Beware the Power of Blogs
Happy New Year to everyone.
I realize this is supposed to be a series about SEO and web marketing, and blogging is not normally considered part of that work. But I ran across some interesting statistics about blogging and wanted to share them and some thoughts on the subject before the information is too old to be relevant.
Just a few years ago I heard the president of a company express the opinion that blogs are silly things and should be ignored. This president, like many others, believed that people who blogged are like gadflies and what they say has no impact on business.
Do you know what people are saying about your company on blogs and forums?
No matter what you think of about blogs, it is clear they are here to stay. If you think blogs and bloggers are small potatoes, let me tell you a few facts that might just change your mind.
Technorati has just released its “State of the Blogosphere 2008” and what they have discovered is very interesting.
First there is just the raw volume of blog posts out there. The report says that there are 900,000 blog posts a day worldwide and it’s clearly on the upswing.
The more amazing thing is that many of these blogs are making money. Small change you say? Well according to Technorati “The average annual blogger revenue is more than $6,000.” Shocked? Surprised? A lot of people love the idea of earning a few extra bucks for writing and talking about what they love and enjoy, and this is not too shabby for a bit of extra income. Keep in mind that $6,000 is the average, but there are some blogs such as the gossip blog by Perez Hilton, which takes in a reported $111,000 per month. According to Technorati, blogs that have 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually, mostly through ad revenue.
This doesn’t mean your business has to run its own blog. What this information does is confirm that blogs are very popular and that a good number of them can support themselves or at least cover their costs. They aren’t going away. It also means that people are reading these blogs and using the information they find there.
Which brings us back to the original question: Do you know what people are saying about your company on the internet?
Are there people out there who are complaining about your company or products? Is your company monitoring what is being said about them? Years ago companies kept an eye on their public image by paying “clipping services” to cut out any information that was written up about them in newspapers and magazines. Nowadays you can do it yourself by using search engines, looking at blogs, message board, forums and websites to see what is being said about your company or product.
Time consuming? Yes. But it can be very important.
If you happen to find negative information out there – a bad review, an unhappy customer or blatant misinformation – it’s not the time to go ballistic and start attacking the source of the information. Do a little research first. Find out if there is any legitimate basis for the complaint.
If you find the blog information is not accurate or fair, consider posting counter information on the blog. Many blogs accept comments, and if there is blatantly wrong information a correction can be offered, politely, to the author. If it’s a legitimate bad review you now have an opportunity to fix the problem and it’s good to let people know you are aware and taking action. If it’s just that the writer doesn’t like the color background of your website front page or something else minor, then inhale and let it go.
On the other hand, if you search the blog world and find no information about your company, your product or your service, this could be just as bad. It means that nobody is talking about you. This probably means that it’s time to either start a company blog and/or a marketing campaign to generate buzz about the company.
Take the time to find out what is being said about your company on a regular basis. It should be a scheduled task, just like backing up your files. Both of them can help prevent minor problems from becoming disasters.
Technorati Tags: blogs, bloggers, blogging, buzz, marketing
This article was first published January 8, 2008 on the Tatum Marketing blog
Happy New Year to everyone.
I realize this is supposed to be a series about SEO and web marketing, and blogging is not normally considered part of that work. But I ran across some interesting statistics about blogging and wanted to share them and some thoughts on the subject before the information is too old to be relevant.
Just a few years ago I heard the president of a company express the opinion that blogs are silly things and should be ignored. This president, like many others, believed that people who blogged are like gadflies and what they say has no impact on business.
Do you know what people are saying about your company on blogs and forums?
No matter what you think of about blogs, it is clear they are here to stay. If you think blogs and bloggers are small potatoes, let me tell you a few facts that might just change your mind.
Technorati has just released its “State of the Blogosphere 2008” and what they have discovered is very interesting.
First there is just the raw volume of blog posts out there. The report says that there are 900,000 blog posts a day worldwide and it’s clearly on the upswing.
The more amazing thing is that many of these blogs are making money. Small change you say? Well according to Technorati “The average annual blogger revenue is more than $6,000.” Shocked? Surprised? A lot of people love the idea of earning a few extra bucks for writing and talking about what they love and enjoy, and this is not too shabby for a bit of extra income. Keep in mind that $6,000 is the average, but there are some blogs such as the gossip blog by Perez Hilton, which takes in a reported $111,000 per month. According to Technorati, blogs that have 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually, mostly through ad revenue.
This doesn’t mean your business has to run its own blog. What this information does is confirm that blogs are very popular and that a good number of them can support themselves or at least cover their costs. They aren’t going away. It also means that people are reading these blogs and using the information they find there.
Which brings us back to the original question: Do you know what people are saying about your company on the internet?
Are there people out there who are complaining about your company or products? Is your company monitoring what is being said about them? Years ago companies kept an eye on their public image by paying “clipping services” to cut out any information that was written up about them in newspapers and magazines. Nowadays you can do it yourself by using search engines, looking at blogs, message board, forums and websites to see what is being said about your company or product.
Time consuming? Yes. But it can be very important.
If you happen to find negative information out there – a bad review, an unhappy customer or blatant misinformation – it’s not the time to go ballistic and start attacking the source of the information. Do a little research first. Find out if there is any legitimate basis for the complaint.
If you find the blog information is not accurate or fair, consider posting counter information on the blog. Many blogs accept comments, and if there is blatantly wrong information a correction can be offered, politely, to the author. If it’s a legitimate bad review you now have an opportunity to fix the problem and it’s good to let people know you are aware and taking action. If it’s just that the writer doesn’t like the color background of your website front page or something else minor, then inhale and let it go.
On the other hand, if you search the blog world and find no information about your company, your product or your service, this could be just as bad. It means that nobody is talking about you. This probably means that it’s time to either start a company blog and/or a marketing campaign to generate buzz about the company.
Take the time to find out what is being said about your company on a regular basis. It should be a scheduled task, just like backing up your files. Both of them can help prevent minor problems from becoming disasters.
Fri, Nov 6, 2009
Conversion Rates, Traffic
Written by: Eric Gerds