Alex Cristache - Corporate Blogging Guide (eBook)

Alex Cristache
Blogsessive.com (Blog)
QBKL.net (Design Studio)

Corporate
Blogging
Guide

About the author

This is me I guess, Alex Cristache, a 29 year old fellow with more than 10 years of online
experience gathered working for top Romanian web design, development and consultancy
companies or as a freelancer, currently being the Managing Partner of the QBKL Media
design studio.

Looking back into my past, I’ve started as a junior web designer and worked my way up in
ranks through senior web, print & logo designer, occasional copywriter, web & SEO
consultant and project manager. While my main job was focused on design, I couldn't stay
away from web development, and so, I’ve started working with PHP & MySQL.

When WordPress was first released, I’ve instantly connected with this application, amazed
with what can be accomplished by using it, how customizable it can get and the ease of use.
So, here I am, a few years later, sharing my thoughts, experience and findings with you,
friends and readers of my blog: Blogsessive.com.

Special thanks...

Go to Alina Popescu for her invaluable help with the translation and editing of this eBook.
You can follow her PR blog over at http://WordsofaBrokenMirror.com or check out the
website of her PR & Marketing agency: Mirror Communications.

I would also like to thank Blogsessive’s readers who by supporting me in my blogging
adventure made the publishing of this eBook possible.

Last but not least, I thank you - the one who reads this guide - for your interest in learning,
evolving and thus making the blogosphere a much more interesting place for all of us.

Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 1
Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media

Contents

1. Introduction to Blogging 4-5
1.1. Blog, Blogging, Blogosphere
1.2. Corporate Blogging

2. Critical Questions Before Launching a Corporate Blog 7-9
2.1. Is the blog a necessity or just a whim?
2.2. Do you have the needed resources to launch and maintain a blog?
2.3 How does the online audience feel about your company?
2.3.1. Reactions in the blogosphere: Technorati
2.3.2. Reactions in the blogosphere: Google Blog Search
2.3.3. Reactions in the online press from your field
2.3.4. Quantifying the risk factor
2.4. Interpreting the answers

3. Setting up Goals and Blog Positioning 11

4. Types of Corporate Blogs 13 - 14
4.1. CEO blog
4.2. Entrepreneur blog
4.3. Multi-author company blog
4.4. Department blog
4.5. Employee’s blog
4.6. Product/Service blog
4.7. Human Resources blogs

5. Blog Editors & Editorial Policy 16 - 17
5.1. Criteria to help build the editorial team
5.2. PR department involvement
5.3. The blog’s tone
5.4. Content generation

6. Blogging Tips to Get You Started 19 - 20

7. Blog Performance Tracking Tools 22 - 23

8. Technical Aspects and Words of Advice 25 - 27
8.1. Choosing the blogging platform
8.2. Words of Advice


“With the abundance of information
hitting our brains each minute, we
have to filter everything right from the
first contact. The first impression is
vital. Take your time to rethink and
possibly rewrite your headlines,
maybe even reconsider your blog’s
design & structure, the placement of
different sections that could generate
further traffic and more reading time.”
Excerpt from “How to Improve Your Readers’ Perception”


1. Introduction to Blogging

When starting out, new bloggers often do one of these two major mistakes: they either
consider blogging too easy and mostly an automated process, or think of it as a burden that
most times doesn’t pay off. Well, my dear friends, blogging is neither too hard, nor too easy.

Blogging is an exercise of your skills and talents, a process of constant learning and
improvement. It may seem a tough process at first, but with dedicated attention it will
become easier with each post you publish and promote.

That being said, I offer you this guide to help you start your new blogging adventure with an
ace in your sleeve. Let’s take it back to the basics!

1.1 Blog, Blogging, Blogosphere

The term blog, contracted form of weblog, defines a certain type of website where texts,
photos, audio or video content are published in chronological order, much like an online
diary.

The first blogs date back to 1993 when the term was first introduced, but they only started
to be used more frequently in 1998 when the first blog community, Open Diary, appeared.

The true hit of the online mainstream happened around 2002-2003, when the first blog
reactions regarding the Iraq war were published and when Google acquired the Blogger.com
platform, which allows any person with Internet access to create and maintain their own
blog.

