Aren't blogs great? Your opportunity to inject a little personality, a little zest, zing and zap to your website. That's not to say that your site in itself isn't engaging and informative, worth a visit in its own right, but blogs just add that splash of colour, a loose collar, a 'hey have you heard'? - intimacy that people enjoy.
Keeping visitors regularly updated with considered input and info won't do your SEO any harm either. The search engines like nothing more than an active site with plenty of juicy interesting content. There are the link building opportunities too. Your blog as a fresh source of content makes a great destination. Blogs - the interesting, human face of your organisation.
Well, then how come so many blogs are duller than ditch water? Maybe you're a mega corporation then you may to an extent have your hands tied. It goes with the territory that size means systems and guidelines which can often shut down the sort of expression and personality needed for an interesting blog presence. You'll need to work within a corporate framework.
But what about other organisations?
SMEs and smaller businesses don't have the excuse of being constrained by red tape or excessive rules of engagement. How come so many blogs fail to deliver? How come so many of them are rubbish?
Here's how to make people stop and take notice of your blog.
Sit on the fence - Don't. Your opinions define you. Express them. Take sides, draw lines in the sand and be prepared to fight your corner.
Don't try too hard - Needy is the biggest turn off there is. Sure you may be desperate to please. But the minute you let it show there will be rush for the door.
Be interested in your readers - No, that doesn't mean pretend to be interested in your readers. It means if you can't find it within yourself to actually care how your reader engages with your blog, if you can't find a way of delivering something of use, of interest for them, then don't bother. Indifference is futile. You'll be wasting everyone's time.
Be prepared to be disliked or to make enemies - For example I am rapidly developing a severe aversion to so called SEO gurus who seem to think that polluting the internet with spun, machine generated copy created only for machines is clever. I have no problem expressing my dislike of them. If they want to call me out, then that's fine by me.
Be yourself - We're all different. The more you reveal your individuality the more important your blog will become.