80 percent of business blog traffic comes from first-time visitors, according to a recent survey of corporate blogging and social media trends by US-based Compendium.
The survey, which gathered data from 266 US companies about blogging traffic, visitor trends and Twitter usage, seems to pooh-pooh the idea that business blogs have a major group of loyal readers.
What this means for your business blog?
80 percent is a pretty high figure and seems to imply that the business blogs surveyed aren’t doing enough to make readers come back for more.
Without knowing what strategies these blogs are using, it’s pretty hard to assess their performance. But if you check your own data and see that you’re getting something similar, you might want to take a look at the kind of approach you’re taking to your business blog.
For example;
- Are you updating daily?
- Does your blog have personality?
- Can readers connect with the person or people writing the blog?
- Are comments actively encouraged?
Even a business blog needs regular updates that tell a visitor that this is an active community. If I’m a first time visitor to a B2B blog and see that the last update was over a week ago, chances are I’m not going to add it to my RSS or subscribe. I tend to value bloggers that are continually engaging
5 Reasons Your Business Blog is Failing
Another turn off for many business blogs is that they just don’t have any personality. Blogging, by its nature, is more personal and conversational in tone. It shouldn’t use the same kind of corporate speak that your website uses. Brendon Sinclair, for example, is a great business blogger, who oozes personality and has a genuine swagger to his writing.
Business blogs also need to work hard to create a sense of community by encouraging comments and promoting discussion. A business blog that has the comments turned off or worse, ignores comments, is a real turn off.
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With the iPad available to pre-order today in the US at 5:30 AM Pacific time (8:30 Eastern), the first step of a new era in online content marketing will begin. And, yes, I’m being serious.
Ever since the iPhone appeared Steve Jobs and Co have been getting you used to the idea of reading on a digital device, of having access to the Net in the palm of your hand, of reading online newspapers and magazines in the browser and books via Kindle iPhone app. Just ask the 33.75 million who’ve bought them.
A game-changer for digital marketing?
When Apple ships the first generation iPad on April 3, that reading experience is going to get a whole lot more slicker. Marketing strategy folks around the world will no doubt sit up and pay attention.
As more people adopt the iPad, and Apple competitors come out with cheaper clones, we’re likely to see a massive growth in the number of people reading digital content in the palm of their hand.
What the iPad Means to Marketers
With more and more people reading on digital devices like tablets –and this will come given our increasing preference for (mobile) digital over print– there’s a wonderful opportunity for your business to provide customers and prospects with a variety of excellent digital content.
Blogs and websites are great to read on a computer and we’re pretty happy to do so. And I’m sure they’ll be just as popular on tablet PCs like the iPad. But I think ebooks will boom in popularity.
For starters, the landscape delivery of well-designed ebooks (Joseph Jaffe’s latest offering The Customer Service Manifesto is simply gorgeous) makes for a better reading experience. I expect that to improve even more when the iPad lands.
Then there’s the launch of the iBook Store. This will probably do for text what iTunes have done for digital music. Imagine if you can get the latest copy of your favourite magazine from the iBook Store. No more queuing in the newsagents. No more paper to recycle. That’s a whole market waiting to explode onto tablet screens in homes all around the world.
Ebooks and Digital Marketing Strategy
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To succeed online you need a great business website. The trouble is it can be a minefield finding the right people to build it, the right content management system (CMS) to run it, and the right web strategy to help your business grow.
'There really isn't a wrong choice for a CMS,' says Johnny Spence
So to get the lowdown on buying a website and the more technical side of online communications, I talked to Johnny Spence, a web-developer who runs Oscarrweb! out of Barcelona.
As well as knowing his way around web code and developing great business sites, the great thing about Johnny is that he’s an awesome communicator and blogger. Vist his blog: The Freelance Rant
We chatted over email and twitter between Spain and Stockholm.
Jon: Getting started with online content marketing means you need a website. As a web programmer, what do you think a business should be looking for in a web site or CMS?
Johnny: There are thousands of possibilities for a business website with a budget to match. Rather than picking a CMS and going from there, you should ask yourself the following to start planning a website:
- What is my budget?
- What is the purpose of my business website (advertise, inform, both)?
- Will I need to update my website on a regular basis?
- Will I need to expand my website in the near future?
