Growing medium
The number of businesses blogging in Ireland is on the rise as an increasing number of firms opt to launch themselves into blogosphere. "It's taking off. It's still a fairly new medium. Business blogging in Ireland has only really started happening in the last 18 months to two years," says Damien Mulley, a web consultant and organiser of the Irish Blog Awards. "It was originally technology companies but now other firms are getting involved. There's about 50 blogs long-listed in 'Best Business' category at this year's Irish Blog Awards and they come from a wide range of industries."
However, while more businesses are taking the plunge and starting blogs, after a period of time many of them are left unattended. "I don't know if there is a graveyard for dead business blogs but it sometimes feels like there should be," says denise cox, a consultant from email newsletter firm Newsweaver and winner of the IIA's Best Blogger award in 2007. She says firms need to be consistently updating the information on their blogs, otherwise they will appear stale and out of date.
Preparing for impact
If you choose to include a blog on your firm's website, the way the company interacts with stakeholders will change, so SMEs need to be prepared. There are pros and cons to this change that firms should be aware of before making a move into blogging.
- Getting personal. The big benefit of business blogging is that it allows firms to engage more with clients and customers. The personal touch a blog brings can help potential customers to identify more with an SME.
- Small is good. The smaller the firm, the better use they can make of a blog. SMEs are able to take a more personal approach to blogging due to their relatively small staff numbers compared with larger corporations, which tend to have difficulty presenting a single face for an entire business.
- Be prepared for feedback. Managing comments on a business blog can be tricky. Firms can stop visitors from posting comments altogether, but this sorely limits the efficacy of a blog as an interactive communication tool. Instead firms need to moderate the comments that come in and they should be prepared for some negative comments.
- Make the time. You must be willing to set aside the time and resources required to keep the blog regularly updated, so you need to assess whether you or your staff can afford to make this commitment.
- Improve your search ranking. Search engines like Google love blogs and having a blog as part of its website can help an SME climb up the search rankings so that more people will be drawn to their page. However, this will only be effective if the blog is integrated with the company website itself, so ensure this is the case if setting one up.
- Be an expert. A blog can help a firm gain more notice in its industry, and those writing the blog can become recognised as 'thought leaders' in their field.
Choosing the right tool
There are several types of software available for blogging. Among the most popular of these are WordPress, b2evolution, Movable Type and Blogger. No matter which one of these tools is selected, an SME should take steps to ensure it works with their website. "It is all about flexibility. There are very easy editable [blogging] templates and it is easy to use a firm's existing website template so the blog fits in with their website," says Mulley.
Businesses should also be wary of IT providers over-charging firms for setting up blogs. A lot of blogging software is available for free so SMEs should ensure they use a trusted IT provider if bringing in an outsider to set up a blog.
Learning from others
One of the best ways to find out if blogging is the right step for your business is to see how other firms in your sector have fared with it. "Look at what your business is about, what its products and services are and see if this is the right option," says cox. "There are so many communication tools out there such as email and social networking that businesses need not rely solely on blogs."
In the next issue, we'll delve more into how to decide if blogging is right for your business. We'll also examine the type of content you should put in your blog and see how blogs can help improve a firm's search ranking.