Fresh Is Better For Blogs And Beer

Two advertisements for beer that ran on British TV appear to contradict one another, as related in a NewScientist book on trivia.

Budweiser’s ad claimed the key to good lager is fast shipment from brewery to bottle to drinker, while the ad for Grolsch beer stressed the importance of a long conditioning period to improve flavor. The answer – both are correct.  Lager needs to be matured slowly to get a good flavor, but then it "must get into the drinker as fast as possible before it deteriorates". "Fast", in beer, apparently makes a big difference in "fresh".  NewScientist says a reasonably good taster can distinguish between a week-old and month-old bottle from the same batch."

Freshness is super-important in my field of business blogging as well. Search engine rankings reward recency, a.k.a. new content, which is the key reason traditional websites can’t complete with corporate blogging. "Fresh" in business blogs means content that is up-do-date on the latest trends in your industry, problems that are now getting solved because of updated technology and knowledge.  "Fresh" in blogs, according to WebInkNow,  means content that informs and educates and entertains, adding that (and this can be hard for businessowners to hear) "nobody cares about your products and services except you". 

Did you know (I didn’t, until recently), the U.S. Air Force has created a role called "Chief of Emerging Technology", to develop web applications to engage Airmen and the general public in online conversation? The Air Force has even created a flow chart for assessing blog posts and comments, stressing the following values:

• Transparency (disclosing your connection with the Air Force)
• Sourcing (citing your sources)
• Timeliness (Don’t rush, take time to create  good responses)
• Tone (Your tone should reflect on the rich heritage of the Air Force
• Influence (Focus on the most used sites related to the Air Force) 

Each item on this Air Force checklist describes a good practice for business bloggers. In my work as part of a company’s marketing team, it’s important to set just the right tone and methodology for the blog. But, never forget, the Air Force-level discipline is needed as well. Without maintaining a system of consistently posting new, fresh content to the blog, the tactic will not pull its weight as part of the business’ marketing strategy. 

Search engines, like those reasonably good beer tasters, will be able to distinguish freshness!