Insanely Clever Marketing

A Warning on Blogging

Posted by Penelope Herbert on September 28, 2015 · 1 Comment 

Have keyboard, will blog.

The rise and rise of bloggers has been swift and powerful. Keyboard warriors, citizen journalism, mummy bloggers; it seems everyone with an opinion and a laptop can get on-line. And they do. Some bloggers are entirely independent who create content only for their own purposes. However, many bloggers now see their blogs as a way to make money by charging YOU to, effectively, ‘rent their space’ with advertising material or an advertorial feature.

If you are a legitimate business that cares about brand management and public perception, then I have a warning on blogging for you. Be very careful about the bloggers you engage that link their name with your brand.

Some bloggers are excellent writers, most are not.  When you engage a blogger to write material for you to be posted on their site, check their written communication and other credentials.

• What is their writing background?
• Are they a journalist?
• Can they grasp the nuances of effectively communicating your message?
• Do they understand brand management?
• Is their work grammatically correct and creatively written?
• Can they spell?
• Do they structure sentences correctly and effectively?
• Is their blog audience aligned to your products and services?
• Can they help with your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

When you engage a blogger you are aligning your brand with theirs. If they are not a competent writer, do make spelling and grammatical mistakes, or have a tatty blog this WILL reflect negatively on your brand.

Another warning on blogging is the statistics a blogger puts forward. Many bloggers will say ” My blog has X unique visitors each month”. However, better questions include;

• what is the demographic of your visitors?
• what is your bounce rate?
• how long do visitors remain on your site?

A bounce rate is important and can be found via the bloggers own Google Analytics. If a site has a HIGH BOUNCE RATE it means visitors are not spending time on the site. They visit and then ‘bounce’ straight off again. Thus, visitors are NOT seeing your advertisement or your editorial feature. Thus, a WASTE OF MONEY!

If you engage a blogger SIMPLY to create backlinks and have Google see ‘activity’ related to your own website, that’s a topic for a different ‘My Blog’ post here.

As a business journalist of many years and a regular blogger, I can help you with excellent content creation. Don’t get caught out. Please contact me for a chat.

For specific marketing communications related to Fashion + Design for Wardrobe + Home, please also see my other magazine-style website dontcallmepenny.com.au