I paused. “Well, that depends. What do you want your site to do?”

This was a question they’d never asked themselves before.

Our clients knew they had to have a website – all their competitors have websites, after all -  but beyond that, they hadn’t considered the idea that a website could be more useful than a virtual brochure.

In the coming days, our talks focused on what else we could do for them. While they didn’t necessarily want to focus on social media or branding, they did want an area where their employees could fill out paperwork online.  This and a few other addendums to the original project plan gave them a site they actually could use, rather than a static piece of expensive marketing material.

Figuring Out Your “Why”

Why are you building your website? What do you want it to do?

For most people, the answer is – directly or indirectly – “I want my website to make me money.” But how? Do you want sales leads, or are you focused more on reassuring leads you already have that your firm is best for the job?

Once you have your answer, write it down. You might have several reasons for creating a website; for example, a site selling environmentally friendly supplies might primarily exist to sell products, but also wants to advocate for sustainable lifestyles. Keep writing until you run out of reasons.

Consider Your Audience

Why will people come to your website?

In design, we make “user stories” – a list of all the kinds of people who might come to a website, and why – to figure out how we should lay out a website. For example, think of who might visit a college website:

• A high school student looking for application information
• A current student, looking for academic information
• A prospective applicant to a staff position at the college
• A parent of a current student, looking for information on tuition payments

All these people have differing levels of technical capability, and all of them need to be able to find information relevant to them easily.

While chances are your website is a lot less complicated than an average college’s, knowing what your audience wants will still help you decide what elements to feature prominently.

Acting with Purpose

Knowing what you want your website to do – and what your audience wants your website to do – makes you more effective at every stage of the process. It allows design firms to estimate your costs with more certainty, it gives a reason for a redesign beyond “because our site looks old,” and it drives the design and the content.

Even if you currently have a website, knowing the “whys” can help you make small changes that have a big impact. Not everyone can afford to hire someone to do user experience design, but everyone can and should be mindful of their users.

This year, let’s all resolve to live our digital lives with purpose. Don’t post for the sake of posting, or build for the sake of building. Find your purpose and stick to it – you’ll be surprised at the results.

3. Overestimate Your Commitment

The rush of planning a website is like the rush of a New Year’s resolution – just as people plan to attend eleven spin classes a week, companies design their websites so that current news is front and center. Twitter feeds, blog feeds, and social media streams litter the site, as if screaming to the world that this is a hip and timely company.

Months later, these feeds serve as monuments to prior optimism, like a treadmill used as a clothes rack. A lone blog post lingers at the bottom of a feed designed to hold seven, and customers are turned off by the collection of months-old tweets on the home page.

How to Avoid This:

Be realistic about how much time you want to spend adding new content to your website, and how many resources you have available to do so. If it takes 20 hours a week to update the news items and social media in a way you’d like, who is spending this extra time on the site? And don’t say “the unpaid intern” – the person who can’t even get paid for his/her labor might not be the one you want in charge of your company’s image.

2. Forget Your Audience

Many companies decide to get websites because all the other companies have websites, and they don’t want to be left out.  Similarly, other companies spend an insane amount of time and money developing an overly complicated site because someone had a bad idea.

Consider the Bounty Paper Towels site:

Here’s a site that obviously had its origins in an executive exclaiming “Towels! We’re a towel company, so we’ll make the website like towels too!” But the site itself is impossible to navigate, and neglects its audience – namely, people who want paper towel coupons.

How to Avoid This:

Ask yourself a simple question: what do you want your site to do? Follow it with another: what do your (customers/readers/clients) want your site to do?

If your site is a cooking blog, chances are your readers want to be able to find, read, and print recipes. Make sure they can do this. If you’re a doctor and you have a website, people want to either know your contact information or research to see if you’re the right doctor for them. Make this information easily accessible.

Later on, you might wish to enhance your site’s online presence through the use of keywords and other techniques designed to boost your ranking in Google searches. It will be a lot easier to do this if your website is organized in a way that makes sense to your users.

