Tips on Corporate Blogging

Posted: February 19th, 2007 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: PR Tactics, SEO PR Tactics | No Comments

Almost a year ago I wrote a “news you can use” type news release for a client of mine, NetBaldwin, that performs search engine optimization services. NetBaldwin is actually about to make some news, but more about that at a later date. The release included tips for business folks on how to create your own corporate blog, and how to make it successful. It can still be found in my news release archives. It’s titled “Blogging: It’s not just for self-expression anymore.” We didn’t get too many bites on the story in the traditional media. Honestly, I’m beginning to think the release was just a bit ahead of its time. I’m hearing more and more now about corporate blogs and how they’re becoming more popular. I’m also finding more and more clients interested in my SEO PR services, which include (among many other things) blog marketing. So … I decided to dust off the release and excerpt a bit here, in case you decide to do it yourself.

It’s nothing new to find bloggers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, hogging the top of the rankings on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. What is new, however, is that companies large and small are entering the blogosphere in droves, hoping to create that success for themselves.

“One of the biggest reasons blogs are at the top of the search rankings is that they are rich in keywords,” said Laurie Baldwin, CEO of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm NetBaldwin. “Search engines create their rankings in part by looking at the words on a site and how often the words are repeated. They use those words to determine what the site is about, where it should be ranked, and what terms a search engine user must type in to find the site. A standard website’s text can only include the basic keywords, but the longer form prose used in a blog will ensure that less obvious combinations are covered.”

Baldwin cautions that all of that blogging time is wasted if it’s not done properly. She has provided a number of tips on how to create a successful corporate blog,

Update, update, and update again
·Search engines rank frequently updated sites higher than stale ones. Baldwin suggests updating as much as twice a week or even more. Aside from the search engine ranking benefits, frequent updates can turn users into frequent visitors or even customers.

Stay on target
·Whether you write your own corporate blog or you have someone internally or externally do it for you, be sure that what is written relates to your business. An anecdote about Uncle Benny’s hernia operation might be interesting, but unless your business has to do with hernias or operations, it won’t help you with the search engines!

Offer real content
·The best content is articles about your industry or tips and tricks for novices. Don’t be concerned about people not coming to you for business if you give away too much information. By giving them usable information, you’ll be demonstrating that you’re an expert in your field.

Free isn’t necessarily a good deal
·Websites that offer blogging as a free service are great, but they’re not going to help your company’s search engine ranking very much. Baldwin recommends using a package such as MyST Blogsite™ (Editor’s note: Wordpress works great too) that resides on the same web server as your website. Using this strategy, the search engines will consider your blog part of your site and rank it accordingly. If it resides elsewhere, it’s considered a separate site.

These days I would add at least one additional tip:

Make sure your blog is optimized and marketed
If no one can find your blog, no one will read it except perhaps your Aunt Hilda. To ensure your hard work pays off, be sure to do the necessary SEO work to optimize your site, and market it on the many social bookmarking sites out there today (such as Digg, Del.icio.us, and Technorati). It’s time-consuming work, but it pays off. If you don’t have time, hire someone like me to help you!

Feel free to add your own tips, via the comment form. If you’re a member of the media and want to interview Laurie or I on this topic, feel free to email me.

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