Over the past few weeks at TiER1 we’ve been discussing how to improve our blog. Through this process we’ve had discussions about content ideas and various content types. We’ve also discussed strategy and structure as we consider how the blog fits with our overall Web and communication strategies.
During this process we discovered two articles that added value to our discussions:
The first is How-to Create the Perfect Company Blog by Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog. In the article Ben discusses four types of content:
- Thought Leadership
- Industry News and Summaries
- Diggbait
- Company News
Of Diggbait he writes, “Hitting the front page of digg is no easy feat, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t try. To do it well you need to understand what folks on digg (and other social media/bookmarking sites) want, and how to promote content successfully on digg. Company news or anything too related to your company won’t work, it will come across as “too corporate.” Think about a resource post or a controversial post related to a hot topic in your industry.”
I think Ben is right about Diggbait. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen the TiER1 blog begin to receive traffic from social bookmarking sites. Social bookmarking users will link to valuable resources and hot topics that are presented on teh blog.
Ben also writes, “The best company blogs will always publish a combination of these posts, blending them in naturally.”
The second article is Nine Signs of an Effective Blog Post by Darren Rowse at Problogger. The nine criteria he describes are:
- The headline draws in the readers
- A concrete detail or visual illustrates the benefit promised in the headline
- The lead expands the theme of the heading
- The layout is clear and skimmable
- The post covers the topic in logical sequence
- The post is persuasive
- The post is interesting to read
- The post is believable
- The post asks for some action
Today, my favorite one of his criteris is “The layout is clear and skimmable.” I don’t believe readers will necessarily read an entire post unless it really grabs their attention. A good skimmable and clear layout always help me determine if I will read a post, particularly if the post is long. But this is also important for short posts, that need to catch the reader’s attention and let them know why the post is important.
Darren’s post is an excellent example of a clear and skimmable article.
If you have discovered articles that are particularly helpful to your blogging, please share them with us.
