Currently, one of the best ways to reach out to your customer base is through the use of a corporate blog. When it comes to getting that personal touch just right and humanizing your company, there is no better tool than a blog done well. Let’s take a look at just a few of the benefits that a corporate blog can bring your company.

1. Greater Discoverability

Static pages such as you find on a regular site are not very discoverable when it comes to search engine traffic. If you’re in a very tight niche, it can be difficult to get your pages up to the top of the search engine results. When you have a corporate blog, you’re boosting that discoverability for the following reasons. First, you have more content that is added to on a regular basis. Search engines start spidering your site more often and the result is that you have a higher ranking in search results.

Second, you’ll be covering several different topics that readers of all kinds will be interested in. The more you write about the better your chances are of having new customers stumble upon your blog and as such, your company.

2. The Human Touch

Many consumers view corporations are being soulless and run by a bunch of drones. A corporate blog that is done well will create that human element and help consumers see that your business is run by real people. This builds a stronger level of trust and your readers begin to develop a relationship with you via this blog. Over time, this can lead to a fan base as well as regular visitors and much more traffic.

3. Better Brand Awareness

Part of the key to building a strong brand is having that instant name recognition. When you have a corporate blog, you’ll be exposed to an entirely new audience. Your fans will begin to associate your company with openness and they will begin to recognize not only your name but your brand as well. There is no better tool for quickly building up your company’s brand.

This is not to say that corporate blogging is easy. In many cases, it may be beneficial to outsource the management of your blog to a trained professional that is capable to assisting you with SEO as well as pertinent advice on how to avoid common blogging pitfalls. By having a professional company guide you on your path towards corporate blogging the successful way you can be assured that you can avoid not only these pitfalls but that your blog will be able to accomplish all of the points mentioned above as well as many other benefits.

Blogging is an exciting new horizon for many companies and while it isn’t foolproof, with the right team, you can make a big difference in your company’s popularity. It’s definitely a balance, but with the right elements, you can have a very successful corporate blog that gets noticed.

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Originally posted 2008-06-24 05:34:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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It has been widely recognized that blogging is an excellent way to publish content to a website, and many corporations and other businesses are beginning to embrace this idea with a great amount of enthusiasm. Not only are companies creating corporate blogs, but sometimes a single employee blogs as well, such as the marketing manager or CEO of the company. Some large corporations like Google and Microsoft actually support their employees in their blogging efforts. Unfortunately, there are some major pitfalls that need to be considered when it comes to corporate blogging, including the need to address a conflict that exists between the openness expected of bloggers, and the confidentiality expected of many companies.

There are some big questions that need to be answered here, leading to corporate blogging pitfalls. How much should an employee be allowed to say about the inner workings of the company in their blog? It is obvious that secret formulas and insider information are off the table, but what else should not be said? Should employees be allowed to criticize the company for which they work? Should they be allowed to criticize the products they sell or the services that they offer? How much time should employees be allowed to spend on their blogging projects in general? Is this a part of their job description, or is it something they should be doing on their own time?

The best way to avoid these corporate blogging pitfalls is to address the answers to these questions before employees are allowed to keep up with blogs focusing on the company. It is clear that when smaller companies decide to venture into this arena, that they should follow the examples and guidelines set by the larger corporations that have been blogging for a lot longer. One of the best solutions is simply to draw up a set of blogging guidelines that everyone within the company must follow in order to maintain a blog. By doing this before any blogging projects are created, certain activities can be nipped in the bud before they ever become a problem. By establishing a list of suitable topics and unsuitable topics, a corporation or company can better dictate which corporate blogging practices are encouraged and which are not.

Here are some of the corporate blogging guidelines that would help companies large and small avoid corporate blogging pitfalls regarding confidentiality and bad press.

- Refrain from being critical of other products or other competing companies.
- Make it clear that you are stating your very own opinion, and not the opinion of the company as a whole.
- If you are unsure of a specific topic or subject, discuss it with a manager or colleague before posting.
- Do not share secrets belonging to the company, such as secret formulas or processes, or information relating to mergers, takeovers or other confidential information.
- Do not use the blog as a means for selling products overtly, but be authentic and informative instead.
- Do not mention customers or partners by name without express permission.

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Originally posted 2008-12-02 05:08:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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