Not so much blogging tools, but rather tools I use in the course of blogging, if you see what I mean! Anyway, here are 12 tools that I find massively useful in and around my blog.

1. Feedburner

2. Aweber

3. Google Webmaster Tools

4. Statcounter

5. RSS Reader

6. Google Alerts

7. Wordpress

8. Yahoo Site explorer / SEO plugin of Firefox

9. Core FTP

10. SnagIt

11. Dreamstime

12. Technorati

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Related posts:

1. Blogs and Newsletters: complementary marketing tools
2. Researching business blog topics – use Google Alerts
3. The 5′R’s of Better Business Blogging – RSS

I guess that this is probably the key question for any organisation looking to create their own corporate blog. My answer: one which fulfils the purpose that it was created for.

This may sound evasive – a “cop out” if you like – and I suppose that, in a sense, it is. However, with so many different types of corporate blog, it’s simply not possible to give a single definitive blueprint for creating one.

For example, the style and goals for a so-called CEO blog are going to be very different from one designed as a product blog. Likewise a corporate blog which brings together a community of users and developers for market research or product development, will have a very different definition of successful from an “expert blog” written by a specialist lawyer looking to directly improve his/her profile and reputation.

However, what they will have in common is likely to be a clear set of objectives, albeit all different, which they are focused on achieving. These objectives would have been identified as part of the planning process and should always be in the back of your mind when writing and promoting your corporate blog.

What might your objectives be?

In most cases, people start with general objectives such as increased branding, improved reputation or a greater level of recognition. But, if you can add in areas where measurable results are possible, then this will help determine whether the blog meets those objectives and hence “qualifies” as a success.

Some possible metrics that you could consider, include:

• Increased enquiries generated through the blog using specific email addresses or forms


• Incremental sales which can be tracked back to the blog


• Sign ups either to your newsletter, white papers or other sources of information


• RSS subscribers to the blog or individual categories within the blog if the level of content warrants it


• Inbound links generated by the blog when others reference and link through to the content


• Better Search Engine positioning because of the blog’s regularly updated content, internal structure and inbound links


• New products identified and developed through the market research or product development carried out on the blog


• Customer queries answered leading to reduced customer service or technical support calls

Of course, not all of these will be relevant to you so use specific criteria which focus on the reasons for establishing the blog in the first place. In some cases, there will be a single overriding criterion which will be the sole indicator of a blog’s success or failure.

Some pointers for your Corporate Blog

• Don’t try to be everything to all people: the best type of corporate blog will identify the people it wishes to appeal to and will be written in such a way that it attracts, retains and develops that audience;


• Plan, focus and stay true to your goals: you planned your objectives when you started, so try not to be distracted from them. If those are what you want to achieve, then make certain that you concentrate on them and don’t get pulled off in different directions;


• Write interesting, compelling, focused content: you know the audience you wish to attract and hopefully you also know what will interest them. So try to present them with that information in a way which is authentic and which communicates the passion that you have for the subject;


• Launch it properly: Plan the launch and make sure that you use all of the means at your disposal to tell people about it. Get your Foundation posts in place, use your mailing list, pre-announce it if applicable, create online press releases to support it and ensure that you put some weight behind the activities. If you believe it’s worth reading (and let’s hope you do!) then tell people and enthuse about it;


• Market it religiously: there is no point in having a blog and just letting it sit there – tell people about it. Use all the methods available both online and offline, generic and blog specific and then use all of them again! While your writing will hopefully attract readers over time, you should still “spread the word” at every opportunity.

Ultimately, the person best placed to judge whether the corporate blog you are running has been a success is … you! So give yourself the best chance to make it a success by knowing what you want to achieve with it and then going all out to make it happen.

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Related posts:

1. What makes a successful business blog?
2. Anatomy of a Corporate Blog: Layers and Building Blocks
3. Building Blocks for a Successful Business Blog

I’ll admit that usually I’m not a fan of lists, hence you won’t find many long ones here at Better Business Blogging. However, when they are recommended by people like Brian Clark at CopyBlogger or Darren Rowse at Problogger then who am I to argue?

Although I have presented this as a single list, there are really three distinct groups of techniques that I would recommend that you consider in here – firstly what I would call “Blog methods”, then the more general online marketing methods and of course offline marketing and PR techniques. We’ll be looking at all of these on an ongoing basis at The Blog Coach.

