Blogs started in 1999
when Blogger was introduced. Bought by Google in 2003, Blogger is a free blogging
tool.Wordpress started in 2003.
Wright (2006) cited in Jin and Fisher Liu (2010) defined
blogs as self publishing systems on the internet.
blogs as self publishing systems on the internet.
Blogs are
•
A way of sharing information.
A way of sharing information.
•
Useful method for multiple authors to contribute
content.
Useful method for multiple authors to contribute
content.
•
Useful for news or crises sites.
Useful for news or crises sites.
•
Also used as personal diaries, opinion pieces,
political statements, photo diaries and types of websites.
Also used as personal diaries, opinion pieces,
political statements, photo diaries and types of websites.
Why Blog?
When I look back and when we started our blog the key issue
was that initial websites did not have a Content management system (CMS) and it
was expensive to update websites. Every update involved briefing the web designer
and paying additional fees. Blogs were a cheaper and often faster alternative way
of sharing news and information.
was that initial websites did not have a Content management system (CMS) and it
was expensive to update websites. Every update involved briefing the web designer
and paying additional fees. Blogs were a cheaper and often faster alternative way
of sharing news and information.
Other benefits with blogging was that most Blog Tools are
free. One of the key issues is that blogs are useful for SEO as the ‘recency’
of items means they are found by search engines.
free. One of the key issues is that blogs are useful for SEO as the ‘recency’
of items means they are found by search engines.
Corporate Blogging has developed as an art form and Ahuja
and Medury (2010) claim that Corporate Blogging is primarily about three
attributes:
and Medury (2010) claim that Corporate Blogging is primarily about three
attributes:
- Information
- Relationships
- Knowledge
Management
Other Blogging Benefits for Businesses include
•
To foster community and conversation.
To foster community and conversation.
•
To drive traffic to the product website.
To drive traffic to the product website.
•
To serve as a medium for interaction with
consumers.
To serve as a medium for interaction with
consumers.
•
A tool to interact with partners, marketing
intermediaries, associates and components of the external environment.
A tool to interact with partners, marketing
intermediaries, associates and components of the external environment.
Comparison of Blogging Tools
BlogFrog is a new type of blog software, mainly
aimed at ‘Mommy Bloggers’ who want to share info and build community quickly.
It is clever as it is available with Facebook login.
Examples of blogs using Blogfrog include:
How to Start Blogging
To get started, click on the links below:
WordPress.com – Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Blog
8 Considerations when Starting a free Blog
Whether or not to start a blog depends on your business and
its aim. Key considerations include:
its aim. Key considerations include:
- What
is the focus of your blog? - What
are your objectives? - Why
should people read it? - URL
– what do you want to call your blog? - And
is the name available? - How
will you get traffic? - How
will avoid ‘post fatigue?’ - How
will you get viewers to interact?
6 Considerations when Managing a Blog
When you’ve started your blog, the dynamics change and there
are new issues to consider:
are new issues to consider:
- Who
is responsible for the blog? - How
is it integrated into the marketing strategy? - Content:
original, curated or guest authors? - How
often should you post? - How
long is a post? - How
do you get viewers engaged? - How
do you measure results?
Useful Content
What works on blogs? Usefulcontent for blogs includes:
•
Downloadable documents that offer feature
comparisons of your product to your competitors’ products.
Downloadable documents that offer feature
comparisons of your product to your competitors’ products.
•
Case studies.
Case studies.
•
FAQs.
FAQs.
•
Useful information for customers.
Useful information for customers.
Analytics
In terms of analytics, Blogger provides its own version of analytics.
it is less detailed than Google Analytics, but provides a good overview. It’s easy to add Google Analytics to your blog and get more details.
it is less detailed than Google Analytics, but provides a good overview. It’s easy to add Google Analytics to your blog and get more details.
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