When discussing blogging as part of a web strategy, what do you think is overstated, and what is understated?
Good Answers (2)
Larry and Denice make great points, Christopher. Another thing that is often overstated is the importance of blogs relative to other forms of customer relationship building / marketing / promotion / SEO / etc.
We're seeing a blurring of the line between blogs and other forms of Web publishing. Is Twitter blogging or not, for instance?
I think for most businesses nowadays, having a company blog is a great idea, and watching the blogosphere is a must. But it's also critical to keep your eye on the big picture that shows you surrounded by prospective and actual customers. Sometimes businesses focus too much on one or two of the bridges that can connect customers to them, and not on the changing landscape upon which those bridges are being built.
In other words, don't look at "blogging" as a separate thing. Rather, try to see how it can be used in every aspect of your business, from internal communication to sales to crisis management.
One thing that is often understated is the power of blogs to make a real difference in a company's bottom line - often in the kind of low-key, gradual ways that tend to escape the big mainstream media mentions. Just plugging away, week in, week out on a blog has done absolute wonders for dozens of businesses and entrepreneurs I've known.
Denice M.
Web Business & Marketing Consultant | Digital Strategist | Content Strategist | President MacDonald Consulting Services
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Organizational Development (1), Blogging (1), E-Commerce (1)
Christopher: I recently wrote two specifc blogs related to your question. Relevance is the key to blog success - I need to be informed, amused or entertained or the blog has no value.
A blog is part of an overall strategy when it augments. Blogs allow wiggle room for author's to provide knowledge AND personality.
Take a look at my recent blog on "Learning from the best: Blogging Gurus" and you will see what I mean.
Thanks for asking!
Links:
More Answers (6)
Larry R.
Marketing and Business Development Exec
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (3), Customer Service (1), Conference Planning (1), Internet Marketing (1), Product Design (1), Communication and Public Speaking (1), Professional Organizations (1), Professional Networking (1), Blogging (1), E-Commerce (1)
Monetization is overemphasized. Relevance is underemphasized.
It's difficult to understand the perspective within which you are asking the question so I'll give you mine. For a personal finance blog for instance, a web strategy of encouraging interaction between other personal finance blogs is perhaps understated.
A lot of people focus on monetization and the reader can usually figure it out pretty quickly.
Something I have not seen as part of a web strategy is regards to blogging that I will be implimenting is the ability to IM through the blog. While I don't have time to be on there all the time, I may set up a specific time that I will be one there for an hour per week.
A good blog for info about blogging is listed below.
Thanks!
-Dustin
Links:
Sometime people want to start a company blog because it's cool, but they have no real idea of what it is all about.
I will just echo what has been said so far, and I'd like put an emphasis on the "knowledge AND personality" motto.
It's not just about giving people the latest on a topic, also adding opinions and get the community to discuss about the topic that can make the difference -- because that will get you fairly on social bookmarking and improve the perception of your company in the community.
Eric F.
Business Intelligence Consultant for Small/Medium Businesses|Excel Integration|Financial Analysis
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I agree with the earlier posters that "relevance" is important - and it's relevance to the prospect, not relevance to the blogger, that matters most. From a technical perspective, a lot of consultants overlook the importance of linking both to the host home page and to other blogs - the blog content should reflect the network that the company actually connects with (or wants to connect with).
Thanks to the other responders who included links in their answers to blogging resources - I plan to add those sites to my reading list.
Jonathan B.
Web Developer at AMP Agency
Best Answers in: Web Development (4), Blogging (3), Internet Marketing (1), Search Marketing (1), Positioning (1), Software Development (1)
I feel as if too many people look to blogging as a quick SEO fix, meaning they start a blog so they can start capturing keywords in search engines that the normal content on their website wasn't targeting. The problem with this mindset is that you lose focus on the real importance of a blog, it's quality content. A successful blog needs only ONE THING to be successful, QUALITY BLOG POSTS.
Quality blog posts are both resourceful and original in some way. This takes care of any other problems you might have; SEO, traffic, recognition, sales, etc.
Overemphasized: SEO
Underemphasized: Quality
Overemphasized - someone actually reading it the minute you post.
Underemphasized - the subject matter may only be important to YOU.