The Blogosphere comprises all public blogs and is defined as a community based on the
theory that all existing blogs are somehow interconnected, often through blogrolls or links
inserted in their content.

A blogroll is a list of links, commonly displayed in a blog’s sidebar. The links usually point
to blogs the author deems relevant to the content of their own blog or simply wants to
recommend to their readers. Therefore, through blogrolls, it is believed that any two blogs
can be connected through one or more intermediary links.

Blogs allow publishing content in a wide range of types and formats, and these types of
content lead to a first classification of blogs:

a. Classic blog – text content
b. Photoblog – publishes photo content
c. Videoblog – publishes video content
d. Audioblog (podcast) – publishes audio content


Microblogs and tumbleblogs, both defined as blogs with extremely short entries, are two
other blog formats gaining more and more popularity in the past few years.

Regardless of information format, the online publishing of content through blog platforms is
called blogging, and the author of a blog is called blogger.

1.2 Corporate blogging

Once they have hit the spotlights, the blogs’ potential to communicate effectively was
immediately noticed by companies.

Initially seen as a mere tool to promote products and services, blogs gradually became part
of a company’s brand. Aside from placing a name and a logo on them, blogs granted
companies a persona they could be associated with. In short, they made them human. The
corporate blog managed to break the barrier between the “inaccessible company” and its
customers.

The true value of a company is undoubtedly fueled by its employees’ individual values. But
how exactly can these values be expressed? How can they be best presented to the world?

Blogs allow companies to position their employees as industry leaders through the opinions
they publish, through the breakthroughs shared on the blog, all in a human, personal form
that eases communication with customers.

A few companies that have successfully adopted the concept of blogs are:

Adobe – http://blogs.adobe.com/
Microsoft – http://www.microsoft.com/communities/blogs/ and http://blogs.msdn.com/
Google – http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

The benefits of a well crafted and maintained blog are plenty, but is it the right tool for
companies? Find out in the next chapters.


“Many bloggers fail when it comes to
building a better blog. Making your
blog stand out of the crowd requires a
strategy, just like a business. Even if
you’re not part of an affiliate program
of selling your own products through
your blog, think of it this way: You’re
selling yourself, your knowledge, your
writings.”
Excerpt from “My blog, my business”


2. Critical Questions Before
Launching a Corporate Blog

Not all promoting and marketing techniques yield results in any given situation and likewise
blogs aren’t always the best solution. In certain cases, a blog can become a useless
investment, or worse, a way to boost the already negative view the audience has on a
company. Before launching a blog, each company needs to ask the following questions:

2.1. Is the blog a necessity or just a whim?

A company’s decision to launch a blog may be based on obvious advantages generated by
the freedom of communication and by its being given a human touch. Considering these
advantages or failing to do so, we still run into situations where a company chooses to
launch a blog because of reasons such as:

a. Our competitor X has launched a blog;
b. It’s trendy, any teen has one. Why can’t we have one?
c. We want to look high-tech / tech savvy.

In theory, none of the reasons above is a real obstacle, given it’s associated with and
supported by other factors such as having the necessary resources to create and maintain a
blog or a positive or neutral image in the market.

2.2 Do you have the needed resources to launch and maintain a blog?

Unlike classic company websites, blogs keep consuming resources.

Blogs imply costs. Be it the technical side – design, development, hosting, be it hiring an
experienced blogger to maintain it and publish fresh content, a blog needs financial
resources.

Blogs take time. It takes time to create and publish content; it takes time to research, write
posts, update them and maintain the blog. And for any company with a sense of business,
time always means money.

Blogs need dedicated personnel. While there are quite a few tools to render content
publishing automatic, the best results in corporate blogging are harvested by those
publishing customized content, created by their own people. Are there people in your team
who can maintain the blog? If not, do you have enough resources to bring in someone new?

Blogs require information. And information is either created or needs to be searched for,
analyzed and filtered. These steps also take time and need to be carried out by people who
need to be effective and thorough in research, data filtering and content creation.


2.3 How does the online audience feel about your company?

We are talking about the online world, where the fastest and most relevant reactions are
being published. How do we track them?

