Business Website Advice

Many blogs go belly-up, get abandoned in the too hard basket.   In this Blog Basics Part 3 - How to Write a Blog  would-be blog writers consider if it’s the right choice, what planning is needed, how much time and skill are needed plus a quick run of basic blog techniques. All big picture stuff. Details will follow.

Focused on writing a blog, this is the third in a three part series on the basics of blogs. Part 1 how they work, the process.  Part 2 how to read and understand them with screen shots showing 22 blog elements.  Disclaimer: the series is reference material, not quick  reads.

Whether you are an artist with regular new editions, or conduct business workshops or garden tours here are some issues to consider.

Blogs Suit Many Types of Businesses

The determining factors are your business strategies and your writing skills. Often it’s the professional services who clearly need blogs such as consultants, accountants, lawyers. Tourism sites are a big user of blogs. Plus, customer service oriented retail sites can benefit.
Two categories of blogs means two categories of writers.

1. Diary style online journals. They’re the majority of blog writers.  Young writers, old writers, skilled, unskilled, ranters and ravers, weepers and seekers:  all use online journals and most often take advantage of the ubiquitous free blog sites. Few flourish, many flounder.
2. Business blogs. These blogs have clear business objectives and the focus of this article. It can be kept private for internal use only or a public style blog used for new existing customers with the goal of attracting new customers. We’ll focus on the later in this article.

Business objectives that merit having a blog.  Can your business benefit from any of the following eight points? If the answer is yes, you need a blog.

1. frequent, as in daily or weekly publishing of newsletters,
2. frequently changing content that your customers look to you to provide,
3. regular product updates or new versions, safety warnings. Think artists new range or editions, think tips on new ways of doing something, think new regulations. Think laws, policy or compliance issues.
4. customer feedback such as tourism operators need to provide.
5. any business where the decision to buy or use the service is highly influenced by other’s opinions, where customers want a glimpse at other’s experiences before they buy. Some industries are more influenced by this than others. 
6. fans or support group following, including celebrity.
7. benefit from an online community of smaller circles of readers, with you in the centre of one circle writing about your area of expertise.
8. you have a growing list of clients you want to hold on to and reach out to from time to time.

More on this last point.  Tourism sites often have a feature where you can read other’s comments on their travel experience.  Offline we often ask ‘how did you like it there?’, when people return from a holiday.  You can offer this feature online through connecting the Leave a Reply or Comment page, to your static tourism website. Easy in blogs.  The goal:  help your website visitors to hear from others in their own words.  Testimonials attempt to do this, but travellers have come to depend on travel blogs to ‘just make sure’ this is the right choice for them.  So blogs can help quicken decision making and increase conversion rates of visitors to buyers.

Planning the Blog - 10 steps

Like any project, planning is a critical stage. Miss it and you miss the quick boat to your intended destination and end up on the slow boat to hell.

1. Plan your blog focus. What’s your name and tagline, make it keyword-rich. This step requires heaps of thinking. Put in the research. It will guide your whole project. It’s not a time to be cute or obscure.  You want to be search engine friendly.
2. Decide to moderate comments or not. You can let comments appear with no moderation. The downside is unmoderated sites become spam targets and can get so luttered the sites turn away serious readers. You can moderate, thus screening out spam and filtering bullies or rude comments.  Careful not to appear as if censoring anything negative.  It is recommended by many successful bloggers to allow debate on all sides, I concur, but to retain control of the tone of your blog. After all it’s yours. Also, don’t edit comments. Besides being a free speech issue you aren’t the English teacher here.  Let the comments come in all their gory glory, eloquent or succinct in style.
3. Write your Terms and Conditions. Look at others then write a statement for your policy on content and comments so everyone knows your rules. While you don’t have to name it T & C, your position on the issues should be clear.
4. Software decisions.  Wordpress blog software was recommended by Michael Brandon, whom I consider New Zealand’s SEO guru. He was conducting an SEO workshop sponsored by WDANZ in February 2007.   Experienced webmaster and blogger, Stephen Gardner, seconded the notion.  I’ve heard or read confirmation of their opinion, Wordpress rules. Do a google for ‘free blog’ and you’ll find heaps.
5. SEO importance. With many software choices to chose from, I chose Wordpress for the very reason Michael gave which was the magic bullet statement I was listening for.  Wordpress enables the customisation and meta tag control for proper SEO work. End of story. Clearly I wanted to practice what I preach, I needed control as I worked toward optimising my site for my three main keyword search phrases, website advice and website help and sticky websites.
6. Call on your web designer for help in creating a seamless look and feel or skin as it’s sometimes called.  You can try out several themes, determine number of columns, consider what blog elements you need to meet your business goals. You should have a reason other than it’s a groovy thingy. When it came time for me to start my blog Wordpress was also the software of choice of my ever patient, long time web designer Jo Couchman whose site gives heaps of  blogging tips, some of which sprang from features I requested. I’m glad to see her offering know how  to bloggers wanting a DIY approach.  At a minimum, look at other blogs and make a list of things you want on yours.  Some you’ll be able to do yourself, some you may need your designers help. I accidentally came across what turned out to be a helpful tech writer’s blog on Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog. Notice Tom uses the same Wordpress theme as I do. His is more off the shelf. I customised mine more but I’m a regular reader of his blog aimed at professional technical writers, my previous life.
7. Many people to help you.  By no means are Jo and Steve the only blog designers. In fact, I’m keen on writing an article highlighting some local New Zealand designers keen to come on board making their design passions known along with some cost guides. Let me hear from you. On the other hand, on blogs - some designers don’t, won’t, haven’t. I wouldn’t want them to learn on your dime.
8. Don’t waste your time with software offering no control of meta tags.  If search engine visibility is remotely important to you, do not waste your time working with any blog or website template site that does not give you over the tags and headings.  I’d write that last sentence in capital letters but that would be shouting.
9. Your URL is your online address. It tells a lot about who you are, your budget, your seriousness as a business.  Hobbyists or cheapskates use the free software  that comes with URL that market the software company name. Example:  yourname.blogspot.com or yourname.wordpress.com   See what I mean.  Remedy.  Use your own URL, host it yourself.  Look like a real business, a serious business.  Your web designer can help you.  Not all ISP or hosting companies provide good support for blogs.
10. Choose a keyword-rich domain name. Use one of your important keywords. This will tell search engines you really truly are a site about whatever that keyword is.  Truly, see it listed on my Search Engine Visibility Advice v9 overview, a free download for you.

