One of the biggest issues in the corporate blogging world is whether or not you should allow readers to comment on your blog posts. There are two main schools of thought to the issue, basically yes and no. However, we believe that it is important to allow your readers to interact with you, and comments are one of the best ways to do this. You just need to make sure that you are handling the issue correctly for the best results.

First, you should make your decision about comments at the beginning of your blog and then stick with them. Don’t flip flop, allowing comments and then changing your mind. It will give a bad impression of your company and make it seem as though you are trying to hide something from the public. That’s not the image you want to project.

Next, you should think about allowing some not so flattering comments on your blog. No one likes controversy, but the fact of the matter remains that it can increase your page views. Don’t be afraid to allow some bad comments on your blog, just as long as you can answer the issue calmly and appropriately. Obviously, if a comment is just vitriolic and damaging, you should not approve it, but sometimes, bad comments and your response can lead to greater reader loyalty and they will want to back you up.

We’ve mentioned approving comments because we believe the best of both worlds in blogging is to allow comments, but on a moderated basis. This means that all of the comments will go into a queue where you can read and approve them. This is much safer and helps cut down on comment spam as well as people who are just looking to start trouble. It takes a little bit longer, but you will be able to have a lot more peace of mind.

Next, you’ll want to set some ground rules for your comments and make sure that you enforce them fairly. For example, you can state that no profanity or hate speech is allowed, and that some posts may not be approved based on their overall content. If people know this going in, you can cut down on the amount of people that are screaming censorship.

You’ll never be able to please all of the people all of the time, but allowing comments on your blog can be very good for your company. In fact, sometimes the blog comments can be more interesting than the blog itself in some cases. You’ll also be able to increase your page views as your readers keep coming back throughout the day to follow the comment thread.

Used wisely, comments are very powerful and can be beneficial to your business. You may want to hire a blog management company to help you with this process so that you can free up your time to actually work for your company instead of having to babysit your blog.

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Originally posted 2008-06-18 05:08:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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As the user generated content business gets into full swing, many corporate blog owners are wondering whether or not using videos in their blog will be advantageous. There are a few schools of thought on the matter, as well as some basic ground rules that can be followed. In a nutshell, video can be a very powerful medium, but only if it is used correctly.

First, it’s best to determine whether or not video content will enhance your blog, or take away from it. If you are selling products for example, uploading a video on how to use the product, or something interesting about it, could be very advantageous and can work as a powerful selling point. However, if you have a video that does not showcase the product to its full potential, that can be disastrous.

Any video content you put on your blog should follow some basic principles. If it’s yours, it should be as professional as possible, easy to watch and should not bore the viewer. If you decide to use someone else’s video, it is vital to do a little background on that person to make sure that you won’t run into any problems through your association with them. You’d be surprised at how easy it can be to ruin a reputation, simply through association.

Let’s say that you find a great video that works well with your content, and is already quite popular. You add it to your site, and your viewers go to watch other videos from that person. If they happen to be a white supremacist this could definitely work against you. Always go through the video collection before you actually post someone else’s video on your site.

For most corporate blog owners, it is best to stick with videos that are made in-house, and by a professional team. If you are using a bad camera with shaky audio, it’s going to give your audience the impression that you don’t know what you’re doing. On the other hand, if your videos are crisp and clear, that will give the impression that you are professional.

The videos you do add, if you do decide to go this route, should be brief and to the point. Many people make the mistake of droning on in their videos, and end up losing viewers as a result. If you have a longer video series, you may want to consider breaking it up into a few parts. This works in two ways. First, you won’t be overloading your viewers with information. Second, they’ll have an extra incentive to keep coming back to your site.

Corporate blog owners that do start adding video should remember to keep a good balance between written and video content. Don’t lose your focus and become solely a video blog, since you may end up losing those that prefer to read your information. Try to find a good balance between the two so that you can capitalize on the benefits of both forms of communication.

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Originally posted 2008-10-10 05:49:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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There is a lot of controversy over which blogging platform is ideal for corporate blogs. With so many schools of thought on the matter, it can be difficult to figure out which one you should be using. We have two main favorites, Blogger and Wordpress, and both are very well suited to corporate blogging.

The two main benefits of both of these platforms is that they are incredibly easy to use, and incredibly search engine friendly. That solves a lot of problems right there. While we typically don’t recommend free services for corporate blogging, now that Blogger allows you to attach your own URL to your Blogger account, they’ve moved up in our estimation.

Basically, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of using server space for your corporate blog and you need a publishing platform that is literally idiot proof, then Blogger is ideal. It has many of the same features as Wordpress, and since it is owned by Google, you’ll have a pretty good chance of getting a good ranking as long as you keep publishing quality content.

For corporate blog owners that need a little more control, Wordpress is our natural favorite. There are thousands of customization options that are available and it is very easy to get started. With the right plugins, you can make a very advanced site without breaking a sweat, and you’ll be optimizing your content at the same time.

While there are other platforms that work well for corporate blogs, we really prefer Wordpress for two main reasons:

1. Smaller learning curve.

Wordpress takes less than five minutes to install, even if you have no prior experience. Everything is spelled out for you in the dashboard for your site and publishing is incredibly easy. With the right configuration you can easily build a very popular corporate blog without any effort.

2. More options for optimization.

There are thousands of plugins for Wordpress that are designed to help you manage comments, optimize your content, take advantage of SEO trends, and keep everything running smoothly. These are all easy to install and use and most require very little interaction on your part.

The bottom line is that not everyone can afford to hire a web designer or programmer. Either one of these solutions is absolutely free to use and in most cases, they are more capable than the platforms that actually do cost money. For those that need to get a quick start and do not have the time to learn HTML, PHP coding and basic blogging set-up, you can’t go wrong with either of these platforms.

Try setting up a sample account on Blogger, or install Wordpress on your own server and play around with them for a few minutes. Chances are you’ll be able to get the hang of it immediately and you will be well on your way to becoming the owner of a successful corporate blog that is completely tricked out and reader friendly.

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Originally posted 2008-10-01 05:55:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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