Easy Does It In Navigating Business Blogs

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The Wall Street Journal's observation about the hobby of "sweeping" is right on target for business blogging, I think. While sweepstakes have been around since the 1700"s, WSJ points out, they're more popular now.  Why? (Here's the reason, I, a professional ghost blogger and blogging trainer am so interested in the article) "…because online entry forms are so easy to complete."

Unfortunately, I've found, the same is too often not true of many business blogs – nor is it true of many business websites, for that matter.  Sites that make it difficult for online searchers to navigate make it easy for those searchers to "bounce away".  You see, the crucial moment in any online reader's encounter with your blog is that very moment when he/she decides to "do something about it"!  The searcher wants to:

  • Call your company (Is the phone number in plain sight?)
  • See more (Is it easy to click to a page of product pictures?)
  • Know more (Are there easy-to-find links to landing pages or other sites?)
  • Ask a question or submit a comment (Is that an easy process?)
  • Request information (How easy is that to do?)
  • Buy (Supposedly a result every business blogger covets, but how easy is this to do on your site?)

FutureNow's Brendan Regan rightly stresses that effective websites and blogsites "optimize a marketing outreach from the driving point to the landing page and on through to conversion."

According to Clare Rosenzweig of the Promotions Marketing Association, when companies like Coca-Cola run a sweepstake, their bottom line is that consumers have a positive experience with their brand.  Are your online readers having a positive experience navigating your business blog?

 

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How To Show And Tell In Business Blogs

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"It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s proven to increase results," says direct response copywriter Michel Fortin, referring to adding pictures, photos, clip art, and graphics to salesletters. Using pictures along with text, according to Head First Labs, increases brain activity and aids learning. It stands to reason that including photographs or pictures in business blog posts makes the blog more interesting and engaging to readers, besides offering a hint of what your website is about.

Again talking about salesletters, Fortin stresses that better headlines have been proven to increase readership and response by as much as 700%…."But adding photos and graphics near the headline", he adds, "has equally boosted response, sometimes even more."

The types of photos Fortin recommends using for printed marketing pieces are the same types, I think, that are perfect for business blogs.

  • Photo of the author. In the case of ghost-written blogs, there would be a photo of the business owner(s) whose "voice" is expressed in the blog
     
  • Photo of the product being offered
     
  • "Before photo" representing the problem suffered without using the product or service
     
  • "After photo" showing successful results or relief
     
  • Graphics and clip art images to portray abstract concepts. 

One really important tip Fortin offers is adding captions to photos.  "Captions are powerful, as they’re almost always read," he claims.  What’s more, he points out, a caption can add an interesting fact or tidbit related to the graphic.

By providing recent, frequent, and relevant content on your topic, you’ve "gotten found" on the search engines. The next step, of course, is to "get read".  "If you don’t get people to start reading your copy," Fortin warns, "it doesn’t matter how good your copy is." Pictures and photos can certainly help in that department.

 

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The Most Over-Hyped Things In Business Blogs

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We humans are a funny bunch, remarks Mark Juddery in Overrated! The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History.  People seem to "find comfort in that which has been passed down as accepted knowledge."

I think perhaps there’s some over-hyping going on when it comes to blogging for business. I can think of at least three aspects of business blogging that tend to be over-emphasized (sometimes at the expense of the things that really do matter for building business through blogging):

1.   Number of RSS subscribers (or repeat visitors):
You certainly want to use your blog to boost your credibility so that you’re seen as the "go-to" source for information in your field. So in theory, at least, having lots of RSS subscribers is what Martha Stewart might call "a good thing".

The reality that I’ve found, though, is that many who RSS a blog are pure information-seekers not ready to act.  I’m not saying RSS is a bad thing, not at all.  What I am saying is that, while you’re busy accumulating numbers of RSS subscribers and Facebook fans, keep in mind that the majority are probably not your prospects.  The bottom line of business blogging is reached when the cash register rings with an online buyer at the other end of the transaction.

2.   The above-the-fold rule:
Going back to an old newspaper term, where the important news was placed  where it could be readily seen by buyers passing news stands, the version of the "above-the-fold" rule that’s been hyped for websites and blogs is that visitors shouldn’t need to scroll down – or across – to read the information on the blog page.  While it makes sense to have the most important content on each page be the most visible, the above-the fold rule has been a bit over-hyped. Bloggers become preoccupied with finding the "ideal length" for a post.  The rule I’ve arrived at is "Make your blog posts as short as possible, but not shorter!" If developing an idea means going below the "fold", I say, go ahead and do it.

