Business Blogging Quickstart: Anatomy of a Blog

Business Blogging Quick Start: Anatomy of a Blog Part of the Social Media and CRM 2.0 Professional Certification Seminar Series

Agenda
Anatomy of a blog
Connecting
The business blogging ecosystem
Blogging etiquette
Connecting with customers and prospects
Tips for successful blogging and a successful blog
Earning customers’ hearts, minds and attention
Competitive survey
Planning for visibility
Identifying like minds and experts
Action plan framework

Anatomy Of A Blog

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: The Main Page
Header
Center column
Sidebars
Footer

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Postings
The reason readers show up
Regularly updated
Many options on length, tone, etc.

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Outbound Links
Connections to others
Builds community
Links to supporting facts and good ideas
Shows respect

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Full vs. Truncated Postings
Full postings show the entire entry in the center column
Good if posts are typically “short”
Fewer, longer posts appear on the main page

Truncated postings show a portion of a post in the center column
Requires an additional click for the user
Lets readers see “snippets” of more posts
Considerate (and consider it) if posts are very long

Click brings reader from the snippet to the full post
Can be decided on a post-by-post basis

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: “Permalinks”
Link to a particular post
Prevents others’ links from inaccuracy over time
Enable search engines to index individual posts

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Author Biography And Contact Info
Link to background of blog author
Information on how to contact author directly
Adds a human dimension to the blog

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Author Biography
No “typical” form for content
Can range from resume-like to free-form
Usually includes not only professional history, but personal interests as well

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Contact Information
Email
Phone
Many use Skype
Email may be “spam-proofed”

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Author Identification (if multiple)
Some biz blogs have multiple authors
Typically identified in the post
Typically listed in a side bar
Different, sometimes dissenting, voices

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Comments
The cornerstone of conversation and interaction
Can be anonymous, or identified
Can be moderated, or unmoderated
Can link back to author
Some posts get zero comments, some get dozens or hundreds

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Authentication Systems
May ensure identity of a commenter
More often simply used to ensure that a commenter is a person (not a program)
Aids in the prevention of “comment spam”

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Archives
Provides access to prior posts
Allows new readers to peruses “the back catalog” to get a feel for the tone and history of the blog
May be by date, or category or another organization scheme

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Recent Posts
Quick links to a handful of most recent posts
Allows readers to catch up on “recent events”
Gives a feel for current hot topics

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Search
Search within a blog
Usually powered by the public Google, Yahoo! Search engines
Provides readers way to find specific posts

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Categories
Many bloggers assign each post to one or more “categories”
Allows a reader to easily find all posts on a particular topic
Useful for both search engine optimization and “tagging”

Aside: RSS (or “Really Simple Syndication”)
“ TiVo for blogs”
Stands for “Really Simple Syndication”
RSS is a format that shares the “content” of blogs and web pages
Most blogs publish an RSS feed
RSS feeds from multiple blogs can be aggregated into portals such as MyYahoo!
Offering an RSS feed greatly extends a blog’s reach

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Subscriptions
It is critical to allow readers to “subscribe” to your blog
“ Subscribed” readers have access to your content without having to visit the web site
Many different technical choices
RSS, portals, “aggregators”
At minimum offer an RSS feed, other mechanisms if space, layout, and effort allow

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Email Subscriptions
RSS is the future, email is the now
For the near-to-mid term, email familiarity will greatly outstrip familiarity with RSS
Email subscriptions fill the gap until RSS integration is ubiquitous

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: “Artifacts”
Aid in making the anonymous more personal
Give a more “360 degree” view of the author
Photos
Personal favorites
Books
Music
Games
Affiliations
Etc.

Anatomy Of A Typical Blog: Blogroll
A public list of links to the homepages of other blogs a blog author finds noteworthy
A public endorsement of sorts
May contain few or dozens of links to other blogs

This presentation is a portion of the Social Media and CRM 2.0 Professional Certification Seminar Series Learn more about the series here: http://www. socialcustomer .com http://www.bptpartners.com/socialmedia_agenda.aspx http://www.the56group.typepad.com/

Business Blogging Quickstart: Anatomy of a Blog

by Christopher Carfi on Mar 26, 2007

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