In the meantime, here are 52 Great Ways to market your blog:

1. Submit your site to the main web directories – you�ll find a good list at Directory Maximiser


2. Make sure that the whole of your blog is indexed on the main Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live


3. Get a Google Sitemap on your blog to help to get it fully indexed


4. Participate in online business networking sites such as Linked In, eCademy and SoFlow


5. Make it easy for your readers to bookmark your blog on the social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Del.icio.us, Furl etc.


6. Make sure you submit your blog to the main Blog directories (Good list here and here)


7. Also submit your blog to the main RSS directories


8. Ensure that you automatically ping the main blog Search Engines and Directories suach as Technorati and IceRocket to get instantly indexed – good list of pinging addresses


9. Join a number of relevant online communities or discussion groups for your market area


10. Maximise the design of your own blog: highlight posts or subjects that will attract and retain readers


11. Add comments – relevant, useful comments – to other people�s threads or blogs


12. Use Pay per Click (PPC) advertising like Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing


13. Advertise on sites such as Gumtree or Craigslist


14. Make sure that you run an ezine (e-newsletter) alongside your blog and make the two work together


15. Make sure that you link out to other blogs in your blog posts and, for special recommended blogs, in your BlogRoll


16. Join MyBlogLog to be able to make contact with other MyBlogLog users and develop relationships


17. Set up a social network part of your blog with Ning


18. Write your own e-book (perhaps using content from your blog) and give away free chapters to encourage visitors or subscribers


19. Start your own meme or viral networking idea (such as 2000 Bloggers)


20. Attend local networking groups such as BNI, BRE etc – tell them about what you do and reference your blog


21. Set up and develop a profile on online social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo etc.


22. Create a free account on BT Tradespace


23. Interview people for your own regular podcast – perhaps you could make it like your own online radio show


24. Contact other relevant ezines and offer to write articles for them


25. Submit your articles to article directories (Ezine Articles, Article Alley etc.)and link to your blog in the signature


26. Submit your own ezine to ezine directories such as Ezine Directory or Best Ezines


27. Include podcasts as part of your blog to distribute interviews, informational pieces etc.


28. Convert some of your existing articles into podcasts


29. Create a lense at Squidoo


30. Distribute and syndicate your articles and podcasts via your RSS feed


31. Offer free white papers or specialist documents which are branded with your blog and RSS details


32. Set up teleconferences or teleseminars focusing on your main content areas


33. Write a review of books on Amazon.com linking back to your blog


34. Distribute press releases via online news services such as PR Web or Press Box


35. Add a poll or survey to your blog and post/distribute the results – try SurveyGizmo if you are a Wordpress user


36. Read other blogs and leave your own comments on them


37. Use trackbacks when you reference other bloggers� posts


38. Create podcasts of your best posts and syndicate them, as well as submitting them to iTunes and other podcast directories


39. Sign up to Feedburner and include the Headline Animator in your email signature and the one you use when you post to forums


40. Make sure you include your blog address on your business cards and company stationery


41. Customise and improve your RSS Feed using Feedburner – include special offers, sign up opportunities and make sure the feed delivers the full post


42. Increase RSS feed sign ups by offering a sign up bonus to subscribers – how? Just ask!


43. Offer readers the chance to sign up via email (Feedburner and Feedblitz offer the service


44. Put files and follow ups to presentations, conferences and seminars on your blog for attendees to read and download


45. Offer to become a Guest blogger on other blogs and invite Guest bloggers to write on your own blog


46. Make sure to submit articles to and participate in Blog Carnivals (more on Blog Carnivals here)


47. Optimise your blog where possible and particularly the Categories, Title Tags and Meta Tags


48. Participate regularly in conversations on other blogs


49. Post answers on LinkedIn Answers and Yahoo Answers


50. Try LinkBaiting using controversial subjects or opinions � be careful though!


51. Contact the main bloggers in your market area and introduce yourself or send details of a particular post that might interest them

and above all,
52. Write great content that people will want to read, recommend and link to!

What other methods (or which of these methods) do you find work best for you as you promote your Blog? Please share them with us by leaving a comment!

