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Blogging

Get blogged down: the best of blogs

By The Drum, Administrator

December 12, 2008 | 16 min read

What do your blog habbits tell us about you? In this industry we all use them – for pleasure or for work, for inspiration or for knowledge. But what makes for a good blog?

Everyone needs a good blog. Or so we were once led to believe. Blogs are easy to start, cheap to maintain and could open the doors to thousands, nae millions, of potential visitors.

But what’s the point if no one ever visits? You might as well not do it at all if you aren’t going to do it properly... And in reality, not every site (or everyone) needs a blog. Frankly, they often divide opinions on their relevance, need or value.

But, if done well – targeting a defined community, updated regularly, offering expert knowledge or divine inspiration, and optimised properly (Google loves a blogger) – a blog can launch an online social revolution.

But it’s not all about revolution and evolution. Blogs are online areas where communities can gather and share their thoughts, influences and learnings. However trivial.

It seems unanimously agreed that good blogs are a combination of great content and comment, supplied by people that really know their stuff – and that very definition comes from a handful of those that really know their online onions.

So, we asked those in the know to identify their favourite bloggers, and tell us just why they return time and time again to the online ramblings of these serial social scribes?

What follows is a typical selection of blogs – from technical low-downs to... well... pretty pictures – that perfectly illustrate the diverse cross-section of online impartings.

Darren Navier, Creative Director, Numiko

I must admit to being a bit of a blog-tart. Feeding them all through Google – quickly getting the top line – scanning through item after item… so I don’t generally ‘go all the way’ with any one site in particular. However the blog that backs up Channel 4’s ‘4IP‘ initiative is one that I will take a bit of time over. Ok, so it’s not some minute-by-minute published stream of consciousness, but I have always been a believer in quality over quantity.

The mantra of the whole 4IP initiative – ‘Interactive Media not TV. Networks not Broadcasters’ is something that is pretty close to our hearts at Numiko. We have been working on ‘networking’ linear broadcast brands since well before the term ‘360 commissioning’ was a buzz-phrase. But 4IP demands we go further, and the blog provides some great insight and occasional inspiration as to how interactive companies could go about it. Ewan McIntosh in particular is a regular poster, providing his thoughts on just what shape the idea of ‘public service’ interactive media could take.

The really great thing is that it forces web companies to realise the opportunities that are open to them to have an impact and make a real difference. In short; it ‘bigs us up’; – something that most working in this space have difficulty doing for themselves. Sure, there’s a place and a need for ‘traditional’ web-based marketing. That ‘one way broadcast’ thing is something we all do as it’s comfortable and familiar for those presently controlling brands and budgets. And it pays the bills. But it’s not our creative USP, and it’s not where the true potential is. Things like 4IP and its blog might just start to help us all believe again in the potential the connected and social ‘net offers us all.

http://www.4ip.org.uk/blog

Gail Dudleston, Managing director, twentysix

Two of my favourite blogs are http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com and http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com

They are everything a good blog should be; short (in fact, more pictures than words), focused, make a good pithy point and are well written in terms of grammar, punctuation and style. Blogs that merit reading and attract ‘followers’ are invariably written by people with a real knowledge of their subject who can add insight and value. Good bloggers tend to base their opinion on fact, empirical evidence or expert knowledge – anyone can do a ‘cabdriver’s rant’! Of course blogs must encourage interaction and feedback, develop discussions and ultimately create communities. Both these blogs have sparked a vibrant community of contributors and commentators.

An absolute blogging no-no is the inclusion of blatantly self-promoting material – if ‘in-blog’ advertising is to work it should be absolutely relevant to the topic under discussion. Blogs should be regular and reliable – and not like British busses; nothing for ages then three come along all at once! Visiting a favourite blog to find virtual tumbleweed rolling across the screen and news that it was last updated three weeks ago is likely to terminate a beautiful virtual relationship. Blogs by nature are topical and contemporary…and that takes commitment from the blogger.

In-house jargon that makes a blog unintelligible to the layman can be a real turn-off, particularly if the topic is of interest to the general public. Good etiquette suggests information sources should be referenced and linked where possible. And a contact point so readers can communicate directly with the blogger is an absolute must. And it’s good practice to archive entries logically and provide links to further reading and discussions.

