There are a few inventions in human history that really make you marvel at the awe that is human creativity. Airplanes. X-rays. Chocolate milk. And, of course, that virtual contraption known as the blog.
Ah, blogs. Once the playground of subversive Trekkies, half-to-fully-crazed self-appointed politicos, and folks with deep thoughts on everything from greenhouse gas emissions to erotic sock puppetry, blogs have now evolved into top shelf, hard core business tools. And so everyone from the CEO on down are cracking their knuckles, pouring a giant coffee, and blogging away.
Is that good? For people who sell blog software and blog software accessories: yes.
But for many of the businesses that blog: no. And it's because nobody's reading.
Well, okay - some people are reading the blog. Employees who are guilted, shamed or simply ordered to read the blog ("hey, is that in my job description?") are doing their part.
But what about the coveted "target market"? What about those hearts and minds out there for whom the blog, ostensibly, is supposed to exist? They're not interested. And it's likely due to one, some, or all of these five reasons:
1. The blog is too business-centric. Far too many business blogs seek to answer the question "what does the business want to say?" instead of the question that really matters, which is "what does my target audience want to read?"
2. The blog's writing sucks. This goes beyond grammar, spelling, sentence structure and so on. Yes, those things matter. But aside from mechanics, blogs need to be a compelling, memorable and engaging downhill experience that flows forward. Great effort should go in creating them; but never in reading them.
3. The blog has cobwebs. I have two major pet peeves in life. The first is loud library staff. The second is coming across a blog and seeing that the last post was made eons ago (and in crazy wacky Internet-time, and eon is about three weeks). It's better not to have a blog, then to have one that functions primarily to remind visitors that its owner doesn't care about blogging. Why advertise a talent for neglect?
4. The blog is nakedly SEO'd. Yes, blogs are part of an overall SEO strategy. But blogs that are transparently, blatantly designed to serve the SEO gods are tedious to read and evil to behold ("The next time you search for cheap airline tickets, ask yourself, do I really need to go to a travel agent to buy cheap airline tickets, or should I search online for cheap airline tickets? Truly, the quest for cheap airline tickets is something that many people struggle with every day, because cheap airline tickets are hard to find.") For those of you who have stopped vomiting: please don't do that or be an accessory to someone who does. Nobody's being fooled. Not visitors, and certainly not Google (see: Penguin). SEO is not an objective. It's a consequence.
5. The blog is all over the map. Diversity is a virtue -- except when it comes to blog tone and style. Visitors don't want to encounter a different "blog voice" every few days or weeks. Instead, they want consistency and familiarity. Unfortunately, many businesses fail to provide this when they delegate (more like inflict) blog duties on interns who appear and vaporize on a regular basis.
Another way to look at all of this is to see that business blogs really aren't blogs at all; at least not in the sense that characterizes informal, personal blogs (erotic sock puppetry, anyone?).
Rather, they're strategic communication tools that need to be focused, functional and effectively applied.
And how will businesses know when they've succeeded in this noble task? They'll know it from their statistics, their influence and their sales. Plus, they'll be able to read (or re-read) this article and confidently say "nope, that doesn't apply to us" exactly five times.
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