1. Ignore the Insides

A great website is like a picture frame – it accentuates the content within. The best web content is vibrant and engaging; it caters to the reader’s desire to scan, but is also informative.

Bad web content is often recycled print content – for example, a marketing brochure used to populate a website. The end result is a site that resembles a grandmother’s sitting room: it’s all very proper, but nobody will want to spend time there.

How to Avoid This:

While it’s common for a mediocre website to excel through great imagery, it is significantly more difficult to make a great web design compensate for bad pictures or rambling text.  Remember, a purpose of your website is to differentiate yourself from the competition. You can’t answer “why me and not the others” when you’re using the same photo of shaking hands as everyone else.

Need help with a web project gone awry? We can help with all your web development needs.

It’s not all roses for online retailers, though. Smartphone users buy from sites only a third as often as tablet or desktop users. The #1 reason for this is that it’s harder to buy on a phone – sites aren’t often optimized for mobile use, and customers leave when the checkout process gets hard to use.

“But I don’t sell anything online. What do these numbers have to do with me?”

New research indicates that even if you don’t sell online, your online presence might be hurting sales.

“Wait, what? How?”

A Google study reports that a full half of people surveyed said that even if they like a business, they are less likely to use them if their website is not mobile-friendly. Conversely, if the site is mobile-friendly, 74% say they are likely to return. More than 75 percent of all consumers research purchases online, so even if your business is the brick-and-mortar variety, it might be good to go mobile.

“So how do I go mobile, anyway?”

There are three main strategies to “going mobile”:

• Phone App
• Mobile version
• Responsive design

Let’s go through these one by one.

1. Phone App: An “app” an application downloaded from an App store onto a user’s phone. Chances are you don’t need one of these; not only are they expensive to make, but usually only very large corporations (think Amazon) can convince enough people to download the app to make it worthwhile. An app is also useful for companies that have a large following and has schedules that people will want to access quickly; Lifetime Fitness, for example, has a very useful app for seeing gym schedules. A salon might be another example of an app-appropriate situation.

 

2. Mobile version – a version of your site that shows up when users visit on a phone or tablet. It’s specifically designed for mobile devices (think large, chunky buttons and fewer options). This is a good solution for companies who:
   • have a recently updated, pre-existing site that does not translate well into mobile
   • have a highly mobile clientele/audience that could benefit from a streamlined mobile interfaceUsually this site is a condensed version of what you would see on a normal site, prioritizing things like contact info, phone numbers, and locations. These are much less expensive than apps to build, and can often be completed quickly.
3. Responsive design – If you’re looking to update your site, make your next design responsive. A responsive design is one that adapts to whatever screen size you’re using, whether it’s a big desktop or a tiny smartphone. It’s your entire site, but presented in a mobile-friendly manner.

“Wait, can’t you just go and “responsify” my site?”

It can be done, but it would be highly impractical, and would probably be pretty darn close to the cost of building a new site.  Responsive design works through having the site built in such a way that its “parts” – the menu, the text, the pictures – are all separate and able to be shuffled around in a way that looks good, depending on the screen size. To make an existing site responsive, it’s basically a rebuild of the whole thing.

“So what should I do?”

Short answer: If you have a site that’s been updated in the last two years or so, go for a mobile version. If you have a site that’s a bit older and due for an update, now’s the time –  just make sure to keep mobile in mind and go responsive. And remember, everyone: don’t text and walk (off a pier).

After I walked him through the analysis of several sites, he finally posed a question to me, “just what makes a website suck?”

That’s not an easy question to answer – at least not succinctly. The reality is that a website can fail in many ways, yet still be a success. The tricky thing is that most site owners truly don’t know if their site is failing or succeeding, simply because they’ve never established any kind of measurement standard. BUT…that’s not what we are talking about here; we’re speaking only of “first glance” evaluations of websites.

So with that in mind, here’s a list of things we look at when we evaluate the sucktitude of a website.

