, April 8, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
The Telegraph, a newspaper over in the UK, recently ran a story about corporate blogging, talking about the risks and the responsibilities of doing it successfully.
The story leads off with an account of the damage done when a marketing director at British retailer Tesco mentioned adverse news about his employer's future plans in his blog. The post was picked up by the press, and soon the company's stock price took a dive.
The reporter writing the story goes on to make this tongue-in-cheek remark:
The article offers up some good advice for starting a business blog:
The story leads off with an account of the damage done when a marketing director at British retailer Tesco mentioned adverse news about his employer's future plans in his blog. The post was picked up by the press, and soon the company's stock price took a dive.
The reporter writing the story goes on to make this tongue-in-cheek remark:
It was evidence, if it were needed, that business web logs should come with a corporate health warning.A successful corporate blogging initiative has to walk a fine line. On one hand, the content posted on a blog cannot be traditional public relations content. Readers won't read content that isn't real. On the other, discretion has to be exercised so that the company's reputation isn't damaged or its shareholder value diminished.
The article offers up some good advice for starting a business blog:
- Don't rely on ghost writers. Have real employees contribute content.
- Refrain from fluff and spin.
- Don't be afraid to entertain your readers.
- Post regularly.
Posted Sunday, January 13, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell blogged recently about the Sporting News' decision to add blogs to its website. His take is that the new emphasis might save the publication from a long slide into irrelevance. Pulling some excerpts from his posting:
Why am I visiting the Sporting News? Because they're making moves that could save them...
Their Sporting blog is formatted like FanHouse, which I like. Though I think the formatting and the font needs help, and there's obviously little traffic at this point judging from the comments, I believe they are certainly on their way.
While I'm still not sold on podcasting, I am sold on blogs. Some blogs. Good blogs. It's how many people like to read today. Short, quick, funny, relevant comments instead of full articles.
I think there are some useful messages from this posting, regardless of whether you're blogging just to create content or blogging to grow a business:
- Blogs are becoming a preferred channel for information. There's so much raw information coming at people these days, people are turning to blogs to sift through the noise. If this is the way people are getting information about current events, is it not too much of a stretch to speculate that people will also start to use blogs to aid buying decisions?
- Content quality is very important. Note that he uses the the adjectives "some" and "good" in front of "blogs". The limited time that drives people to blogs also works against bloggers. Unless you blog well, you won't get readers. Relevance and substance are key to keep the reader engaged.
- Poor site design can hurt you. First impressions are important, so the layout and navigation better work from the get-go. I wonder how many blog visitors will not have the patience of Mr. Rovell, simply choosing not to come back?
These points make a compelling case for business blogging and choosing Compendium Blogware for your blogging platform. Point (1) answers the question of why a business should be blogging. Points (2) and (3) answer the question "Why Compendium?"
When you set up your company blogs with Compendium, you get not only an easy-to-use platform for creating content, you get the infrastructure for controlling the quality of the content, and you get the expertise that will help you create a well designed and effective website.
Posted Sunday, December 23, 2007 by
Jenni Edwards
One of the statements that I often come across in the sales process is "my customers don't read blogs, so I don't think we should spend time and money creating one." Well, there are a few things wrong with this somewhat antiquated notion regarding business blogs. First, have you (as a markerte) asked your customers if they read blogs? Probably not. I think the amount of your target market that does read blogs is probably a lot bigger than you imagine. Next, even if a large portion of your customers don't know what a blog is --- chances are they have read one! Blogs do great in search (especially SEO Optimized blogs) and many people come across blogs everyday when they are searching Google and never realize they were "reading a blog."
The final point is that even if some of your current customers aren't "big into the blogging thing" --- chances are there are some potential customers that are searching the web with a problem that your product can solve (i.e. - a great lead); shouldn't you be standing there, telling your story and winning over new customers...acquisition through your blogging solution!
Back to the first point; below is a funny visual about Facebook "for old people" (original source here); but the truth is that the popularity of social networks, blogs and other Web 2.0 tools is growing faster in older generations --- so before you dismiss your clients as non-Internet savvy; take a second look...chances are they are doing more on the web than you think!
Posted Monday, November 5, 2007 by
Jenni Edwards
Lately I have received a lot of questions from potential clients about using our blogging solution internally as a secure communication method within their organization. Is this possible? YES! Blogging internally can be a great way to manage a lot of content, keep a living record of decisions made within groups and departments, discuss sensitive project information and more. Check out this great post from corporate communication guru Shell Holtz's Blog which does a good job of outlining the major uses and advantages of internal blogging. So if you are looking for a great internal, easy to use content management tool, consider blogging.
However, as big of fan as I am of internal blogs (Disney, DaimlerChrysler and McDonald's and many more have seen great ROI and success on their internal blogging initiatives); I would encourage any company that is considering internally blogging to take a step back and consider making external blogs a part of the communication plan as well --- acquiring customers (blogging for SEO) and communicating with customers is something that cannot be ignored by any communication or marketing team and blogging internally (exclusively) eliminates these benefits. More to come on this topic soon...seems to be an interesting decision within organizations: to blog internally, externally or both?
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