Unlike Web sites, which require design and HTML skills to produce, blogs are quick and easy to set up using off-the-shelf software with easy-to-use features. With just a little
basic know-how, you can quickly and easily establish and promote your blog. Here are some specific tips to keep in mind:
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Before you begin, think carefully about the name of your blog and its tagline, which will be indexed by the search engines. It is very difficult to go back and change this
information once you have established it.
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Easy-to-use blogging software is available from Blogger, TypePad, WordPress, and others. Some of the services are free and others require a small subscription fee. Research the
services and choose wisely based on your needs, because it is difficult to switch to a different service without losing all the content you have already created. And once your blog
has been indexed by search engines, and people have subscribed to your RSS feed or bookmarked your URL, a change to different software is really tough.
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You will need to choose a URL for your blog. The blogging services all offer customizable URLs (such as yourblog.typepad.com). You can also map your blog to your company's
domain (http://www.yourcompany.com/yourblog) or to a custom domain (http://www.yourblog.com).
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Blogging software makes it easy to choose color, design, and font, and to create a simple text-based masthead. You might consider using a custom graphical image as your
masthead--these are easy to design and will make your blog more attractive to its readers.
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As you begin your blog, tweak your design, and tentatively try a few posts. I recommend you use password protection for the first few weeks or so. That way you can share your
blog with a few friends and colleagues first and make changes before opening it up to the world.
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The look and feel of the blog could be complementary to your corporate design guidelines, but they should not be identical. For many blogs, it is better to be a bit different
from the corporate look to signal to readers that the blog is an independent voice, not corporate-speak.
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Blogging software usually allows you to turn on a comments feature so your visitors can respond to your posts. Some people prefer their blogs to have no comments from readers
at all, and that might be the right choice for you. However, one of the most exciting things about blogging is when your readers comment on what you've written. Depending on your
blogging software, you may opt for open comments, or for a system where you need to approve each comment before it appears on your blog. Many bloggers use the approval feature to
watch for inappropriate comments.
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Unfortunately, the blogosphere is plagued by the problem of comment spam, so to prevent automated comment robots from vandalizing your blog, some comment systems require people
to answer a simple question before their comments go live.
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Most blogs also have a feature to allow trackbacks, which are messages that another blogger sends to you when he has posted something on his blog that references a post you
wrote first. A trackback says to your blog readers, "hey, if you're reading this original post, you might also be interested in a related post on another blog, so click here." Thus, a
trackback is similar to a comment. However, instead of leaving a comment on your blog, the other blogger writes a post on her blog and sends you a trackback so your readers know her
post is there. I recommend you set up your blog so that you must approve trackbacks before they get posted there.
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Pay close attention to the categories you choose for your blog, and add social media tags for services like Technorati, DIGG and del.icio.us to each post.
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RSS is a standard delivery format for many of your readers. Make certain that your new blog has RSS capability. Most blogging software services have RSS feeds as a standard
feature.
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Include an "about" page that includes your photo, biography, affiliations, and information about your blog. Often when people visit a blog for the first time, they want to know
about the blogger, so it is important to provide background.
Contact:
David Meerman Scott is an online thought leadership strategist. This segment is an excerpt from his upcoming book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, which is being published by
Wiley and is due out in June. Scott can be reached at [email protected].