Blog Writers Have Something to Say

By far the most important requisite of a blog writer is you have some expertise you passionately want to share. While this is a short paragraph is a big big concept. 

A Time- Suck

How much time is needed? In a word, lots.  You need time to think. This is a hugely consuming step to frequent writing. I hear Rose Chapman, my former colleague at NorthTec. It’s the laugh of agreement from a teacher of writing and avid reader who knows how important it is to think while writing. Her knowing may be joined by Louise Landess in Canterbury, a skilled professional writer. We all know the all-consuming role thinking occupies in the life of a writer. 

Afer thinking comes time to draft, time to plan, time to revise, time to manage drafts, time to manage ideas, time to strategise. I’ve probably missed something.

Writing Skills Needed

Opinionated Cred. Business blog readers expect to get opinions from experts who know what they are talking about and speak with confidence. If readers wanted an encyclopedic explanation they’d go to Wikipedia. But blog readers want opinions.

Authencity refers to hearing a real person in the writing. Readership grows when they feel a connection. Connection does not happen with an automaton writing in a closet.

Comic okay, sarcasm careful. Opinions are needed but new writers find them hard to give without sarcasm. Tread carefully. Many experts come from academia which frowns on bias. New writers often miss the small inflection cues given with the human voice that alerts the listener it’s a joke.  Readers of sarcasm are often feel leftout of an insiders discussion or confused. They won’t stick around for much esteem wounding talk, it’s outathere.  Step beyond sarcasm to wit; permit yourself to have fun with language.

Style and Voice. Both are a choice and should be consistent.  Both should deliver what the audience - the reader - expects and requires in order to hear your message be it formal and authoritative sounding or friend-next-door chatty. Consider your business persona and match it. If you are quite formal and economic with words your reader may hear standoffish. If too chatty they may hear sloppy. 

What are you delivering? Encouragement or instructions? Both are written with different styles. Use the wrong style, readership will likely drop off.

Authenticity is the foundation of good writing. Readers can hear the person. Blog readers don’t want an automoton writing articles.

They shouldn’t think different people are writing articles. For personal diary blogs, grammar and spelling aren’t too important. Whereas, if you are a business owner, readers probably equate your writing skills with your thinking skills.  Drat. Your errors will be associated with your skill. First impressions and all that.  Spell check is available sometimes. I don’t have it, wish I did. Help me out and spot my errors. I just don’t see them after awhile.

Prolific writing can’t be seen as work. While the blogosphere is a dynamic publishing environment without stringent need for laborious time consuming picky editing as in print media, it’s only experienced comfortable writers who can keep the copy flowing.  Ask any writer.  It’s something you have to love to do and work at regularly, without dread. Is that you?

Technical Skill Needed

You need to be fearless, willing to have a go. I’d say completely comfortable with word processing and comfortable doing some research on forums and discussion boards. At least comfortable to the point of learning what to ask a web designer for help in.  If you want a packaged deal, off the shelf, one size fits some then it will be easier.  Surely that’s a starting point for many blog writers. 

Perhaps you’ll want more skills. Depending on how cosmic you get with the features you want to offer your readers, some of which I show and describe in Part 2 of this series, at a minimum you’ll need to feel comfortable looking at and using some html code.

Basic Blogging Techniques

You will learn as you go, stretch a bit, use it, learn some more, stretch in and out of your comfort zone.  That’s my modus operandi. Subscribe to blogs, research blog layouts, lurk super popular blogs such as slashdot.com to watch full blown discussion The fundamentals of blogging are:

1. write posts often and with descriptive headings telling ‘how’ rather than ‘what’
2. link to other experts
3. use blockquotes
4. make it easy to subscribe
5. make it easy for readers to find their way around with a site index
6. select new topics to respond to your readership.
7. add visuals to elucidate an idea
8. be real and allow contact
9. encourage particiaption with the goal of widening your online community
10. keep abreast of do’s and don’ts of the blogosphere culture

In summary, to keep from being one of the blogs that is left for dead, you need to know what you’re getting into, plan your business blogging strategies so you can justify the huge amount of  time you’re spending blogging. Then celebrate with me. You now have an outlet for your writing and business passions.

Bring on the comments and questions.

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