2.3.1 Reactions in the blogosphere: Technorati

Technorati.com is at the same time a blog search engine and a blog content aggregation
service. According to the latest data, Technorati indexes and analyzes the activity of about
110 million blogs from around the world.

Through a system reviewing both post tags and inter-blog links, Technorati returns relevant
search result in a reverse-chronological order, the most recent ones being displayed first.

2.3.2 Reactions in the blogosphere: Google Blog Search

The world famous Google has a search engine entirely dedicated to blogs. Using the
traditional search algorithms it’s already known for, Google Blog Search allows you to filter
results based on multiple search parameters as well as on the date when the blog articles
and reactions have been published.

Running a search for your company’s name will most likely return relevant results which
are usually very personal, as they are reactions from within the blogosphere. If your brand
mainly targets domestic customers, the wisest choice is to use the local version of the blog
search engine.

And of course, running the search directly on the main Google search engine can return
similarly relevant results.

2.3.3 Reactions in the online press from your field

Although it is not always the most relevant source, as it is often affiliated to certain trade
groups or biased by advertising constraints, the online press covering your field can be an
effective indicator for your company’s image by taking into account what their experts and
analysts have to say about you.

2.3.4. Quantifying the risk factor

Based on the results obtained after analyzing all these online reactions, one can quite
accurately quantify the risk factor their company is exposed to by publishing a blog,
especially if it is a blog that allows comments to be posted.

A negative online image can lead to a virtually unlimited series of negative comments which
rarely have to do with the actual content published on the blog. Visitors would have thus
found a way to express all their frustration caused by real or imaginary flaws they see in the
company’s products and services.


2.4 Interpreting the answers

It hardly takes a genius to determine if the blog is just a whim with a short life span and
inexistent success in communicating with customers.

Also, it is obvious that without the necessary resources, a blog cannot be launched or it will
be launched while lacking any real possibility of it being maintained in the future.

And who would ever want to help spread an already bad image through exposing themselves
to ever present negative comments, especially in their own “online home”?


“Spend some time learning more
about your audience. Read the
comments, visit their blogs, and ask
questions. By getting to know your
readers, you will find it easier to talk
to them as they would expect you to.”
Excerpt from “Effective Communication: Know Your Audience”


3. Setting up Goals and Blog Positioning

So, did you ask yourself if a blog is the right thing for your company? Is it a solution that
will boost your business instead of being a resource consumer? If so, it’s time to find out
what options are there in terms of positioning a corporate blog.

Each company has its specific communication needs. Based on said needs and other
established targets, a newly launched company blog can help achieve specific goals, such
as:

- Becoming an alternative, and dynamic method to publish content;
- Positioning employees as thought leaders and experts in their respective fields;
- Building a community around a company, product or service;
- Boosting sales;
- Encouraging customers to send their feedback;
- Speeding up customer service;
- Gaining you exposure through both new and traditional (print press, radio, TV) media;
- Positioning you as a trendy company that keeps up with new technologies;
- Becoming and effective channel for crisis communication;
- Supporting your HR efforts by offering an “alternative” look at your team and thus
attracting new job applications;
- Helping your company rank higher for specific search phrases and attracting new
backlinks.

It’s highly recommended to establish a set of complementary goals. If a company manages to
focus on and reach its main goals, the adjacent targets will also be achieved at the same
time.

Here are a couple of examples of complementary goal sets:

- Building a community + boosting sales + attracting feedback
- Positioning yourself as a thought leader + building a community + gaining media
exposure


“A king without a kingdom cannot
exists, so take your time to build your
blog from the most basic item that
you can work on to improve. Only by
having a rock solid foundation you
can make a true king out of your
content, and YES, content is king!”
Excerpt from “Is Content really the King?”


4. Types of Corporate Blogs

So, you think you are ready to launch a corporate blog for your company? Based on
previously set goals for your blog and the available resources, the most common types of
corporate blogs from which you can choose are:

4.1. CEO blog

The CEO blog is the blog authored by someone from the company’s top management. The
general trend for such blogs is to publish analyses of the main events in a certain filed,
forecasts and statistics, this content pattern thus positioning the author as a thought
leader. Often times this type of blog will be strongly related to the company brand, its
products and services.

