So, someone finds your blog from another blog or via a search engine. They read what you have to say on the topic at hand - but will they ever come back? This is the most important question we need to ask. We all know acquisition can be expensive - but retention, well, that should be the easiest thing for blogs! I mean, you update often and interact more closely. Right? What else do you need to know?

Here are great tips from the Blog Herald here and here:

1. implement Recent Post features - make sure people who land on one of your permalinks can see a) articles you have recently written and, I would add, b) the last and next article after the one landed on
2. Have a good number of posts on your index - 10 to 20
3. Use layout effectively - take less important features such as search out of the hot area (that area seen without scrolling)
4. Use simple features to make the eye read the important text - try making the headline font/colour different. Easier to scan for good material.

What I also do:

1. have a good design. One that is easy on the eye but also highlights all your sections appropriately.
2. Use a font that works well
3. Make sure your blog looks great on many browsers
4. Insert images into posts whenever possible
5. Break up lengthy text with text effects (bold, underline, headings, etc)

Don’t forget, while you may want your readers to stay, it would also be nice if they found your ads relevant and well placed to catch their attention… more on generating revenue with your blog in later posts.

Thanks to Darren of ProBlogger for the tip and for his commentary.

A great blog strategy suggested at ProBlogger is to add authors to your blog.

Why are more authors better for your blog?

1. It gives you increased content volume and allows you to take a blogging break. If you want your blog to take off, you need to consistently post a lot. It’s a hard task to take on alone. And if you want to go away for a weekend, it is also difficult indeed. Having more authors = more content and the ability to take a break without losing post frequency.
2. You can get people to blog free in some areas. If you want to really take off, paid bloggers are also a good option. We currently offer this service.
3. Greater word of mouth. Having more bloggers means having more networks to spread the news. Most bloggers of this type will post to many blogs, cross link, and spread news to their associates.

From my experience, I think more authors is also a good strategy to retain your readers. It gives them multiple perspectives on a topic, but also opens them up to different topic segments.

For example, this blog covers many how to’s for blogging. I may talk on aspects such as writing, reasons to blog, etc, but Ianiv will be providing great insight on the technical side: how to set up your blog, how to customize it, and news that would appeal to developers in the blogging world. On one hand, this gives us a better chance of reaching and appealing to more readers overall, but it also gives some insight of the overall blogging perspective to all our readers. Something we think is very valuable.

I came across a really thorough post over on Noah Brier’s blog about Firefox. I am a really avid fan of Firefox, and am firmly convinced that I could not be as thorough in my marketing campaigns or my blogging without it.

I highly suggest you read Noah’s post, as he offers a lot of great arguments in favour of Firefox, including:
- Tabs
- Live bookmarks
- Integrated search
- Security
- Easy install
- Extensions (including a spellchecker!)

From my perspective, I will tell you how it makes my online life much easier through examples.

Tabbed browsing

I use Bloglines to read most of my news. My preferred method of reading is just to open up a folder all at once (I organize my subscriptions into folders so I can prioritize my reading). Bloglines then delivers all new posts for all blogs in that folder in a linear fashion. So, I scroll down the page reading post titles that appeal to me. If there is something I want to read more fully and/or perhaps blog on, I will middle click or Control+click to open that post in a new TAB. I have set my preferences so that new tabs open “in the background,” so to speak. Let me explain this: I tell Firefox to open the tab, but it does so by just opening a new tab behind the one I am currently reading. Non disruptive. I can keep reading without any popup or any clutter in my taskbar.

Why do I like this? Well, I have two stages for reading my blog subscriptions. Approaching 200 blog subscriptions, it is impossible to read everything, nor does everything interest me.

Stage 1: look at titles. If appealing, open tab. Keep scanning down for more.

Stage 2: Go through each tab and read the posts.

Another great advantage of tabbed browsing is the ability to read a webpage fully from top to bottom, while also opening up links you think would be interesting to read more about. No having to press the back button a ton of times. Each link is a possibility for a new tab. Indeed, I think I’ve come close to having 50 open at once. Try that with IE windows. No thanks.

I think tabbed browsing is the TOP feature of Firefox that works for me. For blogging and for market research, as both are similar in many ways. You want to dig around and find as much info as you can on the topic that you are looking into.

