Tired worn out blogs

[SoKyBiz]

To blog or not to blog... that is the question! I was making my rounds this morning, visiting websites and blogs of people and businesses that interest me, and I noticed something. I noticed that if I visit a blog that hasn't been updated in a few months, I rarely read it. I find that my own surfing habits are a good indication of others and in this case I must conclude that if a business has a blog, they should keep it updated.

I've been recommending to my customers that a good website is updated frequently to offer fresh and current content for all who find their website. For businesses who markets to consumers, this is even more important in my opinion. But a blog by design is supposed to be a current and fluid resource. So that begs the question; Is having a blog that is a few months old truly helping my companies reputation or harming it? From a PR and marketing standpoint I would have to say hurting it. Though there are some solutions.

Here is my opinion on the matter. If you are going to create a blog for your business, keep it updated or drop it from your website. Many of the free and fee blogs out there offer a draft save of your articles and also the ability to change the dates. I would say that if you are not willing to update the content then at least update the dates. This is not the preferred solution, but it is a possible solution. The draft copies can be saved for later publication so when you're in the mood or have time, you can create a number of articles/entries and stole them away for future use.

In the end however it's about dedication to the resource just like any other resource or marketing effort. If a blog is part of your online presence, then by all means keep it updated and offer your readers a reason to visit and hopefully a reason to buy.

I posted this on my small business blog this morning and thought I would share it here. I am especially interested your opinions on the matter. I'm not sure if they allow polling here but the question I would like answered is:

Is an old blog detrimental to your online presence?

Yes/no why?

[Robert]

I noticed that if I visit a blog that hasn't been updated in a few months, I rarely read it.

Yep, I do the same thing. I usually don't want to invest the time to start reading if I don't think there will be follow up. I think I'm spoiled by the fact that fresh content is always a click or two away.

I really like your advice because if I see that the blog has been updated at least once a month on an ongoing basis, I have a more positive response than seeing one that was updated every week for a few months and then fizzled out.

[BWelford]

That's very true, SoKyBiz, although I'm not sure I go along with the idea of merely redating old items. I think you really have to have something new to say to justify using up the bandwidth. Even if it is just to point out that someone else has just written something you really like or that yesterday was Google's birthday with no freebies (unlike Yahoo!'s or Opera's admittedly 10th birthdays this year).

Of course the ideal is to have an RSS or Atom feed associated with your blog. Then folk like me who are in to those things are only alerted when you've added something new.

[Logan]

I agree, but my own expectations are weekly versus monthly. If there isn't something 'new & important' to say on average at least a weekly basis, then I don't think a blog is a good solution for a company website but instead a simple what's new overview instead that covers the past three months. If that doesn't get updated after 6 months I'd pull that too - perception is the users reality.

[jmjj215]

The most useful application I've found for the blog on one of my sites, is as a FAQ. When I receive a question about the product, I'll respond via email. I'll also post that question (if it isn't unbelievably specific) to the blog with my response.

My last 10 responses are pulled from the database and listed next to the "Contact Us" form - so when people are about to email me a question, their eye (hopefully) is caught by the recent answers and they head there first.

My question emails have dropped by 60%, but my sales have been slowly increasing. I'm loving that for a time-saver.

[KAYLINDA]

We just put a blog on our site...and I want to thank you for the reminder to write something...anything! It's great advice. Also makes me think I'll add a "last updated" to our site so people will be aware that our menu prices are current...etc. Thank you for a great post!

[Cedara]

I actually pencil BLOG on my calendar randomly each week. If I blog before then...extra! LOL
I fully agree that you have to keep things updated or folks are going to lose interest. My blog is not fully "business" and for me and those reading...so far so good! Its still all good fun

Cedara

[Steve Wells]

I am a couple weeks old (NEW) to the notion of blogging. As with business video, content is king!

Best wishes for your continued success,

Steve Wells

[St0n3y]

I try to make at least ONE blog post each day. Once I start it's hard to keep my words few, but you really don't have to have a lengthy article for each post. Recently I took a long article I had written and am breaking it up into several rather short blog posts. This gives me a week before I have to "think" about what to blog next, but that also doesn't keep me from doing so should I find something of interest. Just for fun, I'm thinking that I might have several ongoing articles at the same time, just to keep things mixed up.

I think there is a lot you can do to keep you blog fresh, that's just one. It's also helpful if you have other people in your industry or office that contribute from time to time.