I have noticed quite a number of corporate blogs recently that have been updated regularly but they don’t seem to be acting socially. It’s called social media for a reason because it is two way – so pushing corporate content in one direction is just one element of the process.
I have been working in online PR for a number of years now and I have definitely noticed that a lot more marketers accept that blogging does have major SEO benefits. Halleluiah – our work is now done then and we can all relax. Hang on a minute…
In this post I am not going to bang on about writing online content just for Google because I covered that last week here. What I mean is blogging and social media campaigns are about creating interesting content that helps create conversations with your core audience no matter who that is. This doesn’t mean it has to be boring keyword packed copy that just ticks the SEO box. It should be the more interesting stuff that helps bring the company to life rather than the duller run of the mill stuff.
For instance, does the CEO of your company or client have a hobby like running, swimming or better yet fencing? If so why not start covering his marathons and add a charity element on the blog and you have got something interesting to talk about that makes your client seem slightly more interesting that the competition.
A blog should act like the window into the business – it should bring it to life beautifully and shouldn’t be a chore. It is not your corporate brochure – don’t let the senior team suck your creativity away.
Even if you do have well written content, and you have created a designated conversation calendar for the next three months, you should still be asking yourself a few quick questions.
Here are my fifteen questions to ask yourself:
- Do you have a content calendar/plan?
- Have you properly syndicated your corporate blog?
- Is it plugged into all of your social channels using a service like Twitterfeed? Are their share buttons on each post?
- Does it have different categories? Do you make sure you use them properly on each post? (Don’t use uncategorised)
- Does your blog actually allow comments? (I have seen a lot that don’t and that is bad practice)
- Is your feed managed and optimised through Feedburner?
- Does it have a search facility? Or an archives section so people can quickly find your content?
- Does it have an about page?
- Does it name the writers and explain who they are?
- Is it easy to subscribe? By email for instance.
- Have you actually identified the influencers in the blogosphere and have you commented on their sites?
- Have you optimised your content for SEO? Do you use the All in one SEO Plugin for instance.
- Do you share your articles on article sites such as Ezine articles?
- Do you actually track all of your content using an analytics package? What is your favourite post for instance?
- Have you added the blog onto other materials business cards, brochures and news releases?
Here’s a useful post from Kris de Leon on Social Media Today, in it he covers how to increase comments to your blogs and he makes some good points including this one:
Take the time to read other blogs that are related to your niche. This will give you a better understanding of what’s going on in your niche, and better enable you to provide more value to your audience. If you happen to read an amazing article or blog post, leave a quality comment with your thoughts, and if the blogger allows it, indicate a link back to your blog. Other people who read that blog will take notice of your comment, and be encouraged to check out your own blog and post their own comments.
This is my point, you should be spending as much time commenting on other blogs (if not more) than writing your own content. A comment becomes a link back to your blog and then more people can find you. I mean ask yourselves how did you find this post?
Here are Kris’ top 5 tips for getting more comments
- Tip #1: Make sure it’s easy for the reader to comment
- Tip #2: Ask Questions
- Tip #3: Respond to people who comment
- Tip #4: Comment on other blogs
- Tip #5: Invite a bit of controversy