Even better - if you find you’ve opened up 50 tabs and then have to go away from your computer. No problem. No need to save them individually as bookmarks. Simply click save bookmark on one tab and it gives you the option to save all to a folder.

Integrated search

I know that you can add the Google searchbar to IE, but with Firefox, you can add an easy search function that lets you pull down a menu for multiple search options - search engines, dictionaries, Amazon, and much more.

Extensions

Firefox is customizable!! This is another reason my life becomes easier. For example, at work I keep track of PageRank. Controversial, I know. But I do think it’s important. Now, I don’t want to check it all the time. So I installed the Google Pagerank Status directly to my browser. What else do I have? I use the Spellbound extension to check my spelling - this is huge for when I write blog posts from my browser, as I am right now. None of the blogs I write on have spell check features - so, this little plug-in allows me to right click and Spell check. In any form. Anything. So great.

So at the end of all this, what do you need to do? Use Firefox!!

The world of business is intertwined with conversations - the industry is talking, your customers are talking, your competitors are talking - you need to be a part of those conversations. If you don’t, your market will pass you by. If you stay silent, people will begin to look at you as uninventive, arrogant, or secretive. I will argue for the importance of these conversations and how you can enter in a positive way.

A conversation is authentic communication with the aim to build a relationship over time. The relationship involves give and take (shared linking and comments, for example), but also much more.

You need to be a part of the conversation

Your customers are asking to be a part of your company. They are actually demanding it. Your customers are no longer satisfied with seeing your brand - they want to see the people behind your brand.

If you cannot foster dialogue with your customers, how do you expect to retain them? You need a relationship now to both sell your product/service and to retain your customers.

In gratitude for you taking a genuine interest in them, your customers are more likely to be loyal to you, to spread positive word of mouth, and to give you insight on how to improve your product.

How do you enter the conversation?

The blog is your conversation. Here are some great tips on how to make your blog your most effective communication tool.

Be authentic

You need to care about the customer enough to take down some walls. Be clear, be honest, be real. Blogs are real time - if a post takes you an hour, it’s taking too long. You are crafting far beyond your authenticity. Customers value transparency. This means that you should admit when you make mistakes, be open if there are problems, talk about your successes, and make an effort to post regularly and with some passion.

Invite interaction

Your customers are knocking on your door to talk to you. And this does not mean they want to phone you up or complain. They might just want to know what’s new, what you think, why you are the leader in what you do, and that you care.

Blogs are a very easy tool. You have your comment box. Your customers will use it. And the media will also get involved here too. If you show them you know your stuff, it will pay off. Make sure to watch your comments - interact back online so others can see. At the same time, take it to the next level by sending off an email. Say thanks for the comment - get that conversation going to the next level. You never know when it will pay off for a big sale or a great article about you.

Trackbacks are your conversations too. It’s your way to jump into a conversation - you link to others in your topic, they link to you. Suddenly you have a web of knowledge.

How can you post to invite conversation?

- post relevant information, fairly often (it’s best to start posting a lot at first to attract the spiders and your biggest readers)
- offer some insight and opinion
- ask questions
- link to people who’ve talked on the same topic - supplement their arguments or go against them, either is fine
*linking out attracts linking in
- weigh your posts as a mix of short timely posts and longer more authoritative posts
- use your strongest key phrases in the titles of your articles
- although your content may revolve around your industry, leave self promotion to less than 25% of your posts

The best tip - write with energy and a passion for what you do.

Blogging for business overview
Part 1 - Why blog?
Part 2 - How to start blogging on the right foot
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The subscription list I have over at Bloglines is growing at an ever increasing rate. Last night at IIMA I showed everyone how I had my feeds organized, how Bloglines worked, and gave some brief advice on how to organize and prioritize your day to keep up with the pace of the news.

After some reflection, I thought it might be useful to share all my feeds with everyone. For those interested in blogging, take a look into the folders labelled “Blogging” and “Marketing” for some good resources to add to your own news aggregator. If you are a blogger and are not on my list and want to be, post your comment. I am always looking to add more feeds.

Here are my Bloglines feeds.
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