This is a great article from Michael Gray over at Graywolf: How Often Should You Update Your Website.

I encourage you to read the whole article.

In particular I love this quote:

At this stage, most websites really should be running some sort of CMS, WordPress, joomala, drupal, pixelsilk or something else … the downsides to using a CMS include things like maintenance and updates, which in some cases come so frequently they can become burdensome (look squarely in the direction of WordPress and Matt Mullenwegg).

WordPress now powers over 14% of the world’s top million websites, but as many people are discovering keeping a CMS driven website (whether it is WordPress, Drupal or Joomla) up to date isn’t trivial. When people first launch a CMS site they don’t necessarily realise what is involved.

At OM4 we develop client websites that often carry a design put together by a graphic designer using Photoshop or Illustrator. Normally this would mean a client now has a custom WordPress theme that *they* need to keep up to date. Well, at OM4 we host the sites we build, support them AND keep them up to date with WordPress and WordPress plugin updates.

Most of our clients don’t realise how important this is (they are too busy running their business), but over time I hope more and more people will see the value in this service.

How Important Are Updates to your Website?

From the small business section in The Age:

“Nicola Caras also sees the future of her business both online and in bricks and mortar.”

Once upon a time there was a debate about bricks and mortar businesses vs online businesses. In practice it is and always has been just about business.

This article provides several examples of why a blog is a great tool for a small business: Honest to blog, shops can net more customers online

Online, bricks, clicks

WordPress for iPhone and iPad

If you’ve been using it already, this update fixes the problem where the app crashed on your iPad when you tried to access one of your pages (not posts).

If you haven’t been using it, now is as good a time as ever to give it a try.

Using WordPress on your iPad and iPhone

In business we talk a lot about ‘finding your niche’ and Sandy Metcalf has found hers. Sandy is a natural light photographer of babies, children and family in Sydney. Her style is simple, modern and soft. And that is exactly the same style used to launch her new website SandyMetcalf.com.au.

Sandy Metcalf Photography

While it is a photography site and has beautiful photos Sandy knows her most valuable feature will be her blog. In Sandy’s niche her clients are not just looking for a great photographer but they want to see that special touch Sandy has to be able to work with their baby and little ones. While it’s only early days we can already see visitors will be spending as much time getting to know Sandy in her blog stories and personal insights as viewing her photo gallery.

Baby and Child Photographer Sandy Metcalf

If you have an iPhone (or iPad) and a WordPress blog then you should check out the WordPress for iOS app.

It makes it very easy to post to your blog – and particularly easy to take a photo with your phone and include it.

Worth checking out.

WordPress for iOS iPhone app

I don’t know any one in business who blogs as much as they would like to. I do know a couple of things that have helped me.  So here are a few ideas that might work for you as well.

1. Get A Note Book: Ideas for blogs will come to you while you are reading the paper, talking to a customer, surfing the net or driving in the car. I recommend that you carry a little note book and get those ideas down while they are fresh.
2. Create A Routine: Writing takes a lot less effort if you let it become a habit. I’d suggest that you blog on the same day at the same time each week. The routine will really work for you.
3. Have A Writing Spot: Find a quiet place where you always write. Lock yourself in your room. Make sure you will not be interrupted. Make sure you can talk to yourself out loud. This helps develop the personal voice which is so important in blogging.
4. Let Others Inspire: Read some other blogs. Have a favourite few that you read to warm up.
5. What To Write About: There are a few things that you can reflect on when you are considering topics for blogs.
   • What problems can I solve for my customer is a good question to ask yourself.
   • Review your key words – any blog headings there?
   • Reread your online enquiries – any blog topics?
   • What questions do your customers ask when they are talking to you?
6. Get It Down: My routine is to open a new draft post for each idea I have in my note book. After that I have a read through the draft posts that are already in there. I then decide which one I’m in the mood to write more about.
7. Google The Topic: If I am going to write on a topic I sometimes Google it and spend some time reading up about what others have to say. It is good practice to acknowledge any quotes and link to an other blogs that have inspired you.
8. Get Personal: Once I’ve done some research I then get down my personal thoughts. Try to imagine the person you are speaking to and think about the problems you are helping to solve. People don’t want a dictionary entry – they value your real insights and opinions.
9. Proof Positive: I always get Glenn, James or Judy to have a look at my posts before I publish. This is a great way to get feedback on my content, sort out any spelling errors or tone problems. I find posts always benefit from this process and I feel more confident pushing the publish button.

Happy blogging.