A few famous examples of CEO blogs:

1. Jonathan Schwartz (President & CEO, Sun Microsystems)
2. Craig Newmark (CEO, Craig’s List)
3. Jason Calacanis (CEO, Weblogs)

4.2. Entrepreneur blog

Similar to the CEO blog in what the editorial style is concerned, the entrepreneur blog is set
apart by a significantly larger volume of information relevant to the author’s field of
expertise and by diary-type entries describing the ongoing projects the entrepreneur is
focusing on at the time.

A couple of examples of entrepreneur blogs:

1. Guy Kawasaki
2. Jeff Pulver
3. Kevin Rose

4.3. Multi-author company blog

Several authors – company employees from different departments – publish content on this
type of blog, each of them writing articles that cover their area of expertise. Often times
these types of blogs turn into blog communities aggregating content published by individual,
single-author blogs.

Example: Google Blog


4.4. Department blog

This type of blog is almost exclusively authored by leaders in certain company department
and it is focused on the activity and expertise of said department.

Example: Kevin Lynch – Chief Software Architect at Adobe Systems

4.5. Employee’s blog

This is the semi-professional blog of one of the company’s employees and it will use the
company’s brand and image to promote the author as a guru of his field. The content of
such a blog focuses almost entirely on job related topics.

Example: Lori DeFurio – Adobe Systems

4.6. Product/Service blog

This type of blog is dedicated to a certain product or service provided by a company, and it’s
meant to help promote it, create a community around it and obtain feedback from the
customers.

Example: WordPress Blog – Automattic’s corporate blog dedicated entirely to the Wordpress
blogging platform

4.7. Human Resources blogs

Although not a very common type in the corporate blogging world, the HR blog is
characterized by its efforts to present a company’s team and the events they attend as
casually as possible, thus opening the company up to potential employees who might be
attracted by what they are being offered and the light atmosphere in the office.

Example: Astraware Team Blog

Choose wisely and make sure that the blog type you choose
matches your goals and the resources you have!


“Having a poor homepage structure
combined with the lack of relevant
information or ways to find it will
definitely push visitors away from
your blog, while a clean, intuitive
homepage will most likely become a
decisive factor when it comes to
turning visitors into readers.”
Excerpt from “Your Blog Homepage is a Conversion Tool. Use it!”


5. Blog Editors & Editorial Policy

Depending on the type of corporate blog you’re targeting, you can then put together an
editorial team. To make sure you correctly appoint those in charge of content generation
and blog management, you need to consider the following criteria:

5.1. Criteria to help build the editorial team

The future bloggers needs to be/have:

1. Experts in the filed they are going to cover;
2. A good communicator, able to manage potential communication crises arising from
dialogues and feedback generated by the blog;
3. Concise, clear and explicit when they express themselves, as they will not target only
those who are in their turn experts and are acquainted to the field’s jargon;
4. Believable and genuine in what the provided information is concerned;
5. A human touch and a pleasant manner of writing;
6. Ready to face a reduced level of privacy in their lives, at least in what the online world is
concerned.

5.2. PR department involvement

Most communications through the corporate blog usually abide by the general public
relations policies within the company, thus it is strongly recommended that your blogger(s)
work together with your PR department. Their collaboration helps:

1. abide by the general communication tone imposed by company standards;
2. prevent or, if needed, manage possible communication crises;
3. develop the bloggers’ communication skills and ability to generate valuable content.

5.3. The blog’s tone

Depending on the type of blog and target audience, the tone and style of the blogger may
vary. Usually, a relaxed, human voice and an openness to communicate and interact with
all those providing feedback or reactions within the comments section or on other blogs
guarantees your blog’s success.

Staying clear from “corporate speeches”, what is communicated through the blog should
have an equivalent in day to day life, such as:

1. A relaxed conversation with one or more friends;


2. A conversation with in a larger group comprising both good friends and recent
acquaintances;
3. A first meeting with one or more persons that you have never interacted with.

