DEFINITION (from Wikipedia): A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of 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. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
To blog or not to blog, that is the question – Well it is for some of our customers who ask us!
Blogging is now one of the biggest things ever to hit the Internet. It comes from the term “weblog”, when people joined forums and discussion groups and the term eventually became the verb, “blogging”.
Blogging is like on on-line diary where you can leave your thoughts and opinions on numerous subjects for other people to see. People can comment on your blog and your views and blogs can often lead to other people’s blogs, this all raises your visibility as being an expert in your niche.
There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about (Wilde Ibid.ch1)
In the early days, it was just about creating your own web page, but now it is about creating your own blog, it’s that good! Blogging is so popular in fact, that it is now a mainstream marketing medium and is used frequently to advertise new products and services. Sometimes this is subtly done, so as not to make it obvious what is taking place. Subliminal advertising does take place in blogging every bit as much as it does in the mainstream media.
So for example, if you need the latest information on the latest item you want to purchase you don’t have to rely on mainstream media anymore you can look at the latest information contained in blogs, although you need to know that the information is accurate so you need to be careful as to which blogs are factual and reliable. You can get real third part endorsements (or not!) and not just rely on what the manufacturer would leave you to believe.
The most useful aspect of blogs is that they can use almost any type of media and you can access them on your PC or your mobile device.
A blog need not be a long post though; there is now the concept of “Micro” blogs which simply means a very short post on a particular topic – it’s completely up to you
However, in order to be a successful blogger you need to make regular entries which are hopefully interesting and informative. This helps to build up readerships and if you are good enough, a fan base. It helps if you know what you are talking about and you have something interesting to say.
There are a number of sites you can visit to get you started. The one we recommend is WordPress but there are numerous blogging sites and most of these are free to join. The paid sites usually offer additional features, should you require them.
Why have a blog:-
- enable companies to engage with their audience/customers and gather feedback (collaborative approach to marketing)
- establish the company as a thought leader with gravitas (and so help win new clients)
- provide an informal voice for the company and add personality to the organisation (an antidote to faceless press releases)
- provide a platform for the company to openly respond to criticism (reputation management)
- pull down internal barriers – not everybody in large organisations can meet the CEO, but via a blog, they can know what he thinks / does
- act as repository of press releases, company announcements etc
- provide staff with a chance to share their passion for their work with the outside world
- assist with SEO as part of a wider search engine optimisation strategy
However – and this is absolutely crucial – if the company does not have a lot to say, or does not have the resources to regularly update a blog (and by this I mean weekly, if not daily – we can sort this for you as part of our service), then a blog may not be right for the website. Blogs are like any other tool. If used properly they can yield results; but if used poorly they can reflect negatively on the company – an abandoned blog is never a positive thing – not dissimilar to an out of date web-site.
Pros
- Dialogue with consumers
- Regular turnover of content to give consumers reason to return
- Seen to be embracing Web 2.0
- Search engine visibility
- Requires little budget input
Cons
- Time consuming activity, keeping content fresh and updated
- Lack of control vs. over-moderation
- Hard to measure ROI
Take a look at this video we found on Youtube… some people have too much time on their hands;-)
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