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Related posts:

1. 14 ways to help increase your RSS subscribers
2. Where to find business blogs (and where to get yours found!)
3. Promoting and Marketing your Business Blog (Intro)

First a little bit of background

When you first create a website, one of your main concerns is how to get it indexed by the main Search Engines so that it is included in their searches. Later, when you update your site or add pages to it, you want those included too and as quickly as possible.

The trouble is that you have no control over the process and no way to tell Google, Yahoo and the rest that your website has new information on it even submitting it again just puts it in a queue and effectively on hold. This is because Search Engines find websites by following links and then index them in a generally sporadic way. The more regularly you change the content, the more often Search Engines will return to index your site however, for most, it is still rather hit and miss.

Blog Search Engines work in a different way. With Search Engines like Technorati, you can let them know that you have posted new content and that they should come along and index it immediately! This is done by Pinging.

What is Posting and Pinging and why is it important?

Most people use the internet to find information and whenever they are doing research for anything from local florists to the Big Bang theory, Search Engines are their first port of call. If you want to be found when they do this research, then your Blog first needs to be indexed by the Blog Search Engines. You can do this by first creating your post and then pinging.

As soon as you have written and published your new post on your blog then you should ping the various Blog Search Engines to let them know that they should come and index it. Posting and Pinging! In fact, the concept of posting and pinging is something we would all love to have for our websites as well – it is effectively a way to ensure that your new content is indexed and available as soon as you post it.

What exactly is Pinging?

Pinging is in fact a generic computer term that has come to mean something more specific in the world of blogging. A ping is commonly used to check the connection of a server/computer on a network – its like a very short test message and if the computer responds then you know the connection is okay.

[A quick too much information moment: the word ping comes from the name of the utility that sends out this test message called a Packet INternet Groper.]

In blogging, this idea of pinging is used for a specific purposes: we ping the server of a Blog Search Engine to let it know that there is a new post which they need to come and look at Technorati reacts to the ping by visiting the blog and registering the post, immediately updating its index. The ping is merely the prompt to do these things, its the blogging system set-up that then carries out the actions. Result – no more waiting and wondering when your new page of content will be found as you have to with the main Search Engines.

How do you ping?

In an ideal world, you should not need to worry about pinging, you should set your blog up so that the software does it for you. In WordPress, you will find this in the Administration section in Options > Writing; at the bottom of the page there is a box called Update Services and this is where you put the ping address.

If you need to do it yourself, then rather than doing each one independently, there are some services which will ping a number of different servers for you free. The best known are probably Pingomatic, Pingoat and PingShot which is part of the Feedburner services.

Where should you ping?

Ideally you want to ping as many of the major Blog Search Engines as possible to ensure that they have indexed your new post. The pinging services mentioned above will help but I have gathered a list of places to ping from a number of different sources which I will be keeping updated. Just add these addresses to the Update Services area in your Blogging platform and let the software work for you.

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Related posts:

1. Pinging services to help you post and ping
2. Don’t forget to ping!
3. BBB Bloggers Guides

Although they say that you can’t please everyone all of the time, I say that here’s no harm in trying! (Don’t quote me on that!!)

So, in response to some of the requests that I have had to create a series of shorter guides to complement the more in depth eCourse on Business Blogging that I offer on the site, I have created a series of Better Business Blogging “Bloggers Guides” which will each focus on a particular aspect which is important to anyone running a Business Blog.

While not as in depth as some of the longer articles here, they will present an overview which should give you ideas and additional resources to explore the area further.

Some of the initial BBB Bloggers Guides planned are:

• Bloggers Guide to RSS Directories


• Bloggers Guide to Feedburner


• Bloggers Guide to Marketing your Blog


• Bloggers Guide to RSS by Email


• Bloggers Guide to Posting and Pinging


• Bloggers Guide to Pitching Bloggers

This will be an ongoing series of posts, rather than a short independent series, which is intended to grow into a resource of its own. I hope that you will help it to develop in the right direction!

If you have areas that you would like to have covered here , then let me know and I will look to include it in the Better Business Blogging Bloggers Guides.

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Related posts:

1. Posting and Pinging: BBB Bloggers Guides
2. Better Business Blogging Quick Guides
3. Starting to write your Business Blog – BBB Quick Guides