How to Categorize Content at Your Blog

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Comment by dM, CEO on June 8, 2009 at 4:38pm

Hi Kaila,

Thanks for your question. There is a long, sad story about the transfer of blog from Typepad to WordPress. I'll spare the gory details, and just stick with your two questions for now.

By way of quick background, I've been blogging on a blogging platform of some kind since 2005. Before that, I had set up journal entries at an old website. They operated just like blog posts but were more cumbersome since the software and Web options were not what they are now. I mention that because my experience with blogging has a lot of depth and I hope that makes it easy to appreciate the perspective I bring to the questions you have.

1. Why Did I Switch From TypePad to WordPress?

There are several reasons. Here are some of the most important ones.

* WordPress Offers More Customization Options. I really wanted my blog to stand out in the crowd. With WordPress, I was able to take a template and customize it to my own specifications. While you can do this with Typepad, a TypePad blog still always looks like a TypePad blog, and no matter how much you try to customize it, you are limited in your options.

Indie Business Blog is more than just another business blog. It also focuses on lifestyle and women's issues in ways that other business blogs do not. I wanted my content to reflect that, but I also wanted to have a layout that distinguished my content, and made it appealing to other women who are in business like me, for reasons that transcend just making money, although that's important. I want it to reflect business as a means to facilitate better enjoyment of life, enhanced personal and professional relationships and more.

(I hope it does that. What do you think?)

* WordPress Is Fast Becoming The Standard For A Professional and Well Maintained Blog. When it comes to a blog, a lot can be gained and lost on the first impression. Because all of the most popular bloggers use a WordPress platform, I wanted to have a WordPress blog too.

One of the reasons why WordPress blogs are so popular is because there's a plug-in or add-on for practically everything you could possibly want to do to create community at your blog. Want to reward your most frequent commenters? There's a plug-in for that. Want to change the way your Twitter feed works? There's a plug-in for that. Today, no matter what your business, it's important not only to be a business owner with quality products, but also a business owner with a blog that identifies you as a unique and individual business owner – that makes you different from everyone else selling what you are selling. A branded place where your passions are poured out for the world to see, appreciate, learn from and participate in.

This means that in addition to selling soap, for example, you also have the option of branding yourself and your business based on your blog. Maybe you blog about little known soap trivia like Marie Gale does at here. Not only does she sell soap, she also blogs about soap trivia. This has the potential of making her more of an authority on soap than the next soapmaker. This enhances credibility, and the more credibility you have, the more sales and other business opportunities you ultimately have. (Marie's blog is a WordPress blog by the way.)

* WordPress Tags Are More Search Engine Friendly. I have not validated this myself yet, but I think it's quickly becoming clear that Google likes WordPress blogs better. I have heard that WordPress blogs are easier to index and spider. For me, if that's true, it's a bonus since I would have made the switch anyway. I work hard to invite people to visit my blog regularly on my own so any SEO benefits are like icing on the cake.

* TypePad is Expensive For What You Get. TypePad has 4 levels, but for a business blog, only the two most expensive options make sense. The “Pro” version is $14.95/month ($179.40/year). The “Business Class” version is $89.95/month ($1,079/year). WordPress has all of the options in the Business Class version and more so for me, it was a no brainer to switch.

With WordPress, I did pay someone to help me set up and customize the blog, but this is a one-time investment that will last me at least a year anyway and the value added options I get from WordPress make it a good investment.

2. Was It Difficult? Yes. Because TyepPad made it difficult. They do not allow you to transfer any of your photos from their platform to WordPress. Perhaps this is a way to discourage people from switching from TypePad to WordPress. What it means is that if you want the photos from your TyepPad blog to appear at your new WordPress blog, you will have to manually add them after the transfer is complete. I am not sure if I will ever finish that project since I had close to 500 posts at my blog when the transfer was made. There were a few other glitch-y things that happened, but the images issues is the only one I can attribute 100% to TyepPad. Even with the challenges, the transfer was worth it for me because of all the other benefits of WordPress.

