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Once upon a time (say, the mid-nineties), having a static webpage for your brick-and-mortar business was a groundbreaking concept. In that era of Pentium 2 processors and dial-up internet, simply having a "virtual" place to hang out your shingle was enough to set you apart from the crowd. Never mind that most of these early sites were little more than phone book advertisements with really awful color-schemes - they were a means of getting a leg-up on your competition and to show how "cutting-edge" an operation your business was.
As the internet evolved, however, many companies soon realized that to maintain their competitive edge and attract new customers (not to mention secure that elusively high search-engine rank), they'd need to provide something more to the public than the online equivalent of a business card. So, one by one, businesses took a page from the thousands of personal online journals that were popping up daily. They started company blogs (as they're now known). Most of them were frankly awful, rarely updated and devoid of any useful information.
Many of them still are.
For these businesses, the company blog is not considered a component of their overall marketing strategy, but simply another tab to keep their websites from looking anemic. Lacking any defined strategic intent, they pay little mind to the golden rule of business communication - having a purpose, and filling a need. Instead, they banish their blog to the equivalent of web page Siberia (the far right tab, out of sight and usually reserved for an unnecessary contact pages and "useful" links). They fill it with the latest press releases and company news, none of which has any real relevance to their readers. They provide nothing to help educate, entertain, or inform. They simply make noise for fear of silence, that sickening quiet that insinuates dormancy and bruises your search engine rank.
Has Google made you afraid of the silence?
You would think that more than a decade since the first "modern" business blogs launched, the concept of providing REAL value to potential customers be second nature to virtually all companies. Yet they're still out there...the dinosaurs of the internet, still viewing their website as a cheap billboard, a one-way communication channel, a necessary evil. Worst of all, they make no concerted effort to actually provide users with something they can take with them. They're not filling a need with their blog...they're simply filling space. The effects of this approach are obvious to anyone who spends a good deal of time on the web - no matter how state of the art their operation may be, their company looks outdated and out of touch. And is invariably ignored for their lack of value.
If you've decided to spend time on maintaining a "company blog" on your website, make sure that you're not simply making noise. If you can't identify the purpose of your blog (or of a particular post), then it may be better to say nothing at all, bag the blog, and focus your efforts on something more comfortable or familiar. Believe me, the few rank-positions you may lose aren't worth the time and reputation spent on disconnected and sub-par content. After all. there's no rule that states your company needs to have a blog on its website. Nowadays, it may set you apart from the pack.
Although there should be a rule against it much of the time.
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