The following is a step-by-step guide for companies that want to get started with
blogging.
Step 1: Choose
Blogging Platform
There are a variety of options for blogging platforms. They range from expensive, enterprise-class content management systems to free open source software and hosted services.
It is easiest to get started with hosted options like Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress. Costs range from free to about $200/year. Premium services offer more control over the
design and implementation of the blog.
Some include built-in metrics (e.g. TypePad does).
Many people swear by WordPress because its open source roots
have resulted in a wide array of add-ons and options. The Fusion
blog is based on Blogger, and this blog uses TypePad
Professional.
Step 2: Blogging Concepts – Themes, domain, and design
There are many options when it comes to blogging concepts. How you approach this should also influence your decisions regarding the design and domain name. These decisions, in turn, will determine the results the blog can help you achieve, e.g. in areas like marketing and SEO.
The most successful blogs are organized around compelling themes that have specific audiences in mind. Many blogs are associated with individuals rather than corporate
entities. Either way, the blog(s) can help further the company’s communications goals. I do not feel that anonymous blogs, or blogs that appear to be little more than an extension of the company website and marketing department are particularly effective.
The blog theme should influence your choice of domain name. Domain names that include the right keyword(s) for your space can boost SEO results for the blog. Using a sub-domain of your company website URL can boost traffic for the site, and the website in turn should boost traffic
for the blog. I recommend including a link (or links) to the blog(s) on your home page.
To really separate the company brand and website from the blog, you should get a totally separate domain name. This will also in general be a shorter string and thus ostensibly easier to remember and enter.
The theme can also influence the design. Unless you are trying to make the blog blend
in with the company website (which, again, I do not recommend) you will need
to decide on things like color scheme, graphics, content selection and layout.
Most blogging services make it easy to pick and arrange content and design elements. It does not cost much to create a distinctive and appealing design that looks more impressive than the standard templates offered.
Step 3: Launching the Blog
Once you have selected the blogging platform and chosen its
theme and design you are ready to launch the blog. The specific steps will vary based on your
choice of blogging platform and the options and add-ons you use. Some of the steps required to set up and
design the blog may have already been completed as part of Step 2 above.
In general, you will want to make sure the following items
are addressed before publishing the first post:
- Roles
and Permissions – This should be addressed if there will be multiple
contributors and/or if the person who sets up and maintains the blog will
be different than the one who posts content. You will need to specify roles and
editing/access rights.
- Domain
name mapping – If you have secured a domain name for the blog or want it
to be a sub-domain of your company website, you will need to make sure
that domain name mapping or redirection from the domain of the hosted
service is in place.
- Publicity
options – There are a variety of feeds and pinging mechanisms that should
be set up. These alert search
engines and RSS news readers/aggregators when you have a new post.
- Commenting,
trackbacks, social sharing – There are various ways in which these
elements can be enabled. Having
them set up correctly can boost participation in the site and sharing of
the content.
- Metrics
– You will want to make sure that you have a way to track where traffic is
coming from, pages visited, search terms used, RSS feed consumption,
etc. As mentioned above, some
platforms have metrics built in.
Otherwise, it is fairly easy to sign up for and start using free
services such as Google
Analytics, StatCounter and FeedBurner.
There, that’s it! Once
the above steps have been completed comes the fun (and often challenging) part:
ensuring a steady stream of fresh and interesting content for the blog. Also, there are a number of ways to promote the blog and
drive traffic to it, which I will be covering in a future post.
I wasn’t going to comment as this post was written a while ago, but I found myself asking a lot of questions when I read it. I think it is important to find the blogs that you read regularly and stay involved in the discussion in a regular, relevant and timely manner. So I’ll be back and see whether you’ll be answering :o).