- Will I need a blog?
Then the next step is to find a recommended web designer/developer and consult on a solution with the above needs in mind. Better yet, if you know of a freelance designer you communicate with on Twitter or other social media, hit one of them up.
Jon: There are SO many different kinds of CMS out there. How does a business user know what’s right for them? And how do they make the right choice?
Johnny: There really isn’t a wrong choice for a CMS whether it is a custom made or utilizes one of the widely available open-source softwares such as Wordpress or Drupal. It does have to suit needs and for a website though. So, before deciding on one, you will want to have a test run with a similar CMS with a developer to see if you will be comfortable with what you will be using.
As a general rule, Wordpress is great for a business website with an emphasis on a blogging platform and is the most cost friendly to implement since it is so popular. Drupal is good for a larger scale website, with or without a blog, but development costs can run higher. A custom CMS, however, can be made how you like it and is generally easier to use, not having all of the complexities of a commercial CMS.
Due to the custom and/or proprietary nature of a custom CMS, though, costs can run higher and, if you decide to migrate to a more commercial CMS in the future, you could incur more costs there as well.
Jon: Small businesses just starting out probably aren’t going to have a massive budget to develop their website. There’s always a battle between investing in the “visual stuff” and “technical stuff”. If you’re on a tight budget what’s essential if you’re looking to use a website as a place to market your company?
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Does your business Think Mobile?
Your online content marketing efforts with social media and blogs should not just be aimed at people surfing the Net on their PC. It’s time you got your content and brand in front of mobile customers and started thinking mobile content marketing.
A study by web metrics firm ComScore reports that the number of mobile phone users connecting to social network site Facebook via a mobile has grown 112 percent in the last 12 months whilst the use of Twitter on mobiles has grown a staggering 347 percent.
With literally millions of people using phones to connect to social media, it’s increasingly important your business wakes up to mobile content marketing.
The popularity of the iPhone Facebook App ensures that your Facebook Fan Page is optimized for mobile access (Find out more about how businesses can optimise Facebook Fan Pages as part of an online marketing-communications strategy) but don’t forget it’s important if you’re using a business blog to offer a mobile version of your site.
Is Your Blog Ready for Mobile Content Marketing?
I personally tend to get frustrated if, say, a link on Twitter leads to a website on my iPhone that isn’t optimised for mobile browsing. If the page hesitates more than a second or so to download, especially when I’m just on a 3G network, I don’t bother waiting. Even if I’m a dedicated follower of a particular site!
What’s more, if you’re pitching yourself as a online marketing expert or online marcom blogger, you really need to think about what not having a mobile version of your site says about you!
WordPress makes it incredibly easy to offer readers a mobile version of your site with things like the MobilePress plugin.
Since installing the plugin on my site six weeks ago I’ve noticed that monthly mobile traffic has increased from 0.8% of to 2.19%. Not bad, eh?
More WordPress Mobile Plugins to Check Out
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Content marketing gone to sleep?
If your
online content marketing strategy relies on a daily blogging, you need to be wary of business blogging burnout and feeling
blogged out.
Business blogging burnout – or crippling writers block – hits most corporate bloggers from time to time. Especially if you’re working under a strict publishing schedule that requires you to update 5 days a week like many corporate bloggers.
In many companies I see a tendency for one or two people from the marketing or communications department to be handed the responsibility for business blogging. This is ideal because it’s better to have a team of bloggers: a team is much more likely to be able to cope with the rigours of a daily and intense blog marketing schedule. It’s easier to bounce ideas off each other, suggest posts that can be covered, and keep the quality of posts high.
Business blogging that regurgitates the same material or lack vibrancy is much more likely to scare an audience away (or fail to convert traffic into buyers).
Business Blogging and Outsourcing
If you’re a small business or work alone one way of making sure you don’t suffer from blog burnout is to outsource a couple of posts each week.
Outsourcing business blog content is actually quite popular and not too expensive. Just check Elance.
Whilst outsourcing your content marketing to a ghost-blogger might take the pressure off you to create fresh content, be wary of demanding too much content. It’s far better to get one or two really excellent posts, say, than five mediocre ones.
5 Ways to Avoid Business Blogging Burnout
1. If you’re working alone for an employer, suggest bringing in someone in either in-house or by hiring another blogger to take some of the pressure off you least one day a week.
