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Number
93: March 23, 2005
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This week in Katydid:
The
Night of the Blog
In the past two weeks, we've looked at the
applications of web logs for marketing, and some
ways to get started blogging. However, there is a sinister side to
blogging you would be wise to guard against.
As with all media that uses the Internet, eventually, people figure
out how to abuse the system. Blog
spam is a variation on a problem that plagues bulletin board services:
spammers post comments containing advertising. Not only does it choke up
your threads, consume storage, and slow performance, it also increases
your management tasks as you must either approve every comment or spend
time deleting spam posts. Worse, it kills the conversation like an Amway
dealer at a family reunion.
Comment spam takes a slightly different tack because the primary goal
is not to advertise directly, but to increase search engine positioning.
The sheer number of posts inflates link return results from search
engine spiders. Since the results come from multiple sources, they
appear legitimate. The search
engine companies and the web log application development companies are
working together for a solution; however, it only reduces the
incentives without preventing the blog spammers from posting.
For marketing purposes it's best to have someone moderate the blog
and any comments, so that you don't end up with negative or junk posts
but if your blog is as lively as you want it to be, it may become
someone's full-time occupation.
Another concern is liability. Public companies have many regulatory
concerns. Blogs are informal sources and in an effort to be informative,
you could end up revealing too much inside information. Stockholders,
potential investors, analysts, and authorities will be paying attention.
Even if you prune an errant post, it often will live in archives and web
caches.
Design limitations can limit your creativity. The hosting companies
improve their templates all the time, but you will have more control if
you develop and host the site yourself. On the other hand, modifying the
presentation too much could detract from one of the key advantages of
blogging: ease of use. If you've seen one blog, you've seen them all,
but you also know how to use them all.
Content on web logs is stored in a database. That means if you want
to move large blocks of information, you have to deal with database
management tools. You need to be able to archive your content and move
it where you need it. If you use a hosting company, make sure you have
access and archiving ability.
Some companies accept no liability for hardware failures or loss of
content. Your entire blog site could be lost tomorrow and you would have
to start over from scratch without any kind of backup and restore
capability. Service may be non-existent.
Additionally, content ownership can vary among the hosting companies.
You may find that the hosting company claims ownership of your blog
content and that you merely pay for the access to their application.
Read the terms and conditions on your agreements carefully and don't
assume that blog services operate the same way your web site hosting
services do. Since blogging is only now becoming an accepted business
tool, the agreements were made with private uses in mind.
Finally, the biggest disadvantage to blogging is that readers have to
have a reason to come to you. The content needs to be valuable enough
and updates must be frequent enough to keep people returning regularly.
Blogs tend to be read by other bloggers. Like crackberry
addicts, blogging becomes habitual. Blogs can become insular and
stagnate through inbreeding of content. This works against the
marketer's need to continue extending the network outward.
New technologies such as RSS
will help broadcast blog content to readers, but the technology is
not widely adopted yet users still have to download software to use it.
In this respect, newsletters still have a big advantage over blogs.
You only have to make the decision once and the content comes to you.
You get it according to a schedule and if you get behind, there are
archives available. You know how much time you will have to invest to
keep up and it's easy to pass around to others and extend the network.
That said, a number of readers over the past few years have
encouraged me to convert this newsletter to a blog. Despite the
misgivings above, I'd like to
. Convert to a blog, stay a weekly newsletter,
create an RSS feed, or all of the above? What you have to say matters
most to me.
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Thanks for Reading
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Kind regards,
Kevin Troy Darling
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