To find the right tone or voice, the term “conversational” should always be your reference.
Using words such as “I”, “you”, “us” adds more personality and openness and, thus being
highly recommended.

Further reading recommendation: Finding Your Reader-friendly Blogging Tone

5.4. Content generation

Generating content for a blog is an activity that uses up a lot of resources, from time to
information. The most common sources used to generate new debate topics in your articles
are:

- your own area of expertise;
- news and events related to your company;
- the evolution of your products and services;
- industry events;
- industry press releases;
- debating your own opinions with other industry representatives;
- the analysis of industry statistics and forecasts;
- analyzing pieces of news published by the media;
- attending fairs;
- guides to success – tips & tricks;
- lists of preferences and recommendations, etc.

Mashable.com has published a comprehensive article providing over 40 sources you can
use to generate content: http://mashable.com/2008/08/11/topics-for-corporate-bloggers/


“Listening can create an emotional
bridge between you and your
audience. Showing interest in what
other people have to say qualifies you
as a caring person, and for a blogger
that wants to be helpful that is a big
plus.”
Excerpt from “The Better Blogger, The Good Listener”


6. Blogging Tips to Get You Started

Regardless of the blog type you choose, be it personal or corporate, the following pieces of
advice are meant to guide your steps in your future blogging activity. These are the most
important blog tips you’ll need to follow when starting a new blogging adventure!

6.1. Look for ideas at any time and in any place

A conversation in the subway, a debate or piece of news heard on the car radio, anything
can turn into a new topic for your blog. Keep your mind open and tune your hearing,
combine them with good analysis skills and you will have some killer weapons in your
arsenal.

6.2. Raise and maintain interest

An attractive first paragraph is not enough to maintain the reader’s interest throughout
your blog post. “Start big, finish bigger”. Provide new hooks in small doses to keep your
readers interest throughout the article.

6.3. Generate the conversation and take part in it

Often times, bloggers are compared to journalists, and their blogs to newspapers (usually
tabloids, not broadsheets). Yet blogs and online newspapers differ exactly where they are
also alike – the comments section. Newspapers use the comments section to allow users to
express their frustrations and almost never moderate them. The classic journalistic style
rarely requires an answer or any feedback, usually being limited to presenting the facts or
expressing an opinion.

The main ace bloggers play is their power to start conversations and to keep them going by
being part of them.

6.4. Make sure you provide quality information

If your new blog post is based on personal opinions, make sure they have the required
features to become points of reference. If you’ve used other sources for it, make sure you
check their credibility and quality first.

6.5. Never promise more than you can give

Failing to deliver everything you have promised will lead to a significant decrease in a blog’s
credibility and popularity. Teasers do work, but only if what you were teasing readers with
becomes reality.


6.6. Offer help

Nothing pleases blog followers more than getting help from a field expert. Whenever you
have a spare moment, help those in need of your professional help. Make sure to reply their
comments and their emails.

6.7. Links are sacred

Are you quoting a source? Then link to it! Are you publishing survey results or statistics?
Link to those who have created them. Are you expressing your opinion regarding something
that has been published on another blog or online outlet? Link to the initial article. Why?

1. Because it helps prove the quality of the provided information and places them in a
broader context;
2. Because it is a nice way to thank those who have inspired you to find a new topic for
your blog.

If you have already discussed a certain topic in previous posts, link to them at the end of
the current article. This helps those interested in the topic to get more details on it.
Additionally, a solid inbound and outbound linking policy will help your blog rank better in
search engines.

6.8. Never, ever...

Do any of the following:
1. Attack someone else’s stand on an issue if you are not 100% sure of your own. Make
sure to provide arguments to sustain it;
2. Publish someone else’s content without having their permission to do so.
3. Start open conflicts with your blog commentators. Keep your cool!
4. Allow the needs vs. solutions balance incline towards the former in your posts. Provide
more solutions than debates over what’s needed.
5. Shy away from commenting on similar or competing blogs. As long as you don’t do it to
shamelessly plug your blog or attach the author, your contributions will be valued and will
direct more readers towards your own posts.
6. Take all blogging advice as laws. They are only pieces of advice. Experiment with them
and see which work better in your case.
7. Fill your blog up with plugins, widgets and other useless elements. We are ultimately
talking about a corporate blog. You really do not want to compete in MTV’s “Pimp my blog”
competition!
8. Postpone for too long your blogging platform and plugins update. Don’t be the first to
do it either, to make sure bugs are found and solved, but don’t be the last one either!