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Tired? Feeling fed up with business blogging?
The recent talk in the blogosphere of
business blogs losing their mojo doesn’t surprise me. After all, what with Planet Facebook seemingly conquering everything in its way, and Twitter getting a lot of mainstream media attention, it’s only natural blogs would lose some of their shine.
If you’re a business blogger bashing out stories on a daily basis for your company, or a small business blogger trying to grow your business with online content marketing, you’d be forgiven for developing a hefty dose of bloggers block in response to all the bad vibes that seem to be out there right now.
After all, there’s nothing like having your confidence knocked when the likes of Joel Spolsky point out that “Most company blogs have almost no readers, no traffic, and no impact on sales.”
But if you’re struggling with bloggers block, or not getting the results you want:
- don’t just bury your head in your hands or give up posting.
- don’t fall into a downward spiral of negative thinking.
- get out there and look around the business blogosphere and see what other people are doing.
There’s plenty to inspire you!
If you’re stuck writing, try vlogging for a change. Or why not put a presentation up on SlideShare? Take some photos, talk to people, keep a notebook full of ideas to draw on. Get creative!
Online content marketing isn’t a sprint race. It’s a long distance journey and you have to be in it for the long haul. That means committing to producing quality content over time.
The bottom line is you need to develop you online presence with relevant content that speaks to your ideal customer in a way that understands the problems they face and the solutions they seek. Worry about that. Not what the others are saying!
Happy business blogging!
After talking blogs, Facebook, Vlogs, and the social communications scene in Sweden, I wanted to talk to a content provider.
Sharon Hurley Hall
So this week’s interview is with
Sharon Hurley Hall.
Sharon, who is from the UK, specialises in web content and search engine optimized (SEO) web copy. She also does a lot of ghostwriting and ghost blogging.
I definitely recommend you follow Sharon on Twitter. She also blogs at Get Paid to Write Online.
Questions
Jon Buscall: What is the best way for a new business looking to embrace content marketing to get started?
Sharon Hurley Hall: The best approach is to forget about the idea of marketing in the traditional sense. People are tired of having the same old stuff pushed at them via the same old channels. Think instead about what you can provide that’s relevant to your customer and that your customer will find valuable. In a sense you are not selling your product, but showing off your expertise.
If your customers find value in the content you provide, then you will become a go-to resource – and *then* they may buy your product or service.
Jon Buscall: Do you think that a comprehensive content marketing strategy can completely or partially replace traditional advertising and marketing?
Sharon Hurley Hall: I’m not an expert, but there are lots of online examples of people who have built successful businesses simply by marketing content. Consider Brian Clark’s Copyblogger blog, for example, where valuable information is given away free every day.
As far as I can tell – and I speak subject to correction – Brian has built a following by giving away good free stuff, so that when he’s got something to sell, people are falling over themselves to sign up.
That can work for any business, if the business knows what information the customer wants and can provide it.
Jon Buscall: I see you’ve written an E-book. Should E-books (still!) be a core component of a small business marketing strategy?
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Switching to Disqus
by Jon on 2010/03/07
in blogging
Over the weekend I’ve installed a new comment system on this blog: Disqus.
The other reason I’ve decided to give Disqus a spin is that it clearly encourages users to tweet comments and publicise them on Facebook.
Finally, I also like the way you can reply to a comment via email and see it automatically posted on the blog. Neat, huh?
The Drawbacks
I’m not so sure Disqus looks as nice as the CSS styled comments I had running. What’s more page load times vary a little bit because of the strain on the Disqus server.
I’ve noticed a few bugs over the weekend but I’m going to measure if I get more tweets, retweets and Facebook mentions.
The absolute biggest drawback with implementing the Disqus comment feature is that new commentators are no longer directed to my Thanks for Commenting page. I’ve got so many great responses from people for this page that it almost, nearly almost stopped me switching to Disqus.
But I figure the potential greater exposure on Twitter and Facebook is worth it. Also, Disqus enables users to do more with commenting, making it much easier to search the comments and for the comments to be found out on other platforms. Bottom line, I’m hoping Disqus will enable more people finding my thoughts about online communications.
If you have any thoughts about the switch to a new commenting system please don’t hesitate to let me know in the, er, comments!
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