3. High-tech visual effects:
I love the advice Robert Bly offers in 5 Ways to Stretch Your Marketing Budget: "Don’t over-present yourself!" "Your prospects will look at your overdone literature and wonder whether you really understand your market and its needs."

The blog site equivalent of what Bly’s describing is overdone blog pages, complete with "flash", scrolling icons, too many videos, colors, elaborate type – anything but plain and to the point.  Too much garnish, too little meal. The star of a blog is the content.  Period. All the rest is the accompaniment, and what you don’t want is the band drowning out the singer….

 

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How Not-So-Bright Ideas Can Brighten Business Blogs – Part Two

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Continuing my thoughts from last week on the subject of business bloggers learning good ideas from bad ones, here are three more "to-do’s" from the stories of the not-so-mad scientists who earned Ig Nobel awards.

Ig Nobel winners, you’ll remember, are honored for achievements “that make people laugh, then make them think.” And, while my ghost blogging clients and I may not be invited to the gala at Harvard University, I figure anything that stimulates our thinking and continues the flow of creative ideas to use in our blog posts has to be good for the cause.

Veterinary Medicine Prize
Agriculture professors from Newcastle University in England found that dairy cows called by name product 68 gallons more milk per year. It’s important, concluded the scientists, to know each cow as an individual.

Blog writing, to be effective, must be not only conversational, but targeted towards the needs of a specific audience, so that online searchers have that special feeling of “Aha! I’ve come to the right place!”

Physics Prize
Anthropologists from three universities studied the spinal columns of women to find out why pregnant women don’t tip over. They discovered that women have three wedged lumbar vertebrae to accommodate the extra weight of a baby.

Blog posts are short, informal pieces, but a small business owner’s or professional practitioner’s blog can have a hefty effect on blog marketing results.

Public Health Prize
Three inventors in Chicago created a bra that doubles as two separate gas masks to protect against radioactive particles, soot, smoke, or viruses.

Blogs are ideal multi-tasking tools, with the content perfect for trade show brochures and handouts, for inserts into packages shipped to customers, as links in email follow-ups.

Just the other day, a reader asked whether I’d mind sharing where I get my ideas for blog posts. I think today’s blog post is a great example of my answer – everywhere!  When I train business owners and employees to create blog content, I like to emphasize that at least half the time that goes into creating a blog post is reading/research/thinking time!

 

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Guest Post: What Bloggers Can Learn From Farmers

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Once again, my friend Lorraine Ball and I are trading guest blog posts.  Lorraine’s company is Roundpeg, a full service marketing firm serving the Indianapolis small business community,  that helps small business become big business….

I have often used the farming metaphor when teaching classes on networking, but now Chris Brogan channels the same concept with regard to your blog. Drawing a comparison to farmers, Chris lists 11 "chores" which should be part of your daily routine if you are serious about writing a blog.

His list included things I do on a regular basis, (not every day, but fairly often):

  • Get your blog post up. Make it helpful, worthy of comments and unique.
  • Comment on other people’s blog posts.
  • Share other people’s blog posts.

Comment back to people who’ve commented on your blog.

If you are serious about building a regular readership, these items are a must. If it seems overwhelming, this is where a ghost writer or at least someone researching content and resources for you can be helpful. 

There were other things on his list which are not a part of my daily routine, but should be, such as

  • Read something not related to your market.
  • Connect with five people not in your vertical or your geography.
  • Reconnect with people who matter. Drop an email or call. Don’t ask for anything.

    (This is fun!  I enjoy learning new things and meeting new people, and following these suggestions I get a chance to do both!)

And finally he had some suggestions which are important, not just for my blog, but for business in general.

  • Look at the map of where you think things are going for your business. Anything change?
  • Read the “weather” from the blogs you follow. Anything there?
  • Think about what seeds you might plant for future projects.
  • Share at the farmer’s market your best yields.

When I looked at the list, I realized it is a lot to do every day.   I guess that is why farmers get up so early.

As I work with small business owners, presenting a list like this can be overwhelming.  My advice, mix it up. If blogging is not your core business, but a way of connecting with customers and bringing them to your core business, then create your own farming list, and include some of these elements every day.

–Lorraine Ball
 

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