Design Failures
The first thing we consider is the overall look and feel of the site. For the most part, we’re trying to determine if the site looks like it was developed in the last year or two. Here’s the thing – the details that make your website look sparkly new are the very things that make it look dated quickly. Designers and programmers can sometimes get caught up in the most recent trends, which are fantastic if you plan to facelift the site every 18 months. Otherwise, they become the green shag carpet of the interwebs.

Another comment regarding design: it’s extremely subjective. The same site that makes me wince in pain elicits happy squeals from others. I get that, which is why this list stays away from criticism about color theory and other important (and more subjective) elements of design.

With that said, here are some obvious design failures:

• “Floating Island” syndrome
  For many years, websites were developed to be viewed within a screen resolution of 800×600. Today that resolution accounts for less than 1% of all screens, and 85% of all visitors use a resolution greater than 1024×768 (stats courtesy of w3schools.com). Sites that were developed for smaller screens look like tiny islands floating on a massive background. Visitors feel pity for the poor, tiny, isolated website – and it’s doubtful that’s the feeling you were trying to evoke.
• Annoyances
  Most of these items have been discussed ad nauseam (and thankfully aren’t as common as they used to be), so I won’t bother to address why they make your site suck – just know that they do:
  • Splash screens or entry pages. You know, those pages that cost a ton to build and then everyone clicks the “skip this” link.
  • Sounds. Any sounds. Yes, even those “super cool” sound effects when you click links.
  • Gratuitous Flash or rotating images. This decade’s version of animated GIFs (shudder).
  • Funky navigation. Don’t make me figure out how your navigation works – I’ll simply leave.
  • Reverse text, particularly black background with white text. Ugh.
  • Outdated information. In this day and age of technology and access, there’s just no excuse.
• Left aligned or full width websites
  Early websites were all left aligned or full width. Typically when you see this now, it’s on a neglected site, a government site, or a neglected government site. There are some very creative designers that can pull this off, but it’s rare.
• Cheesy stock imagery
  There’s a reason that good professional photographers make the money they do. They can see things through a camera lens that the rest of us don’t. Want to know the single best upgrade you can do to your site? Replace all the images with professional photos that are specific to your organization. It’s well worth the investment.

Functional Failures
These are a little harder to quantify, but site killers nonetheless. Obvious functional issues include things like broken navigation, sites that don’t work in all browsers, malware and missing pictures.

Additional failures include:

• Narcissism
  No one cares about you, or your website. There, I said it.

  Your site visitors only care about whether or not something you have will benefit them. Answer that question FIRST, before you tell them “About Us” or about your awards or anything else. Take a look at your site’s navigation. What comes first – About Us, or information about your products and services? Most websites need to have their navigation reversed in order.Quick tip: when writing copy for your website, spend 90% of your time on addressing what your prospects want or need, and 10% on info about your company. When people send us copy, it’s obvious they have done just the opposite.

• No Clear Message
  Yes, the picture of the blossoming flower on your home page is evocative and inspiring. Here’s the thing – it does nothing to tell visitors who you are or what you do. Oh, and there’s this little company called Google that would also like to know what you’re about so they can help searchers find you. Much like people, the search engines will simply move on if it’s too difficult to figure out.Visitors should be able to determine who you are and exactly what you do in 3 seconds or less.
• No Engagement
  This is the area in which more than 90% of all websites fail. There should be clear cut call to action on the home page that encourages visitors to click and see more of your site. A call to action can be anything – a contest announcement, newsletter signup, a download, contact form, even simply driving visitors to current/updated information on your site.
• Poor Search Engine Visibility…or worse Some sites are built strictly for credibility’s sake; the site owner simply wants their clientele and prospects to see that they have a presence. There isn’t a need to spend extra time and money to optimize the site for the engines. But for the majority of websites, SEO is an important consideration. It’s very easy to determine what sites have had optimization done and the level of competency.

So what’s worse than poor visibility? Violating the guidelines, which can get your site delisted and erase any possibility that a visitor could even stumble on it. Most site owners are oblivious to the fact that their site is breaking rules.

Feel Me
The last element to be considered is the most esoteric of all – the “feel” of a website. What is the “feel”?

