You've heard the buzz about corporate blogs and their benefits, and you're finally asking yourself the big question:
Should my company have its own blog?
If you've heard any of my talks on the subject or read Debbie Weil's terrific The Corporate Blogging Book, you already know what we think.
Do you want to improve your customer service, build relationships with your audiences, turn yourself into a recognized thought leader, listen to conversations about your company and respond accordingly, redefine your marketing and PR efforts, and improve your bottom line as a result?
If the answer is yes and you're truly committed to making it work, then by all means, let's get blogging. (In fact, you could use those same questions to assess whether you should use any social media tool, but we'll stick with blogging for now.)
Judging from the numbers, though, I'm guessing many of you aren't convinced yet. As of July 29, 2009, 77 of the Fortune 500 — that's just 15.4 percent — have corporate blogs, according to SocialText. I'm guessing that percentage is even lower among smaller companies.
With that in mind, here are a few more numbers for you to chew on as you decide whether or not to launch a company blog.
According to HubSpot, companies that blog have experienced:
- 55 percent more visitors to their corporate Web sites;
- 97 percent more links their corporate Web sites; and
- 434 percent more indexed Web pages.
The second and third numbers directly impact how easily people can find your Web site content. The implication is clear: If you have a company blog and update it regularly, more people — considerably more people — are going to know more about your company.
Still wondering whether you should start a company blog?
While you ponder the possibilities, you also might want to check out these related resources.
- CPA Learning 2.0, a self-guided social media tutorial
- Social Media Strategy and Quick Start: Developing and Implementing a Social Media Strategy for CPA Firms and Organizations(a BLI program)
- Web 2.0: Less Hype, More Help(a BLI program)
- Leadership and social media for CPAs
- Who cares what's under the hood? Let's go!