When I said big companies, including Dell, HP and IBM are hiding their corporate blogs in plain site, Dell and HP protested in the comments.
People can and do find us, they said, by typing in “HP blog” or “Dell blog” in Google. And that’s true. But those people are likely to already be reading blogs, to be early adopters of new technology, and to be vocal.
Most people still don’t read blogs and so won’t go looking for them if they’re not on the home page. A link to a company blog would invite customers and would-be customers to get to know the company a little better. And, that, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing. She sorta has a blog now, although you’ll have to scroll down on the home page to see the link. Still, it’s on the home page.
When it comes to corporate blogs, the boards, the lawyers, the CFOs and other suits still worry about:
– the loss of the message control they think they used to have,
– that – as Dell learned – we unruly, unjournalistic bloggers will damage their stock prices with blog storms,
– that disgruntled customers will have a chance to influence other customers because blogs give them the ability to be heard,
– that they won’t know the secret handshake of bloggers, who link to each other with abandon,
– that a company blog could actually get too popular and become hard to monitor or even get more traffic than the home page,
– that some customers will take offense at something said on the blog, and not buy from the company,
– that the bloggers in their company will say something that will embarrass the company, even though their minimum wage customer service people are the ones who have contact with the most customers, and they let their sales people, clerks and others untrained in PR and media relations talk to clients every day.
They also know that
– they have to keep up with market changes to stay competitive, and allowing customers to have a say about the company is a change that is here to stay,
– there are talented people within the company who will leave if they don’t get the chance to participate in the Internet revolution,
– that bloggers are influencers and that there is a chance that their blogs could have an impact on customers,
– that the impact is more likely to be positive if the company has a vehicle where they can respond to customer concerns, and where they can treat customers like the business partners they actually are,
– there have been instances of blogs actually helping companies and maybe, in a long shot, their corporate blog could be one of those,
– that an interesting blog can create loyal readers who’ll keep the company top of mind because they’ll come back regularly to read and comment on the blog,
– that blogs can create customer evangelists, which, after all, is what every company needs.
So many big companies have begun – in most cases reluctantly – to allow corporate blogs. But they don’t want to make them too obvious on the corporate website because blogs could get out of hand at any moment. Oh my!
Having a company blog, or several, allows the company to say “we’re hip, we’re cool”, and, most importantly “We’re listening”. Not having a link to the blog from the home page allows companies not to take what they still see as the ultimate risk of letting everyone in on the conversation.
It’s time, actually it’s past time, to add links to the company blogs on the home page. No more BS excuses.
Posted by B.L. Ochman
The Real Reasons Big Companies Don’t Link to Their Blogs From Their Corporate Home Pages
BL Ochman | May 15, 2007 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) | TrackBack (
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Categories: Corporate_Blogging
Tags: , blog pitfalls, blog storms, business blogging, corporate blogging, Dell Blog, HP blog
Tags: , blog pitfalls, blog storms, business blogging, corporate blogging, Dell Blog, HP blog
Actually I would have to give some credit to the companies who are allowing blogs.
Because you also have the other extreme, like Apple which not only does not allow company blogs, but maintains a police state mindset when it comes to employees talking to anyone who might have a connection to main stream media or bloggers.
I have actually had Apple employees anonymously comment to my Applepeels blog. Then upon waking the next morning, they write me a note asking me to remove their comment because they believe that someone at Apple might figure out who they are from what they have said.
Apple’s message is so tightly controlled that I was amazed to find out when I was there that Steve Jobs had actually approved the type of folding chairs we were having at a trade show.
In this new world of blogs having influence over companies, Apple stands as a fortress with walls that likely will not crumble until they make a huge misstep or Steve Jobs leaves.
A measure of Apple’s anti-blog attitude is the popularity of the Fake Steve Jobs blog.
Big companies of the world, it’s okay to have a blog. And, don’t tell anyone I said this, it’s even okay to have one that (gasp!) is on another website. (By this, I mean those blogs that are part of the Typepad or Blogger universes.)
But, if you want people to read your blog and get to know you a little better, we really wouldn’t mind if you had a link from the home page. Preferably in the top or left-hand navigation bars.
Hi BL,
Just to clarify my comment, people are not finding me by googling HP blog. They find me by typing a topic of interest in google where I rank high (or on the hp.com search engine). For example, somebody could find me by typing “video marketing”, “HP ads” or “viral marketing” – which I find much more powerful than a HP blog link on the homepage.
I would agree with your worries if we did not have any blogs period. To Mack’s point, I don’t think I am hiding :)
Eric
No Eric, YOU are not hiding. You’re out there doing a quality blog that has earned respect in the blogosphere.
But HP is hiding your blog from the millions of people who come to its site who would check it out if there was a link from the home page to your blog.
Traffic is powerful. But you know that.
Hello BL,
That was indeed an eye opener!! The west certainly opens up quickly to bloggers and does look at them as a path to better ideas, feedback that cen be used progresively.. In shrt look ahead and make sure the product sells MORE!
Well the Eastern side I guess is just warming up and I seriously hope this helps. I am going to send this link to a few people I know and I wanted to know if I could do this?? Please do reply
Regards,
M Bhave
M Bhave: Of course you can send this link to others. Everything published on blogs is meant to be read, discussed, and passed on to others.