I hope this helps some.

If I can help further, please let me know.

dM

Comment by dM, CEO on June 8, 2009 at 3:44pm

Hi Christine,

Thanks for your question. I'm excited to answer and hope that I can provide some insight.

blog should be an extension of your own personal style as a business leader. It should convey your passion and enthusiasm. A blog is one of the ways that small business owners can distinguish themselves from other people who sell the same types of products they sell.

Because a blog is such an influential marketing tool, it should contain content that draws readers, customers and stakeholders back again and again.

Against that backdrop, here's why I recommend categories at blogs.

1. A Blog With Categories Is More Organized and Professional. A blog creates either a poor, average, good or excellent impression of a business owner. The more organized a blog is, the more excellent the impression it creates. Because the media, customers and all kinds of potential collaborators are visiting our blogs to decide whether to connect with us in some way, the more organized and searchable the content, the better.

2. Categories Help People Know What To Do At Your Blog. When you open a magazine or a book, what makes you want to buy it? The table of contents and departments, right? It’s the same with a blog. Categories help blog visitors decide what to do once they hit your blog. If they are a first time visitor, they want to see what you're about. They may read your About page first, or they may wonder what on earth you blog about so they can determine whether your blog is worth their time or not. Make it easy for them to make this determination by categorizing posts so they can easily choose what interests them and go from there.

If you make eco-friendly candles, a person may be interested in buying them, but they want to know you a bit better first. What are your eco-friendly passions? Why is eco-friendly important to you? What do your customers have to say or ask you about your eco-friendly positions and ideas? The answers to these questions will help them connect to you and your brand, but only if they can quickly find them. The only way to make it easy for them to find is to have a category entitled "Eco-Friendly" or something like that.

Making what people are looking for easy to find is a key to getting them to stick around. And getting them to stick around a bit is the first step to influencing them to buy what you sell.

3. Everyone Is a Publisher. I firmly believe that, if you choose to maintain a blog, it should be thought of as a publication.

I think that no matter what business you are in today, you are also in the publishing business. That is, you're in the business of circulating content about what you think, who you are and what you have to offer at blogs, social networks, newsletters, in articles you write for other publications, etc. All of this content shows off your expertise and passion. It also shares the products and services you sell in a subtle but very powerful way.

So, with that background, when people come to your blog, you don't just want them to leave after they see the home page. You want them to stay a while, leave a comment, tell a friend, be inspired. The longer they stay, the more they get of your brand. The more they get of your brand, the more they see you as an expert in your field. The more they see you as an expert, the more inclined they are to buy and tell their friends.

4. The Media Likes Categories. Let's say you are asked for your insights by a spa magazine editor about the benefits of soy wax. The editor is on a deadline and only has a few hours to put her story together. You could spend an hour writing useful information for her or you could refer her to the Soy Wax category at your blog and let her know she can quote anything there. This makes you an expert on soy wax (which is good since it's a primary ingredient in your products). It also makes it easy for the editor on deadline to quickly read 5 or 6 of your posts on the topic and then cut and paste and credit you.

It could also make you the best choice simply because your blog already demonstrates the depth of your knowledge in the area. She doesn't have to do much to validate you if you blog authoritatively about the topic on a regular basis.

So, that's why I recommend that people have categories at their blogs.

What do you think? How can I help further?

dM

Comment by Kaila Westerman on June 8, 2009 at 1:02pm

Why did you transfer your blog from TypePad to Wordpress, and was it difficult?

Comment by Christine White - Scandle LLC on June 8, 2009 at 12:44pm

Hi Donna,

I'm not big on catagories, and I don't know if that's a no, no or not? I've always thought that you should have a centralized focus and stick to it to develop credibility. For instance, our blog is about Natural Spa Beauty, so all of our posts pretty much stay within that topic realm, except for the occassional company announcement.

What are your thoughts? Should you keep to one topic or diversify?