This is a review of the Yahoo Search Blog.

Yahoo! is a major website providing search services. One would think that the Yahoo! search blog would be full of jargon and technical terms that only a select few would have been able to understand. Surprisingly, the blog was full of easy to read updates that describe to users how their experience is changing. The instructions provided were easy to follow and the blog features plenty of visuals and posts that cover events, updates and other information. The blog is over all a good site that can use a little polish here and there.

Availability, 8 out of 10 –

The blog is easy to find. A search for Yahoo Blog or other similar terms will turn up the blog in the first page of hits. A little bit of SEO will definitely put the blog to the top of the list.

Posting Frequency, 5 out of 10 – The posts may be consistent on a every other day sort of pace, but they have been know to have posts spaced out by a month at least. Consistency of posting leaves a bit to be desired, but there is plenty for the reader to read. Yahoo would do well to add posts on their history or other Yahoo! topics to help with the larger gaps in posting.

Relevance, 9 out of 10 –

This is an easy set of points, because all of the posts are relevant to the users of Yahoo. Writing style is very easy to read and is conversational. Graphics and writing organization are well done. Overall the blog is very well done technically and is an ease for people to use. A little polish is all that is needed.

Accuracy, 9 out of 10 –

The posts are about the Yahoo! site and services that are provided. There’s not much for the technical person, but the blog does seem honest and not a propaganda or sales blog. A few posts geared towards the reader who is technically geared will help get that last point.

User Interaction, 7 out of 10 –

There is plenty to enable the user to contact blog writers and Yahoo! individuals. There are links where users can promote the blog to digg and del.icio.us directories. That said, they do not seem to reply to comments, hence the point deduction. All it would take is someone who watches the posted comments to give meaningful replies. The blog does frequently provide information on Yahoo! meetings, where users can go and provide input up close, so all is not that bad.

Over all, the Yahoo! Search Blog earned itself a 76%.

That is a pretty good score all things considering. The blog is quite easy to read and provides a good deal of information about Yahoo!, its search engine and its services. There are points in which the blog can be improved. It wouldn’t be much work to hire one or two people to keep track of the blog and reply to users. Even if there is nothing new added to Yahoo!, they can still provide posts talking about the company.

Originally posted 2009-02-03 05:35:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Reading and reviewing corporate blogs from other companies is a great way to learn a little bit more about your own blog. Microsoft has a large community of blogs, and a wide variety of bloggers writing in numerous blogs within this community. There are a number of employee blogs in the Microsoft blog community, which is insightful and interesting, but many of the community blogs are rich in technical jargon which is useful to those who are more tech savvy but not necessarily useful to those who are not used to the lingo.

There are a lot of blogs that are from Microsoft or about Microsoft, and many focus on technical advances relating to the Microsoft software. However, there is also a higher education blog that is part of the Microsoft community which relates to programs that are being integrated into universities for students. For example, I read about a software program called Business Intelligence and how Microsoft Performance Point is going to bring benefits to universities and the students who attend them, which was a pleasant subject to read about.

Because so many of the Microsoft blogs are technical in nature, they do not get many comments from readers despite being updated rather frequently. Most of the blogs in this network do not encourage dialog and do not appear to be very engaging. Let’s break down some of the details of these blogs in a purely number way.

Ease of Finding – 9 out of 10.

Once I typed “Microsoft” into Google’s search engine, a bunch of different Microsoft blogs came up. Blogs can also be found through the Microsoft website as well.

Frequency – 6 out of 10 –

These blogs are updated pretty frequently, but not on any real schedule that I can discern. I was finding some blogs with entries that were a few days old, and nothing new or fresh despite plenty to say.

Engaging Writing – 5 out of 10 –

The writing in many of these blogs is really only going to relate to tech savvy readers, or people who are really serious about finding out more information about Microsoft. This writing may be somewhat engaging, but it caters to heavily to a specific audience and leaves out a lot of potential readers in the process.

Relevance – 6 out of 10 –

Blogs in this network are highly catered to people who are seriously into technology, and as a result, they really are not relevant to the general public as a whole.

Focus – 8 out of 10 –

Perhaps too focused, but the focus here is good.

Honesty – 7 out of 10 –

The technology and software blogs appear honest, but I am less sure about the employee run blogs, giving these guys a solid 7.

Interactivity – 3 out of 10 –

These blogs are not very interactive, as they spend no time facilitating conversation or answering questions for readers.

Responsiveness – 3 out of 10 –

These blogs are not very responsive, as it does not seem like anyone is creating conversation in the comments, or even responding to those which are posted.

Grand total score for the Microsoft blog network is 48 out of 80.

Originally posted 2009-02-11 05:03:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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