It’s the connection users feel to the website, the emotions that are invoked when they visit. It’s the sense that the visual impact matches the image visitors have – or want to have – about the product or service they are after. It’s the difference between the About Us page for Wilson Sporting Goods and the About Us page for Franklin Sports.

It’s the final factor that turns site visitors into site ambassadors.

What do you think? What are some of the things that jump out at you and make a site look terrible?

Why the fuss? Well, when you’re in the web design business, it’s kind of vital to have a good website (of course, that didn’t stop us from leaving the old creaky site with squirrely navigation out there for far too long). So certainly the pressure is on to have just the right design, crackalackin’ code, and perfect imagery.

We also are fortunate to have lots of work to do for paying clients. Spending any time at all on our own site means time away from everything else we have that has to get done. Our needs certainly take a back seat, which led to a lot of late night/weekend puttering around with the site.

Know what else we found out? We might just be the world’s worst web client.

Consider the following:

• We didn’t go into the project with any clear cut goal in mind – just that we were tired of looking at the old site and needed something that “looked better”
• The site constantly took a back seat (waaaaaaay back) to everything else we had going on
• When we did have time to pay attention to the site, we were irritated that it hadn’t progressed
• Feedback was pathetic. Comments like, “that’s not the look I had in mind”,  “I don’t like the way that works”, “you really should shower more” and “Ugh” were common.
• Directives like, “we need to be different” were thrown out with absolutely no explanation
• We had several design “standoffs” that were in no way, shape or form objective. Ideas were dismissed simply because they weren’t their own.

What we learned
If nothing else, it truly has given us a better appreciation of the process our clients go through. It’s tough to run a business and take on any kind of additional burden, let alone one as potentially monumental as a website. But if there’s one thing I have always tried to do, it’s to learn from mistakes so that they aren’t repeated. With this in mind (and knowing that we only have about 2 years before we’ll probably want a new site) we’ll be starting on a new site immediately. Except this time we will:

• Assign a SINGLE person to be in charge of the project
• Have a brain-storming session with all key personnel to determine:
  • Goals for new site
  • Metrics to determine success
  • List of good attributes of current site
  • List of deficiencies of current site
  • List of desired items for new site
  • Reasonable timeline for project
• Develop a schedule to achieve timeline – hold people accountable
• Create a list of sites we like
• Create a list of competitors and analyze sites (what works, what doesn’t, opportunities for us)
• Develop a sitemap for the new site
• Create a wireframe for new site
• Gather all assets for the site:
  • Images for each page
  • Headlines/subheadings for each page
  • Text for each page
  • All associated links, PDF files and any other items for placement on the site
• Provide meaningful feedback in a timely manner
• Concentrate on the overall goals – not the individual minutiae
• Let the chosen project manager do their job and not second guess everything
• Keep sharp instruments away from anyone involved in the process

Hmm…this list seems familiar…wait a minute – this is the process we encourage our clients to go through! Son of a…

New Starbucks Logo

I happened to catch that cantankerous gabber Rush Limbaugh on the radio today and he went off for a few minutes on the soon-to-be-introduced new Starbucks logo. The new logo has a couple of pretty conspicuous absences: no “Starbucks” or “coffee” anywhere to be found. This has caused quite a stir among people that struggle to find things to do with their time. One comment by “JB” on the Slate Magazine site reads, “Starbucks has also caved to cultural pressures.”

 Apparently I don’t find this as interesting as Rush and JB, but it did get me thinking. The announcement was made by Starbucks on Wednesday, January 5th. I didn’t hear the big news until Thursday, January 6th (I guess I don’t follow the right people on Twitter) but I’m fairly certain that feedback started coming in almost immediately – and from what Rush insinuated, most of it is negative. There’s no question that Starbucks is aware of that.

