Corporate Blogging - Do’s and Don’ts

I am partipating in A Red Bench’s telesummitt today and the topic is blogging so to celebrate, here are some do’s and don’t corporations should take into account when blogging.

1. Keep entries to one page or less - a blog entry should be short and to the point - people don’t like to scroll endlessly.

2. Blogs are intended as on-line logs or journals and are more informal than other marketing mediums so write accordingly.

3. Use simple terms - don’t include jargon or abbreviations unless you are sure your audience will understand otherwise it will simply put them off.

4. Don’t use your blog as a forum to attempt to promote or sell - its not appropriate.

5. It is generally accepted in the blogosphere that you can quote from another blog as long as you state your source and link back to it.

6. Remember to add value. This is huge.  If you don’t tell people something they don’t know then they have no reason to come back.  Think about who your intended audience is and write posts that are informative - share useful links to cool sites and on-line services.

7. Emoticons may be okay for a personal blog but in a corporate one they look unprofessional. Unless your target audience is the under 20 consumer crowd then its best to avoid using emoticons at all.

8. Its good to include video clips, images and podcasts as long as they are relevant to your topic.

9. Don’t use fonts that are too large or hard to read and be sparing with capitals (no need to yell!).

10. When you include links to other web pages, always remember to check that your links work before publishing your blog article (there’s nothing worse than clicking on a link in anticipation only to find that it doesn’t link take you where its supposed to).

11. The most important part of your post is the title.  Take time to craft a title that will make people want to read more.

12. Always consider your corporate brand and image when blogging.  Before you post anything, consider if it reflects your brand.