Technorati criteria are good guidelines for what to post for your audience; Just don't expect to get indexed there
The web site Technorati collects "interesting original content from across the English-language blogosphere." That basically means blogs. The site goes into some detail about what it does and doesn't look for. How does your company's blog stack up? How does ours?
Technorati wants:
- Original content
- New articles posted at least monthly
Among the things it doesn't want:
- Intensive use of others' content, even with permission or attribution
- Excessive commercial intent (i.e.: the sole purpose is to sell something)
- Repetitive content, where new posts are simply restatements of old posts
No matter what business your company is in, the Technorati criteria are good guidelines for what to post for your audience.* Sure, you can link to other sites as a jumping-off point (just as we are doing here). The key is to at least add something of your own.
Examples
When we manage B2B blogs for our clients, we don't just cut and paste content from elsewhere. We constantly ask them (would they say "nag"?) to actively participate. They can describe their processes and activities. They can give their opinions. If they've upgraded equipment or a process, they can explain why and how it will help them run the business better (example 1).
We urge them to add a personal touch and use the blog to introduce key people (example 2) who aren't often seen outside the office or factory.
The best blog posts of all are the ones that give the audience valuable information. Maybe the company published a whitepaper. The content of a whitepaper is way too much information for a blog, but it's perfectly fine to blog about the fact that the whitepaper is available (example 3), and to hit the highlights. Then you have a chance to connect with the audience at a deeper level by inviting them to download the full text.
We also work with clients to produce webinars, where they can give an online audience the benefit of the company's expertise. That could be:
- How to get the most use out of a product, or
- How to troubleshoot the systems where the product is used
The blog announces the webinar (example 4), and the audience makes the deeper connection when they register.
Upshot
Blogs are hungry, ungrateful beasts. They have to work for you, not just fill space. So take Technorati's tips and strive to make your posts have some real value. But know that us little people probably have a snowball's chance in hell of being indexed there. According to Jill Walker, Rettberg Professor of Digital Culture, "Technorati now states that it only indexes one million blogs. That's a rather small number, when compared to the 110 million they indexed in 2008, or the 180 million indexed by NMincite at the end of 2011. I've not found Technorati a very useful resource in recent years, I'm afraid." In the same thread on Quora, Pat Marcello, SEO and Professional Writer (SEO News Blog) adds, "Technorati has authority blogs listed, which is great if you're looking for authoritative information. If you're just looking to find blogs writing about a certain niche, then I agree with Chris, Google blog search is the way to go."
