.: Business Blog Web Design Mistakes
Category:Home / Internet / Blogging
With more companies adopting blogs, we're starting to see what works and what doesn't work from a design perspective. As a cue from Jakob Nielsen's article on the topic, here are thing problems I often find.
Bad headlines. They're frustrating. Some bloggers like to get creative... but creativity can affect search engine keyword opportunities. The important thing is that readers have a hint of what the post is about.
Links. Readers like to know where links take them and most of us rely on the status bar, but sometimes that doesn't help. Some experts say to use "click here" to help those who are newer to the Web and others say that's wrong, wrong, wrong. It just depends on the content. When linking, try to pick the best words that give readers an idea of what to expect.
Calendars as the only way to navigate a blog and impossible to find archives or older entries are big problems. I almost always resort to search when I want to find postings no longer on the home page. Unfortunately, some blogs don't have search. That's why I put "archive" links in my sidebar in both meryl's notes and meryl's notes features. As my site goes through redesign, I'm making sure the archives are accessible especially in the features section. I found some old entries from 2001 that are still relevant today.
Bloggers must be regular. No bathroom jokes here, please. :) When a blog looks abandoned for a month... your audience is gone. They'll take you off their feed reader and blogroll. If you plan not to do it again or take a long sabbatical... prepare to start over again when you return.
Keep the boss in mind even if your the head honcho. Always blog with a boss in mind. Will your boss (current and future) be offended by your posting? Not only do people get fired for their blogs, but also they could cost job offers. It wouldn't surprise me if managers are Googling applicants while going through the interview process.
Junky URLs. Nielsen says having a typepad.com or blogspot.com equates to having a yahoo.com or aol.com email address. Some of the bigwigs use Blogspot or Typepad URLs. Guess what? I never remember their URLs. I have to rely on Google. So this makes sense, BUT I wouldn't call it unprofessional.
Business blogging has many benefits and problems. Companies tread carefully when entering this new world. It's wise to have policies on the approval process and what can and can't be said. Like anything else in a business, blogs need to be evaluated to determine whether or not they fit the business' model.
Article keywords: blog, blogging, weblog, weblogs, business, corporate, enterprise, writing
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Meryl K. Evans (www.meryl.net),
Content Maven, is the editor of eNewsletter Journal and Shavlik's The
Remediator Security Digest. She writes columns for PC Today, InformIT,
and MarketingProfs. Contact her to get content that inspires action or
check out her blog (www.meryl.net/blog/.
.: New Blogging Articles
1). Profitng And Benefiting From Wordpress Ella
The "Wordpress" developer team has successfully launched their latest version of Wordpress, called "Wordpress Ella". Numerically, the version
number is called version 2.1
2). Using Blogs to Turn Your Web Site into a Traffic Powerhouse
How to use Blogs to turn your web site into a Traffic Hub and profit from it.
3). Top 5 Secrets To Blogging
If you are blogging, this information here will be very useful for you to start off with.
4). Blogging Can Save Your Life!
Ok not really but it is a lot of fun!
5). Selling Is Part And Parcel Of Life!
According to Rich Dad series, one of the important skills to learn is selling if I want to be wealthy. I decided that I wanted to learn selling. This is because I realized the fact that I am always selling my ideas and information to someone everyday whether I like it or not.
6). Why Is There A Need To Know More People Beyond Your Comfort Social Circle!
After reading the rich dad series, I gather that it is important to know more people beyond my comfort social circle especially people who are more successful than me.
7). Keeping it Honest as a Paid Blogger
Paid blogging is becoming quite popular among many bloggers as a way to earn an income. So how do you keep it honest and keep your readers?
.: Top Blogging Articles
1). Effective Blogging - How to Get Wealthy Blogging
"THERE are two kinds of knowledge. One is general, the other is specialized. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money."
Web Blogs are online diaries made up of short frequently updated posts. In addition, they are inexplicably popular.
Steve Pavlina's Blog, dedicated to helping you make conscious decisions in your personal development and courageously follow through on them is a good example of a very popular Blog.
2). The Importance Of Blog Design And Make It Your Own...
Blogs have increased popularity over this past months. Many people have started to create their personal blogs to express their thoughts and feelings. Internet companies have also started their blogs to inform consumers on the latest product news and reviews.
Because of this, blogs are also being used as internet marketing media. Before, internet marketing is done by placing banners and links on popular websites, such as news and information sites.
3). 5 ways to increase traffic to your blog
Blogs are a very popular ways of promoting your product or service. They are easy to install, easy to administer and easy to update. And search engines love them too. But what is a blog without traffic?Exactly. Here are five quick ways to boost traffic to your blog and start seeing those big sales.
1.Build a list of blog services to ping
There are a lot of blog services you can ping.
4). BLOGS! What They Are... And WHY They're Becoming A POWER TOOL For Internet Marketers
BLOGS! What a crazy name for the "NEWEST" Internet marketing trend to hit the Internet.
But, I like it.
It makes this new form of communication kind of mysterious in a way, though, BLOGS have been around for quite some time and only recently have been recognized as a VERY valuable asset to Internet marketers.
Recently, I was visiting some Internet marketing related Forums and noticed many of the threads having similar "Subjects" saying.
5). How To Generate Income From Blogging
How to successfully make money using blogs
6). SEOBlogBuilder - A Review
SEOBlogBuilder: A Review
If you operate one or many websites or blogs, SEOBlogBuilder can easily become an invaluable part of your efforts to achieve higher traffic results. SEOBlogBuilder is an automated blogging software that automatically creates content for the blogs on your sites that are search engine optimized.
Since blogs and search engine.
7). Part Three - Keywords, Tags, Categories - Oh Vey! I Am So Mixed Up!
Okay so now we know all there is to know about content and keywords. Hah! But you did get the basics. It may be a good point to stop and talk about Keywords, Tags, Categories and all that as well. Logically, in progression this should come much later, but because there seems such misunderstandings about Technorati, Del.icio.us and other tagging systems, it may be a good place to put this down.