What do good corporate blogs look like?

Here are list of ten good corporate blogs:
1)http://conversations.nokia.com/
2)http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
3)http://www.checkoutblog.com/
4)http://www.amazon.com/gp/daily
5)http://www.crmcdonalds.com/publish/csr/home/_blog.html
6)http://espn.go.com/blog/big12
7)http://www.blogs.marriott.com/
9)http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/
10)http://www.whatsthediff.com/

Blogging on the corporate level can be a very daunting task. Paul Boag of Smashing Magazine published an article that referenced some key truths about corporate blogging. He points out that"good corporate blogging is a long-term commitment". Corporate blogs don't become popular overnight. It takes time and frequently updating on a consistent basis to get and keep readers interest. Blog post should be interesting and not just press releases that everyone already knows about. The new and exciting happenings of your company are great things to write post about on blogs. Another flaw that was pointed out in this article was the failure to use an RSS feed link and email notifications effectively. Instead of using this feature to send the whole blog post, they send blog teasers. Which makes the reader go through the whole site to read the post. A good corporate blog will give you all the post and not just a teaser. The blogs listed above are updated regularly, provide exciting content to read, and all have ways to subscribe to thier blogs. These are just a few things that a good corporate blog should have.

Source:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/09/10-harsh-truths-about-corporate-blogging/

Blogs vs. Webpages

Any company that is deciding whether to use a website or a blog is wasting its time. Why should a company limit itself to one or the other? Websites might be a little harder to update and maintain, but they offer a very good service to any business. Blogs may not be as hard to update, but they provide a more dynamic form of communicating to the rest of the world.

Websites can be designed with a forum section in them. A company should use a CMS (content management system). This allows anyone interested in your website to get updates when you update. When people see something they like they can reply on your forum. Or if they see something they don't like. This provides great feedback for any business.

Blogs can have and should have links to a company's website. When people link a proffesional blog back to thier website it can have a compounding impact on business. Discussion can be given on products and services in a different setting with blogs. Blogs aslo have a form of keeping poeple updated, by using RSS (really simple syndication) links. Which works pretty much the same way a CMS does.

Limiting a company by using either a blog or website would be foolish. It would be the same as only using one form of advertising. Using a website and blog together is an ultimate duo for any company.

Sources:(http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/)
(http://www.search-this.com/2007/05/16/an-end-to-the-website-versus-blogs-debate/)
(http://workingathomeinternet.com/WP/2008/05/20/the-best-of-both-worlds-blog-and-website/)