6.9. And the most important piece of advice…

... I’m ever going to give you is to never be afraid of EXPERIMENTING. Experiment with
different tones, new post types, new topic approaches.


“Leaving a comment is not a thing you
should do to get or expect something
in return. Still, constantly posting
interesting comments will help build
up your reputation with certain
communities in your niche.
Reputation generates interest.”
Excerpt from “How to Make Your Comments Stand Out”


7. Blog Performance Tracking Tools

A blog’s success is measured through both its number of active readers or of RSS
subscribers and its performance in traffic: number of page views, of unique visitors,
popularity, page rank and many others.

There are a few methods to obtain the needed statistics to track and measure such
indicators.

7.1. Access and traffic statistics

Google, the most powerful and popular search engine in the world, provides bloggers with
traffic statistics though its free Google Analytics service.

By choosing a free Google Analytics account, you can view stats regarding your blog’s page
views, number of unique or returning visitors, keywords used to reach your blog, the most
visited pages you have posted, geographical tracking of your visitors and much more.

Google Analytics is currently considered to be a very accurate and relevant tool. Other
services you might consider are StatCounter or Woopra with its live tracking and analytics
features.

7.2. Indexing statistics

The number of pages indexed by a search engine and their position in search tops reflect the
indexing rank of a site.

Do you want to find what your indexing results are for two of the most important search
engines are? Google and Yahoo offer you two critical tools for any website administrator:

1. Google Webmaster Tools (XML Sitemaps)
2. Yahoo! Site Explorer

You can check the number pages from your website indexed by Google by typing the
following in the search box:

site:www.domainname.com

You can also check the number of outside links your website’s pages receive by typing the
following:

link:www.domainname.com


7.3. Popularity statistics

Traffic, accessibility, search engine exposure levels as well as content relevancy and its
focus on certain niches all contribute to your blog’s popularity.

The popularity is statistically tracked by a range of online services, of which the most
relevant are:

1. Alexa
2. Compete
3. Quantcast
4. Technorati (Blog dedicated service)

7.4. Statistics’ relevance

A thorough analysis of your blog’s stats will help you identify its strong spots and the type of
content best suited for its audience. It will also help you determine its weak spots or to
improve your content and focus more on covering certain areas of interest.

Make sure you never forget that blogs are maintained through
relevant, interesting and fresh content, not statistics!


“There’s no golden rule about the
perfect blog post length. It’s all about
your topic(s) and the best way to
present your information without
cluttering the content or filling it with
unnecessary stuff.”
Excerpt from “Deciding Between Short and Long Blog Posts”


8. Technical Aspects

A blog’s maintenance is not limited to creating and publishing new content. The blog’s
success is also powered by technical factors, such as the chosen blogging platform, search
engine optimization or how one interprets traffic and popularity statistics. The top bloggers,
also called A-list bloggers, have learned to tackle these technical aspects, even if they
initially were not experts in this area.

Here are a few details that will help you launch and maintain a successful blog and that will
also help you better communicate with the agency of freelancer in charge of creating and
developing your company’s blog.

8.1. What to consider when choosing a blog platform

When choosing a blog platform, you need to consider a series of aspects, each of equal
importance. The main factors that need to be analyzed are:

a. The skills & expertise of the agency or freelancer that will be handling the project;
b. The possibility of running the blogging platform on your own domain and server. A
major flaw a business would make is to opt for free hosting and have a web address that
would look like: http://company-name.blogspot.com;
c. The blog appearance customizing options;
d. The support provided by platform developers;
e. Ease of content updates;
f. The users’ community built around the platform. The bigger it is, the easier it will
be for you to get help and support from community members;
g. Application costs, from buying the license to customization fees and what you
spend on hosting.

