Tudor Van Hampton — October 2011

CWA Panel—Writing for the Web

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Why Do We Blog?

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Is Blogging Declining?

• “The act formally known as blogging seems to have peaked…

• “Internet users are doing blog-like things in other online spaces…” —Pew

Social media are the new blogs

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O.K., So Why Are We Still Blogging?Example 1: Well managed, useful blogs drive web traffic.

Lesson: B2B blogs actively managed w/ at least five posts per week draw 6.9x more organic search traffic and 1.12x referral traffic

Hat Tip: Joanne Costin

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Example 2: Marketing pros look to blogs more than any other content vehicle.

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Example 3: A/E/Cs are still adopting social media, including blogs.

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Example 4: Traditional publishers blog to stay relevant in the digital world…

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Source: “From Paper to Platform: Transforming the B2B Publishing Business Model,” PWC, 2010.

…where online advertising is growing market share.

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Example 5: Blogs allow easy aggregation of content—more points of entry to your site.

"The value of multiple platforms is multiple platforms for people to see our journalism. Maybe they'll stay on longer to read something that’s actually important.

“It's been that way since the beginning of newspapers; that’s why we have photos.”

—Audrey Cooper, Metro Editor, San Francisco Chronicle

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Why Do CWA Members Blog?

• “To post articles that might be too controversial or do not have proper content for the magazine”

• “The fad is dying down, but the practice is still gaining mainstream adoption—easily updated websites with a continuing stream of fresh, useful content are still a great way to reach people.”

• “Blogs are powerful tools that allow nontraditional publishers…to set themselves apart in the digital space.”

• “Become an expert in your field and people will flock to you and recommend you.”

Social media complement blogs, not replace them

Source: Recent LinkedIn CWA group discussion

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ENR Blogs

• Updated daily

• Time stamps, comments, permalinks

• Web-based content management

• Staff blog roll “Critical Path”

• Guest blogs