Death of a blog

Photo: Paul Kline (CC)

Most blogs die unheralded deaths. They pop into existence with little fanfare and wink out with as much fuss.

What kills these corporate blogs is usually neglect and apathy. And many deserve to die: Their continued existence tarnishes the brands they’re supposed to promote.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Blogs can have long, productive lives if we work with purpose and tie them to meaningful rewards.

That purpose must be a business goal. The blog could be a part of marketing efforts, or a way to enhance customer service, or a channel to drive sales. Starting with specific outcomes in mind can help determine blogging topics, metrics to monitor and approaches to drive traffic and interaction.

Careful planning is a must, but it’s worthless without tying the blog to rewards and consequences. Many leaders don’t care about results, and so their colleagues blog half-heartedly. If no one cares about the blog, why waste time and effort on it?

The saddest part is that with so such pervasive mediocrity among businesses, it’s that much easier to create and maintain a stand-out blog. Settle for less, or strive for more?

If it is time to kill the blog, check the site metrics before deciding whether to leave the posts online or remove them. Deleting the blog could hurt site traffic; leaving it up could give visitors the impression that the site is abandoned or neglected.

(One option is to take the top-performing posts and integrate that content into existing or new pages.)

Let’s keep our blogs happy and healthy through smart management. If a blog must die, let it be from old age and not commonplace indifference.

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Let me know if you need help with the care
and feeding of your company blog …

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