From the bloggers point of view, entries should be SEO-friendly – search engine’s love blogs so it’s a great opportunity to gain rankings. Linking to RSS feeds and including social media buttons so that people can share your musings are also must-do ways to increase readership.

http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com

Ross Riley, founding partner, One Black Bear

Following online blogs is a very important way of staying up to date with trends in internet technology and, whilst there are literally hundreds of essential sites to keep an eye on, few writers combine an intimate knowledge of technology and business as well as Jason Calacanis.

www.calacanis.com started as a blog but, after declaring the death of blogging earlier this year, Jason has moved his writings to an email correspondence, which was done in an attempt to add some civility to online conversation.

Instead of the traditional comments system of a blog Jason invites subscribers to reply via email and then posts follow ups to a selection of the best commenters.

For the uninitiated Jason Calacanis is one of the original web entrepreneurs who by founding Weblogs Inc was one of the first people to start monetising blogs. He continues to be one of the most influential people on the web thanks to his involvement in TechCrunch 50, which provides coverage to the most exciting new companies online.

The quality of his writing on both technology and business know how is second to none. Some of the highlights this year have been advice on how to conserve money in an economic downturn and how to turn a depressed economy to your advantage.

Another post entitled ‘The Future of Startups’ gave great advice about how to capitalise on some of the latest technology trends like cloud computing and also a warned about the imminent onset of social networking fatigue.

Working in this industry is often a case of balancing the demands of new technology with sound business sense and getting great advice from a genuine success story is always thought provoking and worthwhile.

http://www.calacanis.com

Tony Foggett, Code ComputerLove

My two favourite blogs are Seth Godin’s http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and Ian Jindal’s http://www.ianjindal.com

Seth is a general internet marketing guru, well they both are but Ian’s is a bit more focused on ecommerce and multichannel retail. What makes a good blog? Good content and comment supplied by people who really know their stuff. A good blog isn’t just a rant from an individual – it’s a discussion. I tend to like niche blogs myself rather than generalist, there are only so many you can really follow.

http://www.ianjindal.com

Tim Newton, Enjoy Digital

Blogs frighten the life out of me, especially ones on agency sites.

Would I let an ill-informed inexperienced member of staff go roaming the streets shouting their (equally ill-informed and inexperienced) opinions from the rooftops? Well why on Earth do agency owners do just that with blogs on their websites? Agency heads should read some of the things that are being posted on their sites, they’d be surprised, and their lawyers would be horrified (or delighted at the potential fees!).

You certainly wouldn’t put Johnny the account exec in front of your hottest prospect to explain the thinking behind the concepts you’re presenting would you? So why let his thoughts loose on your website?

I’ve been told that a blog is the equivalent of ‘a chat in the pub’. And that’s even more frightening – the thought of a drunk Johnny voicing his unwanted opinions to all and sundry, sends shivers down my spine. Would you want half of what you talk about in the pub broadcast in the name of your business? Thought not!

Blogs are like all things digital to me – just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. Do they add value and serve a purpose greater than their effort?

That said, even though I didn’t realise it was a blog for a while, Drayton Bird’s ‘Bird Droppings’ is great as I can’t either a) afford the fees to book him for a speaking engagement, or b) afford the time to get to wherever he is presenting, as it always seems to be on the other side of the world. So I get snippets of the wit and wisdom of good ole Drayton, straight into my inbox on a fairly regular basis.

I find his bite sized epithets absolutely ideal for reading in the ‘smallest room’, surely I can’t be the only person who blogs in the bog can I?

http://www.drayton-birds-droppings.blogspot.com/

Craig Johnson, commercial director, Rippleffect

Theoffside.com is the footie blog to end all footie blogs. It’s rich, encyclopaedic and idiosyncratic, with exactly the right blend of serious and irreverent comment on the Beautiful Game.

If you’re a net nut like me, you’ll love the way it crawls across the globe gathering the best writing, the best video and the best images, organising them in a user-friendly manner in one spot. And if you’re a footie nut (also like me) then theoffiside.com is an absorbing and wide-ranging repository of virtually everything you’d like to know and discuss about the game, whether it’s to do with fisticuffs in the Copa Sudamericano or dodgy referees in the Premiership.

The site works, quite simply, because of the content blend. They’ve got some superbly pithy writers with a knowledge of the game which is probably verging on the OCD scale so the combination of casual, mate-in-the-pub copy with carefully selected video footage works a treat. To its credit, it never descends to lad-mag levels, unlike so many other soccer websites. It’s much subtler – and much funnier – than that.