There’s another iconic brand that I can think of – a little shoe company in Oregon by the name of Nike -  that went through a similar transition. Their original logo featured that lovely swoosh (that they paid a student $35 for; pretty good bargain) with the words “NIKE” in block letters. At some point they made the decision to drop the letters, and it seems to have worked out ok for them. Here’s the difference: when Nike made that decision, there was no Twitter, no Facebook, no “Logo Outrage Blog”. The impact of their decision would primarily only be measured by the one thing that matters – sales. 

Here’s my point (yes, I have one, settle down). People are brand loyal, and hate change. Mess with something they love, and the reaction will pretty much always be negative. Had Al Gore invented Twitter back when Nike made their change, there’s no doubt that the JBs of the world would have spewed hatred for the change. It might even have been enough for Nike to go back to their original logo, much like Starbucks might consider doing. My concern/fear/question is this - now that folks at large have an immediate forum to voice their opinions, it that a good thing? We don’t know anything about JB’s qualifications; he could be the VP of a marketing firm, or he could just be a pizza maker/coffee drinker. Even Rush’s opinion on this matter is suspect – I know he’s a current events aficionado, but what’s his branding background? 

In October of 2010, The Gap introduced a new logo. Just a few days later, due to social media outrage, they changed it back. I guarantee they spent more than $35 on that debacle. One could argue that The Gap simply gave their customers back what they wanted, but a poll found that 80% of their customers had no idea the logo had changed. Never before in history has the bandwagon had so much influence. Is that a good thing?

I guess I have a different opinion of “caving in to cultural pressures”…

***Update – 1/14/2011***
Seth Godin happened to have a blog article that is related: Three ways TV changed everything (and what’s next)

So there you are with your beautiful, well designed, look-at-me website. It’s got intuitive navigation, a great call to action, pretty photos, and a killer web stats package just waiting to give you an in-depth analysis of your visitors.

Problem is, Google isn’t looking at you, and your site is just sitting there collecting cyberdust.

The solution? Ask any SEO guy or SEO firm and they will tell you the answer is on-page optimization (making your site attractive to Google) and a comprehensive backlink campaign (getting links back to your site). But here’s what the SEO guys won’t tell you: the work they do are essentially replications of what should happen with your site naturally over time.  SEO campaigns simply speed up the process. And the raw truth is that you can do it yourself if you have the time, ability and inclination.

The magic bullet? Write, baby, write…

Content is King

The search engines don’t give up how they decide who ranks first in their results – they guard that information the same way Coke guards their recipe or our programmers guard their Twinkies. Google doesn’t admit a whole lot, but they have come out to say that the text on your site is extremely important (no real surprise there). And not just any text, but text that clearly states what your site is about – and by default what YOU are about.

So conclusion #1 is this – the more content you have that includes the search phrases you want to be known for, the better off you will be.

Bring it Back

One of the only other items of consideration that Google has admitted to is backlinks. Backlinks are links from other sites that point back to your site. Each one is like a vote of confidence for your site. The more you have – and the more you have from well-respected sites – the more love the search engines give your site.

So conclusion #2 is this – if you could figure out a way to get a bunch of backlinks to your site, you will catch Google’s attention.

The Write Stuff

So how does writing help with these items? In terms of content, that one is pretty obvious. Write a good article that is related to your product or service and post it to your site (a blog is absolutely ideal for this purpose, and you get the added benefit of an RSS feed).  The next time the search engines review your site they’ll find the new content and know that much more about you.

As far as backlinks are concerned, there’s a few extra steps that need to be taken here to get the full benefit. You will want to upload your article to an article submission service (like ezinearticles.com) and as mentioned, on your blog.  You’ll also want to spread the word, and thankfully there are quite a few free mediums out there to do so: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. A well written article can spread like wildfire through the web thanks to all the social media outlets.

This helps increase the availability of your article. What you are hoping for is that others in and around your industry will find value in what you have written and feature it on their own site and/or blog. But here’s the key: in exchange for using your article, they have to keep the author’s name and information intact, and of course that will include links to your website.

Anchors Aweigh

There is, however, and right and a wrong way to include those links back to your site. To understand this best, you have to think about the way that Google looks at links. Over time, Google will associate whatever phrase is used as the link with the site itself.