Right now, the strongest and most popular blogging platforms are:

a. WordPress – http://WordPress.org
b. MovableType – http://MovableType.org and http://MovableType.com
c. Expression Engine – http://ExpressionEngine.com

8.1.1. The “Versus” factor

There are similarities and differences between these three platforms which can turn any of
them into your tool of choice. Both WordPress and ExpressionEngine are developed using
PHP, a fairly common language among web developers. It will obviously make it a lot easier
for you to find a developer for your company’s blog. Movable Type uses a PHP and Perl mix,
which makes it a bit more restrictive.


WordPress was designed as a personal blogging platform that is why each installation
corresponds to a single blog. Later on, the WordPress MU version was crated for those
wanting to deploy a blogging network, all managed “under the same roof”. The version name
comes from WordPress MultiUser. The MU version is free of charge. At the same time,
Movable Type offers the multi-blog/multi-user option in their base install pack.
ExpressionEngine also provides similar options through and add-on that costs $199.95.

While installing and setting up Movable Type and ExpressionEngine takes quite a lot of
time, WordPress is famous for its “5 minute installation”. The truth is that in the case of
an expert that has all the needed tools, it can take less than 2 minutes.

Additionally, WordPress is extremely popular compared to its two competitors, its
community being much larger, more active and willing to help. Therefore, whenever a
feature is included in the base kits of Movable Type or EpxressionEngine and does not exist
in the WordPress kit, the community immediately develops it to compensate.

In what customizing is concerned, WordPress is again the best. The wide range of free
themes and add-ons can help you customize your blog to match anything you have
imagined. Additionally, you will easily find freelancers or agencies that specialize in
customizing WordPress.

In terms of price, WordPress and Movable Type are free to download, install and use,
even if it is for commercial purposes. ExpressionEngine also offers a free version, but a lot of
the basic functionalities are restricted. A license to fit the needs of a real company blog costs
$249.95, plus an additional yearly fee of $39.95 for platform updates.

Based on the above comparison, it’s quite easy for me to draw a conclusion...

And the winner is... WordPress

It might be a subjective conclusion, but the high maintenance costs and the scarce
community took ExpressionEngine out of the race.

Although it makes it easy to create multi-user blogs, the restriction imposed by the
programming language as well as the lack of a community to constantly deliver new
resources disqualify MovableType, making WordPress the winner of the competition.

Along with the classic support option of contacting the development team, WordPress
provides users with and excellent guide/glossary at http://codex.wordpress.org. If the
information provided here is not enough, the community is always willing to help and you
can find them at http://wordpress.org/support.

And if that is not enough, running a simple Google search will return a virtually unlimited
list of websites and blogs that publish WordPress dedicated articles, thus adding valuable
and varied resources and information to existing ones. One of those blogs is my own:
Blogsessive.com


8.2. Words of Advice

If you’re looking to start a corporate blog, consider investing in a custom designed
theme. You’re brand has to be reflected in the visuals of your blog too. Using a free template
will always have a negative impact on your image and the way people perceive it. My design
studio would be glad to help you out!

Limit the number of plugins and widgets you use to those that add the most important or
needed functions to your blog. Using a large number of plugins increases the risk of
incompatibility, not to mention the fact that most developers only test their plugins on the
basic installation of the blogging platform, as an extensive test including many other plugins
would be a really painful task.

Keep the navigation element visually separated. Usually, it’s recommended to use a top
navigation menu for page navigation, while using the sidebar to display categories, recent
posts, popular posts, polls, and so on.

Keep your sidebar clean and accessible. Do not fill it with tons of widgets that in the end
might only help 1% or 2% of your readers. Consider adding widgets to the sidebar only if
they are relevant to the majority of your users and readers.

Don’t forget to visit

for more blogging tips to help
you in your blogging adventures!


“If you can make readers discuss your
content, your blog will grow simply by
word-of-mouth and so will your
authority. Learning to create not
simply posts, but ideas and
discussions will help you to develop a
thriving community. Discussion is the
foundation of any great society, so
make sure your content gets people
talking!”
Excerpt from “Three Formulas for Sparking Conversation”


Alex Cristache - Corporate Blogging Guide (eBook)

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Alex Cristache - Corporate Blogging Guide (eBook)