Traversing The Business Blogging Minefield
26.05.2008
As our favourite blogging platform WordPress turns 5 years old this week, and with the introduction of new legislation on disclosure in commercial communications, we thought it pertinent to talk about the benefits of blogging to business, and how to keep out of trouble.
Here’s how to use a business blog to your advantage: (Download this article as a PDF)
Give your company personality
Blogging gives a company an opportunity to express itself in a less formal, more human way, and develop on-going and meaningful relationships with their customers. Consumers can get a real sense from a blog that’s there’s something actually going on and there are real people behind it.
Improve Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Blog posts rank higher than static web pages in Google and other search engines, because blogs fulfil many of the key requirements for good page ranking. These include tighter focus on content, links to other relevant sources and regular updating. For more information on SEO, contact us.
Re-inforce your expertise
You can use your blog to post information and invite discussion on key issues/techniques/
knowledge in your industry, thus making your website/blog a useful and respected resource to those with an interest in your industry – which can convert readers into customers.
Generate leads
Attracting people to your website via your blog (which can draw people in through more channels than your website on its own) is effectively a lead-generation exercise, especially if people sign-up for updates or an accompanying newsletter.
Encourage interaction
Blogs give customers and potential customers the opportunity to interact with you and other customers and readers, creating a sense of community and promoting brand loyalty. People with an interest in your area may link to your blog, further enhancing your SEO, and driving readers of others blogs and websites to yours.
Provide communication options
Blogs provide an opportunity to unobtrusively communicate with readers in the way that they choose i.e. via an RSS feed, by signing up for email updates or by returning to the blog.
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS BLOGGING
A personal Weblog (as they’re called in full) has traditionally been an online diary of one person, listing informal entries, of any length, that are often personal, candid and revealing.
While business blogs should still be informal and candid, your business blog should be seen as central part of your online marketing mix, for publishing “news and views” about your product, service and the industry you work in.
Read on for our top tips for an effective company blog .
TOP TIPS FOR BUSINESS BLOGGERS
Be yourself
You can’t be exposed for being fake or lying if you are honest! Just tell people what the company has been up to, related things of interest and let people know who you are.
Don’t be afraid of having an opinion
While slating competitors, previous suppliers and staff is probably not a good idea, if you have an opinion on something that’s relevant to your readers, get it out there. Every company has its philosophies, and key people will have their viewpoint on certain industry issues. Blogging is a great opportunity to show people what you’re made of.
Be prepared to accept feedback – good and bad.
Voicing your opinion means letting other people have theirs – so while it’s imperative to moderate your blog comments, you should publish the good and the not so good feedback, if you want to demonstrate humility, fairness and credibility and foster trust in your organisation.
View negative feedback as an opportunity, not a disaster
If people have negative opinions on a product or service, they may not be the only one. Airing and responding to not-so-positive viewpoints gives you an opportunity to correct misconceptions, defend yourself, make things right or acknowledge an error. This kind of honest, two-way communication can really help customers feel like you are constantly striving to make things better, listen to your customers and are ready to respond to change.
Link to other stuff
Despite what you may think, your news may not really be enough to keep people coming back to your blog – but include posts about other things that will be of interest, links to other blogs and websites – then it just might. And, if you want people to link to you, it’s only fair …
Blog regularly and consistently
To maintain an engaging blog, you need to post regularly and consistently. It’s important for SEO too, that there is plenty of content and that it’s updated regularly.
Google yourself
It’s important, whether you have a blog or not, to constantly monitor what is being said about your company online. Is their any negative feedback? Respond! Who rates you? Link to it. Who is linking to you? Perhaps you can link back to them to return the favour. Check out other blogs on similar topics and see how other people are communicating with their customers.
Keep it casual
While it doesn’t look good to have a business blog full of shocking writing and spelling mistakes, it doesn’t need to be a perfect, polished piece of communication either. Make it a conversation.
Business blogs don’t have to use formal language, posts can be any length, and you are entitled to an opinion, although you should be able to back it up and stick by the basics of business conduct when writing.
To find out more about how blogging and social media can help your business, email us on interactive@vgroup.com or call us on 01273 766 300.
CASE IN POINT
One of our most specialist clients, Broadblue Catamarans, do something that not that many people do – they design and build highly coveted luxury catamarans, and their potential target audience are people with an interest in such things, and catamaran sailing in general.
Marketing Manager Victoria Alexander uses Broadblue’s blog (The Broadblue Broadcast) to publish news, press releases, boat tests, using a WordPress blog we’ve skinned to match the rest of the site, and customised the functionality to function as the news section of the site as a whole.
Victoria is also publishing new boat designs and key stages and milestones of boat builds in progress, to keep those who have purchased new boats and those thinking about it on the cutting edge of product development.
So if Broadblue were to give someone a Broadblue Catamaran and pay them to sail around the world pretending to be Joe Public in a catamaran that just happened to be built by Broadblue, documenting only glowing reports on the boat, that would be a bit of a flog.
But if Broadblue were to give someone a Catamaran and pay them to sail abound the world blogging their experiences and how they got on with the boat on the Broadblue Broadcast, then this would be showing blogging transparency, and likely be a more credible piece of marketing than the fake blog.
If the boating bloggers were to document all their experiences with the vessel, good and bad, on the company blog, then you’d likely feel a lot more like you were getting an honest review. And it would give Broadblue the opportunity to discuss any perceived oversights with their audience, explain why they designed certain features they way they did, air what they are planning to do to rectify problems, or just generally give the bloggers a pat on the back for a good idea and then use the blog to keep people posted on new product developments and wish lists.
So, which model are we going to give the lucky bloggers, Victoria, and who wants to hit the high seas?
Tags: boat building, Broadblue catamarans, business blogging, catamarans, social media