A great example of this is the phrase “click here”:

There are thousands of websites out there that have PDF files, and most have a small blurb of text that says “you need to have Adobe Reader to read this file – if you don’t have it, click here”. That phrase – “click here” – is linked to Adobe Reader so often that Google has now associated it with Adobe, and specifically the page where you download Reader. Go ahead – Google it…you know you want to. When you get to the page, see if you can find the phrase “click here” anywhere. You won’t. And while this example is a bit extreme, it’s a great illustration of just what backlinks can do.

To put this concept to use, you will want to be sure to choose a search phrase (ideally related to your article) and use it to link to your site. Don’t make an amateur mistake like so many others and use “click here” (the market’s already cornered on that one, see the sidebar) or heaven forbid, www.yourwebsite.com – trust me, Google already knows your site by that link!

You’ll also want to link key phrases within your article to specific pages on your site. For example, since this article is in regards to SEO, it would be wise for me to use the phrase Ohio SEO company and link it to the search engine optimization page on our site (sneaky, huh). Most article submission sites will let you get away with 3-4 links – more than that and they’ll feel like you are trying to game the system.

But Will It Work?

How will articles take the place of a professional SEO firm? Well, if done correctly, you will reap the following rewards:

• More related content for your site (Content is King)
• The engines LOVE fresh, updated content. It’s a sign that you view your site as a living, breathing source of information instead of just an online brochure.
• All that content helps Google to better understand what you are and what you do. Google confidence is a very good thing.
• Just one popular article can generate many backlinks. A number of popular articles will generate many multiples of backlinks.
• You are doing exactly what Google wants to see – growing your site organically, providing valuable content – and they will reward you for that.

When all is said and done, you will have essentially accomplished what you’d hire an SEO guy to do. Now, to be fair, this strategy doesn’t truly address “on-page optimization” completely (a topic for another article), so a case could certainly be made that writing articles AND using an SEO guy would get you results faster. But if you have the time and ability, you can absolutely achieve the same goals just simply by writing articles.

Now all you need to do is find that person that really loves to write…

There’s just a few things to take into consideration to get the most out of them; and more importantly to avoid winding up in that dreaded virtual circular file – the spam folder.

It’s all about the list
In real estate it’s all about location, location, location. When it comes to eNews, it’s list, list, list. Resist the temptation to purchase a list; there’s no quicker way to get flagged as a spammer. Build your list from the ground up, starting with your clients. Signup forms on websites are golden, the thinking being that if they’ve requested something from your site they are least mildly interested in what you have to say. Other than the obvious “sign up for our newsletter” form, you can also collect addresses from :

• contact forms
• information requests
• contest signups
• discounts or coupon signups
• document downloads
• microsites

Ultimately, what you want is an “opt-in” list, which is a list full of folks who have actually indicated that they want to receive communications from you.

Use a third party service
One of the biggest mistakes we see people make is sending bulk emails from their personal email accounts. Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) limit the number of emails you can send at one time, and will simply turn off your account if they suspect that you are sending “spam”. In addition, it’s very doubtful that these emails are CAN-SPAM compliant, which is a law passed in 2003 that sets guidelines for sending bulk emails. By using a third party service, you get lots of great tools and it will be compliant. There are quite a few services out there (Constant Contact, MailChimp, My Emma) but our favorite is iContact, both in terms of price and features.

Another great thing you get from a third party is the ability to send emails as both HTML and plain text. HTML emails are those pretty ones you get with images and such (the ones that a lot of email clients will flag and ask if you want to download all the images). Plain text emails are just that – all images are removed and only the text is delivered. It’s important to send both as some recipients will not be able to receive those wonderfully pretty HTML emails, and will then miss all your hard work.

Lastly, all the reputable services have great tools to maintain your email database, generate reports (you ARE interested in whether or not people actually read your email, right?) and archiving messages.

