I noticed this recent article from ClickZ about social sites versus blogsites as bona-fide business drivers. It appears that while social sites are great for making connections that may lead to new business development projects, purchase decisions are far more influenced by blogs and content based on personal and business expertise.

“The survey also finds consumers are influenced by blogs at the moment of purchase decision. The [blog] channel plays a greater role than social networks, likely because bloggers establish themselves as an authority on a topic, particularly in niche areas, and create a relationship with the consumer.” -- Enid Burns, The ClickZ Network

This is clear evidence that the benefits of business blogging are measurable compared to other social conversation sites. And the readership of blogs is rising at a rapid rate.

"Readership of blogs is on the rise. JupiterResearch noted a 300 percent growth in monthly blog readership in the past four years." -- -- Enid Burns, The ClickZ Network

The take-away is simple; continue to expand your social media strategy, but focus on rich content that help your prospects and customers understand your businesses' expertise.

See Also

• Study: Blogs Influence Purchases More Than Social Sites
  Blogs can have more impact on purchase decisions than social networks, a new study finds. Blogs create a conversation and trusted resource that influences purchase decision.
• Study: Blogging's Dead? Someone Forgot to Tell Readers.
  Last week, a Wired story claiming blogs are dead hit the web. According to the author, Valleywag reporter Paul Boutin, blogging is passé, made up of nothing more than mainstream media and marketing campaigns.

We've watched the trends and we've known for years that MyST Blogsite^® is ideally suited to provide combined website and blogsite services. Overture Technologies, provider of decisioning software for mortgage and higher education industries, is the latest MyST customer to launch a combined website/blogsite which will soon replace the corporate website. Value Networks launched a similar MyST combined website/blogsite solution in August 2008 citing productivity, responsiveness, and marketing agility as some of the business drivers.

In the last few years, marketing organizations have come to appreciate the value of blending social media with static website information. They've also learned how their organizations can benefit with MyST Blogsite^® through fluid and constantly changing content - keeping their sites relevant without the friction of traditional web management tools.

MyST Blogsites' integrated content management system makes it easy to create and maintain static content pages and link to them through menus, navigation panes, and also with Captyx components. Recently-released Captyx features provide custom menu and page width control to meet a variety of website management requirements.

According to CEO F. Andy Seidl, "The key is blending multiple conversation channels of a blogsite and the reverse chronological nature of social media, with the marketing requirements of a website. MyST achieves this with easy-to-manage content associations that our customers can use to deploy custom menus with specific collections of content pages."

The benefits of a combined website/blogsite strategy accrue quickly...

• Topic Cloud^® creates a unified search and discovery framework for locating content based on keywords, and in a branded format.
• Consistent visitor interface; links, pages, menus all share a common and comfortable experience.
• Search results include website and blogsite references.
• Common RSS infrastructure.
• Quality Assurance reporting includes website and blogsite content in unified reporting environment.
• Analytics and SEO ranking reports include website and blogsite in unified reporting environment.

If you'd like to discuss how you can consolidate your corporate blogging, enterprise syndication, and website content into one solution, please contact us today.

See Also

• Overture Technologies
  At Overture Technologies, we believe the best decisions begin with the best decisioning technology.
• Value Networks
  ValueNetworks.com is the result of a collaboration of pioneers and technology experts who have more than forty years shared experience in value networks.

I met a business owner at Vail Valley Partnership's technology gathering last night that was recently the victim of an SEO SQL Injection attack. His blog and website was successfully hacked about three weeks ago by a malicious band of Inter-web thugs. Within three days, Google had removed his domains from the search index. His company is now on a long and very costly road to SEO recovery. Everything on the web comes with a degree of risk - engaging in social media simply increases the exposure.

The MyST Platform™ recently suffered a similar attack and our clients fared much better, but the threat always remains; it’s an arms race that will likely never end.

I don't typically engage in discussions like this for the purpose of selling our services; rather, it's an ideal way to learn more about business problems related to the Web. This roundtable reminded me of the challenges that small businesses face as they try to become more visible on the Web.

Michaela Foucheux, the webmaster at 4 Eagle Ranch, expressed how challenging it is to just learn and do the basics; conversational content and social media (and all that comes with Web 2.0) is [another] overwhelming task to put on the pile. Deciding how to spin the story for greater findability is also difficult – which keywords are right? How do you find the right keywords? My Advice – get back to marketing basics – invite a focus group out to the ranch for a free hayride and a steak – than ask them to describe how they would search for the experience they’re presently having; now you how to spin your online content to attract more people like your focus group.

If you think about your business requirements with simplicity and logic, you will likely make some very good decisions concerning SEO and social media development. Think about your customers with an eye toward how they solve problems using your company and its services, and start small – keep it simple – grow your Web 2.0 strategy. 

