Unprofessionalism #1: Blog Dis-Integration
By Joshua on October 19 2008
This is the first in a series on a type of website mistakes that I call "unprofessionalisms." But they aren't just any mistakes. To qualify as an unprofessionalism, it must:
- Be relatively common.
- Detract from the professionalism of a website.
- Be something that ordinary users would notice.
Now that you have some idea of what I'm talking about, here is the first unprofessionalism.
Blog Dis-Integration
These days, most online businesses realize that they need a blog of some sort. Unfortunately, many of those businesses think that just adding a link from their static site to a WordPress.com (or worse, Blogger) account fills that need. There are a few reasons why this approach doesn't work:
- The blog design doesn't match the site design, which can be quite jarring, and causes the user to notice that…
- The blog design is a template they've seen on dozens of other sites…
- The web address doesn't match, because it isn't mybusiness.com, but mybusiness.blogspot.com…
- Which means that in the user's mind the business either didn't have the money to look professional or just didn't care.
Obviously, this sequence is much more damaging for high-end businesses than "Mom & Pop's," but even small businesses suffer from reduced confidence.
The Alternative: An Integrated Blog
If blogs like those I mentioned above are dis-integrated, the alternative is to integrate them with the main website's branding and design. This can be done either through full integration, or through development of a related identity for the blog.
With full integration, the blog:
- Matches the site design almost exactly.
- Resides on the same website address, such as mybusiness.com/blog/
With a related identity, the blog:
- Has a related, but not identical design.
- Resides on a related website address, such as mybusinessblog.com or blog.mybusiness.com
Each approach has it's advantages. Full integration tends to require less additional work on design, programming, and development of a new sub-brand, while a related identity can allow a normally formal brand to expand into the blogosphere's more casual environment without losing its central identity.
Whichever approach you decide to take, avoid the dis-integrated blog!
What our readers said
“Unprofessionalisms” Long name, very common appearances! I see a lot of websites that just have links to generic blog accounts. Good call. Keep it coming!
Simma
Great post. I obviously have some work to do.
Thanks!
I agree with you if the blog is starting new but if a blog predates the business site, sometimes it’s better to leave the blog where it’s at. An example is my blog, it has been around since 2005, two years longer than my business website, and has built up a substantial amount of subscribers and Google-fu. Moving it to my company domain would end up hurting it in the long term.
I 100% agree with making the design match. In fact I’m getting ready to start redesigning both sites to make them match and flow better.
@Ray: Thanks!
@Eric: That’s a great point, though I think that by using redirects, you could get most of your Google-fu passed along to a new location.
Also, in my mind your blog didn’t really fall into this category, as it didn’t seem to be a “business blog” so much as a “personal blog where I talk about business.” But maybe that’s a perception you want to change.
You’re right, my blog is my professional writing that just happens to be in sync with my business.