How to Make Blogging a Habit

Our client Paul Geelen summed up the difference blogging had made to his business very simply. He told me that when new clients come to meet him for the first time they are treat him like they already know and trust him.

People have called Paul from the other side of the world to become his customers all on the strength of his business blog.

This morning I came across further evidence of the incredible impact blogging is having on changing the rules of commerce. Today’s edition of The Australian has an article by Tony Allen-Mills that was originally published in The Sunday Times.

Mills talks about how the critics attacked the musical The Adams Family when it first came out. They were scathing. Not so long ago this would have killed the show stone dead. Instead it went on to earn 4.3 million pounds in the first five weeks and generate 9.7 million pounds in advance sales.

Mills observes that the power of the newspaper critic is in serious decline because bloggers now have the power to communicate their own messages. As well as blogs individuals can now publish their own opinion through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

It seems that people would much rather trust the opinion of friends and family than a stranger who writes for the paper.

I think this means two things for us as small business operators. Know that your blog can attract new customers and build trust. Know also that customer recommendations through social media can be even more powerful than an article in the newspaper.

For those of us with small marketing budgets this is great news.

The Rise And Rise of Blog Power

If you operate a blog with comment facility, or have an online enquiry form on your website, there are spammers who will try to get their spam to you.

We have an anti-spam plugin that adds a simple maths question to comment forms and online enquiry forms. A lot of spambots find this a barrier, whereas a simple maths questions is easy for human visitors.

We’ve just updated the wording of the question to make it as easy to use as possible. Well, hope so anyway. And we’ve also added a small pop up link to explain why we have the question there.

So why do spammers try and leave comments on your blog posts?

Some spammers like getting comments published on blog posts in the hope it gets them a link. Even though we nofollow all comment links, it doesn’t stop spammers wanting to try.

And enquiry forms? Well, some spammers like using your online enquiry forms to send you junk mail.

There are a few lines of defence to try and reduce the number of spam comments/enquiries that get through.

Firstly we run the Bad Behavior plugin – this plugin recognises various patterns and signals that are present when spambots are trying to do their stuff.

Secondly we have our maths question. Personally I think the maths question is friendlier than the Captcha images that many websites use. Maybe a good captcha would stop even more spam, but I find that the combination of Bad Behavior and the maths question cuts spam right down.

Finding the ultimate anti-spam barrier

Here is a graph showing the trend in number of visitors to Phil Walcott’s Gay Rainbow Connection website over the last month (Phil was our OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Winner for the NT in 2008).

Visitor trend for GayRainbowConnection.com

Phil is currently touring the world with his GALTA hat on, and using his blog to keep everyone updated about his trip. The spike you can see in the number of visitors correlates almost exactly with Phil getting active with his blog.

Blogs are particularly effective in increasing the number of search engine visitors to your website. And as Phil is clearly such a natural when it comes to blogging, I think he’ll do particularly well.

Search engines seem to pay attention to how frequently a website is updated and send more love to those that are active. Each new blog post adds relevant content to your website, expanding the number of keywords you are indexed for and thereby increasing the number of searchers who might find you. And finally, blog posts are a great way of reaching out to other bloggers, and that gets you noticed and is a great way to earn you links.

And finally, a quick live example of trackbacks. Phil -because I am linking to your excellent post wrapping up your GALTA activities in London, you’ll see a Trackback appear in your dashboard. Approve the trackback – just like a comment – and an excerpt from my post will appear in the comments section of your blog post.

Blogging means more visitors to your website

As of this week all four Blog School groups are now up and running for the term, including our new teleconference based group. I am delighted with the diversity of business people who have enrolled. It also prompted made me think about how our bloggers get more benefits than just learning to blog.

Community

I think being part of a community is a real benefit. Blogging and building a site in isolation can get lonely at times. Blog schoolers are part of an interesting and enthusiastic group of forward thinking business folk.

Inspiration

Mixing with people from other industries can be stimulating and inspiring. How someone else tackles a problem can give you some fresh ideas about how to work on your own.

Focus on The Customer

Running a business involves juggling lots of different pressures and it is possible to lose sight of who your customer is and what problems you are solving for them. Blog school helps keep you in touch with who are you talking to and what you need to say.

Support

Blog schoolers are part of a group who want each other’s sites to prosper. They are prepared to give feedback and post comments on each others sites. This early support is so helpful in establishing a sustainable blogging practice.

Fun

Blog school is not all work. It is a chance to make friends with really great people. Laughter is part of learnng and it happens naturally when people relax and work together.

If you missed this term’s Blog School keep an eye out for next term’s dates. Be assured we will make you feel very welcome.

Five Secret Benefits of Blog School