If customers like your spin, search engines will too. This is the best guidepost for everything you do on the web.

p.s. If you get a chance, take in the 4 Eagle Ranch experience; truly breathtaking scenery - some of the best in Colorado.

See Also

• 4 Eagle Ranch - Vail, Colorado - Wolcott, Colorado
  4 Eagle Ranch has become one of the most sought after group, family, and individual venues in the Vail Valley. We specialize in providing an authentic venue for corporate events, weddings, reunions, and a host of day and evening activities.

There's only one thing we hate more than telling a client their blogsite is down - it's that their blogsite content is gone.

Knock wood - we've never had to say that and there are very good reasons that will not be disclosed publicly. But even in the face of aggressive systems - some automated and mostly designed only to inflict damage - we're winning this battle. It requires diligence, clear thinking (which can be difficult without sleep), and it also requires us to think like Inter-web Evil-doers from time-to-time. ;-)

We're presently chipping away at these problems which range from SQL Injection attempts to blog-comment-spam sweat-shops. Progress is evidenced by this post - our own website *is* a blogsite, so when our clients are down - we are too.

Thanks for your patience as we continue to harden the security shell and improve performance.

See Also

• Enviance Blogsite
  The Latest Postings for Enviance Blogsite
• Enviance Website
  EHS Management Software
• Amplify Your Voice on the Web with a Professionally Managed MyST Blogsite
  If you're relying on a traditional web site, or an open source blogging package for your Web 2.0 presence, you may be investing in a whispering campaign.

Michael Kurz, CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, recently posed this question for an upcoming panel session on web marketing - it's an excellent question.

"Where do you see the single biggest success opportunity in Web marketing for small businesses?" -- Michael Kurz

No other Internet movement or consumer adoption phase surpasses the breadth and depth of social media; without question, marketing opportunities abound for clever businesses.

The promise of engaging and helpful online forums and conversations on the Internet, popularized in the late 90’s and early part of this decade, is realized in social media and Web 2.0 applications. The Cluetrain Manifesto is the watershed work on this subject - originally penned in 1999, this work asserts that Internet is unlike traditional media - it's about conversations.

"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies." -- Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999

Nearly 10 years later, evidence this document predicted the future can be found everywhere you look today - user-generated content (UGC) has recently begun to dominate the Internet and will continue to grow at double digits rates in the coming years. Blogs, syndicated content, second-tier search, and flow applications represent the dominant activities by consumers on the Internet.

Why?

Consumers have always wanted transparent, engaging conversations to help them decide how to spend their money. Historically, businesses have been reluctant to engage in direct conversational marketing on the Web. But consumers are relentless; they seek out advice, cultivate relationships with domain experts, and engage in networking to facilitate their knowledge and understanding about everything that matters. As a business person, you must ask yourself - when they start searching for knowledge and socially-based content about your market segment, do you want to be invisible and leave a void for your competitors to fill? Or, do you want to be part of the conversation?

What is Social Media?

Social media is a term that describes the topology of online conversations. It includes blogs, forums, social networks, and flow applications. Anywhere users can publish, share, consume, and participate in dialogue are considered elements of social media.

How do small businesses get started?

While much of this may seem overwhelming, here are three tips to help you get started:

1. Download and read our 7 Simple Steps to More Effective Business Blogging. This will set the stage for more productive use of your time while engaging in social media.
2. If you have a small business, create a "business blog" using a good (but free) blog tool such as Wordpress or Blogger. If your business is large enough to have a chief marketing officer, give us a shout - there are some additional tips you need to know and we have some additional whitepapers we can provide.
3. Get a Twitter account for your business name and start making daily observations about your brand and your business. Trust me on this - it will generate new leads. ;-)

See Also

• CluetrainManifesto
  Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed.

See Also

• Vail Valley Partnership - Ask the Experts
  Wednesday, October 8th: Internet and Web Marketing

Most businesses have many Internet domains; a web site, a blogsite, a media room, and perhaps other sites for support or special marketing content. Some of the content may be secure and some is indented only for discovery through extranets or intranets. Internet-savvy businesses may also have a social forum, a product catalog, or perhaps marketing partners with high-value content about their products and services. Creating and managing a multi-domain search solution that comprehensively addresses user requirements present a number of security, technical, and usability challenges.

Take a listen as Bill explores some of these challenges with WebmasterRadio host Jim Hedger.

See Also

• WebmasterRadio.fm - Enterprise Level Search
  Bill French discusses enterprise level search and how employee employee productivity, strategy and solutions, plus he discusses XTM , XML standards and content solutions that he and partner Andy Seidl had worked on prior to starting Myst.
• Search Engine Strategies
  San Jose, CA August 18-22, 2008