It’s the sheer breadth of the content, however, that does it for me. I frankly don’t give a hoot about footie in Uruguay but invariably find myself being drawn into reading about and reacting to content about leagues and teams I never even knew existed. Sad, I know, but I suspect I’m not the only one.

Where theoffside.com gets it right is by keeping what should be the blogger’s mantra at the heart of everything it does: content is king. The site is not over-designed and is perfect for grazing: no lengthy theses on the future of the game but insightful, amusing and punchy observation made with a light touch and pitched perfectly for the net/footie nut audience. An audience, in fact, just like me.

http://www.theoffside.com

Martin Donnelly, Clusta

The one stop creative blog / network, covering everything from digital media, illustration, print, motion and typography to traditional art, music and film. With posts from over 80 different contributors it is everything a creative could ask for in a blog. Contributions are very selective, without being pretentious, providing the user with a snap shot of the freshest visual delights.

This acclaimed site contains a public social platform with a population of over 17,000 which is also a great source of inspiration for all creatives. You can create your own blog, share your portfolio, and connect with creative friends all under the Computer love brand. Computer love is also a useful recruitment resource for some of the world’s biggest brands and agencies.

The Simple layout and design puts all of the focus on the work showcased, allowing the user to easily browse through a huge catalogue of inspirational work.

http://www.cpluv.com

Scott Howard, digitalAim

The blog that I find myself returning to most frequently is senior Google engineer Matt Cutts’ blog www.mattcutts.com/blog. Matt Cutts is also head of the Google Webspam team. The title of the blog sums up the subject matter nicely. Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

Well known within the SEO community Matt Cutts is unique – for years Google gave no information on SEO and their algorithm at all. This was a revolution in that a senior developer was empowered to talk openly and informally about their anti-spam measures.

Despite often being technically heavy, discussing development aspects and testing elements of new algorithm releases – (so not easy reading for many marketers) Matt Cutts does dispel some of the mysteries and folklore associated with SEO. He states that Google do not see all SEO as a threat and champions ethical SEO. Recently he went on the record with the new Google policy on paid link spam which will cause ripples, challenges and worries for many SEOs and clients next year.

With a range of SEO advice both ethical and unethical all over the internet it can be difficult to weed out really sound advice. There is a danger that if the wrong advice or SEO agency is used, rankings, client URLs and your customers can get lost.

Finally, a great blog should occasionally wander off topic (Digital Aim’s advice blog wanders when something makes me really angry!). What keeps me going back is the diversity of posts that appeal to both the technical SEO specialist right through to SME e-commerce webmaster. New Google tools (http://labs.google.com) are always covered in detail as well as the relevance of new tools to the digital marketing.

As an extremely understated public voice for Google, it is very refreshing to see that Google is still cool enough to allow Matt to talk (relatively) freely about his anti-spam work. Given that it is hard to ever see Microsoft having an equivalent ‘coder of the people’, it gives me faith that Google may continue to grow without turning into their arch-rival.

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog

Greig Tosh, MD, CIVIC

We’re being told the blog is dead; that twitter is where it’s at. Everyone’s attention span is gtng shrtr, so maybe if you can’t say it in 140 characters then maybe twitter has a point. What am I doing? I’m writing 300 words for The Drum. Now leave me alone.

Is facebook a blog(osphere)? Maybe. Do I have a facebook account? Yes. Do I use it? Infrequently. Is it pretty much made up of work colleagues who I speak to every day? Yes. Did my heart sink when, on looking on a Sunday evening a colleague had written, ‘X isn’t looking forward to going back to work tomorrow’. How could she not be looking forward to coming back after a two week break? Unbelievable. She no longer works for us, incidentally (joking).

In any case, what is a blog if not to let the world (wide web) know how you’re feeling, what you’re doing, what you’re planning to do or what your opinion is on matters deeply close to your heart.

Or not as the case may be.

A blog is just someone’s opinion. Is the BBC a corporate blog? Guess so. But then, there are blogs on the BBC site, like the flavour of the moment Peston’s Picks (of the not wholly un-opinionated Robert Peston); but given it’s the BBC, it must be edited, yeah? By Russell Brand you say? Interesting.

No-one agrees entirely with anyone else and blogs, for me, are a way of learning more through someone else’s opinions. My work colleagues have long championed greigslist, which would be a daily entry of things which yours truly had an opinion on. But our servers couldn’t cope I’m told.

Oh sorry, my favourite blog? ffffound.com. A picture speaks 300 words...

http://www.ffffound.com

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