6 Simple Steps to Blogging
If having Time Magazine naming You as their Person of the Year in 2006 hasn't convinced your company to start blogging, the perhaps you should let Lee Odden tell you about the SEO benefits of blogging and how his blog has been the most effective marketing initiative his company has pursued. In a word, bloggin is a great way to brand your company and build a reputation and presence for yourself in your industry and online.
Once you do decide to start, however, you might be wondering just exactly where to, er, start. So I've put together some preliminary steps to follow so you don't jump in over your head before you know what you're doing.
Step 1: Identify Your Conversation
Blogging is more Web 2.0 than websites because they are about conversation. Basically, when you start blogging, you decide to join a conversation that's already going on. So the first thing you have to do is figure out which conversation you are joining. Shortlist 5 huge, 5 medium, and 5 small blogs that are already part of the conversation you want to be a part of. Subscribe to their feed, and start following that conversation.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain
Now while you're familiarizing yourself with the conversation that you're joining and picking up on the ins and outs of how that conversation works, give your actual blog some thought. Before you can build it, you need to have an address. Although Typepad, Wordpress, and Blogger all offer free accounts within subdomains, I would strongly suggest hosting it yourself. Whether it is within a subdomain on your own site, or has its own domain, it looks much more credible when you exercise full control.
Step 3: Choose a Platform
There are many, many choices in terms of blogging platforms. Although Moveable Type has been ver popular, it's being eclipsed by Wordpress. That's right, the same guys that will offer you a free subdomain will also let you download their platform... For Free!!!. Furthermore, because Wordpress is open-source, there is an army of people developing bells, whistles, plugins, and themes that you can use to really customize your blogs look. Better yet, if you're good with CSS and/or PHP, you can take that customization into your own hands. In fact, Wordpress has become so popular, that many web hosting services now offer a one-click installation of it.
Step 4: Prepare Posts
While you're customizing you blog and making it look how you want it to, start writing posts in advance. Basically, you don't want to launch an empty blog. Consequently, you should write about 5-10 general opinion pieces about industry trends. Furthermore, try to link back to other blogs--i.e. other people in the conversation--so that when you launch, they will know that you're there. First of all, linking to your competition is good for blog traffic. Blogging is about conversation, not competition. Secondly, when you link another blog, you will "ping" them. They will know that you are talkign about them, and will come check you out. That is how pings are used as press-releases.
Step 5: Introduce Yourself
So you're tapped into the latest buzz in your industry, your blog is designed, and you have a 5-10 posts in the pipe. You click on "publish" and away you go, right? Well, not quite. First, you can't wait for people to find you. Instead, you have to go out there and introduce yourself. I'd suggest trying MyBlogLog, a social networking site just for bloggers. Find the blogs carrying on the same conversation as you, join their communities on MyBlogLog, and start introducing yourself (re your blog) to other members of that community. Of course, exploiting MyBlogLog as a resource is a topic worthy of its own literature.
Step 6: Don't Give Up
Now that you've started blogging, you can't give up. It will likely be a few months before you start getting a lot of traffic, but if you drop the ball for a few days, the little traffic that you do have will be gone in flash. Try to post at least five days a week, preferably seven, and remember: content is king. This is why you have to be interesting. Readers want helpful information, so post as many how-to articles as you can, and remember to always link others.
Of course, you've just started, and the more you blog, the more that you'll realize that there's so much to learn. But especially when it comes to blogging, learning is the funnest part. You've just joined a conversation, and the more you share with the community, the more you'll learn in turn. Not only is blogging a great way to brand your company, and build a reputation, but it's also a great way to keep tabs on the latest trends and techniques that can keep your firm at the cutting edge of its field.
Further Reading (beyond what's linked above)
Setting Up a Blog - Some Things You Should Know From an SEO Perspective @ Search Engine Round Table
5 Prerequisites for Blogging Success @ Problogger
The Foundation fo Blogging Success - Part 2: Marketing Your Blog @ Healthy Web Design
Related Posts
How to Blog: The Ping-Release
Viral Marketing and The Blogroll
