Do As I Say

We’ve all heard someone – and if you’re a parent, probably yourself – use the phrase “Do as I say, not as I do.” In my case, this has never been truer than when it comes to my blog.

A few months ago, someone I follow Tweeted a link to a blog post about the importance of sustaining your blog, even when you feel bogged down with other forms of media. Much to my chagrin, I’ve lost track of the link (which is a whole other blog post on my “to write” list.)

So. I can’t re-read those words of wisdom, but even worse, I don’t know who to credit for the nagging voice in the back of my head ever since. But I’ve given it quite a bit of thought, and some of you might benefit from the reminders I’ve been giving myself.

• Don’t neglect your blog or your web site because you’re too busy on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the others. Your web site and your blog should be the foundation of your entire social media strategy. Think of it as home – the place you maintain, continually improve, and bring all of the new friends you make elsewhere.

• Sometimes you need more than 140 characters. Twitter is a great place to swap anecdotes and engage in conversation with interesting people, but your blog is the one place where you have a chance to dig deep and say what you think. Use your blog to really show your smarts; use everything else to get people to your blog.

• Google, Google, Google. Two of the easiest ways to increase your Google ranking is to make sure your site always has fresh content, and to make sure your site has incoming and outgoing links. Both of these are accomplished easily by blogging.

• Blogs have a long shelf life. While your Tweet or Facebook post is buried within seconds – or less – those who watch their web traffic will see people reading old blog posts for months or more.