Get them to your site
You only have so much space in an email. Sure, you could create a ridiculously long email, but that’s what your website is for, right? One of the powerful things about email newsletters is the site traffic they can generate (those of you that linked to this article from our newsletter can testify that it works! ). Google loves site traffic, so it can be a real boon for your SEO efforts, and once you get them to your site there is a real chance that visitors will poke around on other pages and see what else you have going on. Make sure your site is all gussied up (and what site couldn’t use a good gussying?) and ready for visitors.

Spam – it’s not just for breakfast anymore
Most people we know are pretty annoyed by spam and have implemented filters on their email accounts. Because of this, it’s entirely possible that your well-meaning message could get flagged and find its way into a spam folder. Sometimes it simply can’t be helped; some accounts are locked down so tight that they automatically treat any new email addresses as spam (another reason opt-in email lists are so important). But often emails get flagged because the text in the email is considered “spammy”. For example, a phrase as innocent as “call today” is considered spammy. Put that phrase and several other red flags in your message and off to the spam netherworld you go.

Last but not least…
So you’ve done all the items above but aren’t getting any kind of response? Well folks, welcome to what seems to be the most overlooked part of sending eNews – quality content. We don’t know anyone that doesn’t have an overflowing inbox, and you have just added to it. Better make it worth their while. Blatant sales pitches, self-aggrandizing messages, jargon filled newsletters - all a waste of everyone’s time.

Here’s a quick test (painful as it might be). Before sending, take a look at your email and ask yourself how the recipients will benefit from your message.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone did that?

One of the questions that we get on a regular basis (it’s right up there with, “you don’t get out socially much, do you?”) is:
“what is a blog and can it really help my business?”

The easy part of the question is the definition – a blog (which is a geekspeak mashup of the term “web log”) is really just an online diary, rant or diatribe. The tougher question to answer is whether or not it will help your business. It certainly can, and if you have the following ingredients the chances of success increase exponentially:

1. You have someone who is an entertaining writer
2. Aforementioned entertaining writer has TIME to write blog articles
3. You have an audience interested in the articles.

So let’s suppose that you have folks interested in what you have to say, you’ve saddled the “new guy” with the job of writing, and you are now blogging ferociously. How does any of this help?

Humanize the company
Blog writing can be some of the easiest writing possible. You can drop the stuffy corporate rhetoric and marketing sound bites. A blog is written from a casual standpoint – it’s more like an informal lunch conversation. This serves a couple of useful purposes. One, it’s much more readable, entertaining writing. Two, it helps humanize your company – especially useful if you are in a heavily regulated or stereotypically stodgy industry (musk-ox ranchers, take note).

Instant feedback
You know that slick, glossy brochure that you spent six months developing? How many times did someone actually write and give you feedback on it?
One of the most powerful functions of a blog is the ability for readers to comment right away. You get instant input on your topic, and know right away if what you have written has struck a chord (or a nerve) with your audience. As the Visa folks have put it once or twice – priceless.

Timing is everything
In a perfect world, when your clients have a need for your services, they would hit your speed dial number and ask where to mail the check. The reality is that if you don’t happen to be on their mind at the moment they need something, you could miss the opportunity.

What to do? Find ways to keep you, your name, and your company in their sights. A great, unobtrusive way to do this is with blog articles. If you are able to develop a cadre of devoted followers, you get the chance to keep in front of them 2 or more times a week and establish yourself as the authority in your field.

Remember, out of sight is out of mind.

Big Brother is watching
One of the biggest impacts that a blog can have is appeasing the Google gods, which happens to be a primary motivational reason for a lot of companies to create a blog in the first place.

Make sure every blog article has a link (or multiple links) to your site. That way, if the article gets forwarded to others and/or gets picked up by other sources, you stand a good chance of getting increased traffic to your site. If your blog has been set up the right way and your articles are being submitted to news feeds, one good article can send thousands of people to your site. This makes Google feel very warmly towards you, and that’s a good thing.

So should you?
Blogs can provide a return on investment that is off the charts; imagine what would happen if your site was promoted to the first page of Google. But unless you have the right formula (entertaining writer, time and an audience) all you may get out of it is a crash course in becoming web geeky – and the glamorous social life that comes with it…