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Figure 8-8. When rendering PDFs destined for the Web, keep the file size small by using
Acrobat’s preset compression settings.
Avoid dark backgrounds: Keep in mind that many people download PDFs with the
intention of printing them, and that they print
as is, so an entire column of white
text reversed on a field of black will require people to waste an inordinate amount
of toner for a single sheet of paper. The more whitespace in the design, the better.
This does not mean that every PDF destined for the Web should reinvent your
brand’s look and feel, but designers should be cognizant of how people will employ
the collateral.
Keep text as text: Layout programs have the ability to convert text to outlines,
meaning that the shapes of the letters are transformed into vector data that cannot
be edited. (This avoids missing font issues with commercial printers.) Since the PDF
format embeds fonts into the file, this is not necessary. Keeping the text as text not
only keeps the file size down, it ensures that the words are selectable via Acrobat’s
Select Text tool.
Link the links: Acrobat allows designers to embed URL links right into the PDF,
which can be a great way for readers to return to the main corporate site after
reading the document, visit the featured customer’s website, or launch any website
referenced in the content.
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Provide a link to the reader: You can never expect anyone to have Acrobat
installed, let alone have the most current version. Always provide a link to Adobe’s
Acrobat Reader, which is a free download.
Interactive. Interactive is a loaded term because it means different things to different peo-
ple. For some, it’s a fancy way of saying “Flash,” for others, it’s taken literally and the
reader really does interact with the material. In terms of case studies, it could mean either,
but is better defined as a nontraditional presentation of the success story—instead of long

pages of prose, the content is wrapped in pieces of interactivity that the user can navigate,
flipping between animated sequences, video content, testimonials, text, diagrams, and
more.
Interactive case studies work best when they are rich in content. Simply turning a story
into a self-running animation sequence of moving text and clever clip art is not enough to
warrant the required development resources. However, if the story is accompanied by ani-
mated diagrams, video testimonials, and an internal menu to select between the different
parts, then the piece becomes a much more viable medium because it demonstrates con-
cepts not possible with plain text on a page.
Most of the time, interactive case studies are delivered in the Flash platform. This has sev-
eral pros and cons. Its benefits are easy to see: a huge amount of information can be
housed in a relatively noncommittal download, and people can load and browse the con-
tent almost as fast as regular HTML.
The medium, even though it remains an industry standard, still has its accessibility road-
blocks. Many of these are covered in Chapter 3, but to summarize, the key to better acces-
sibility is providing text alternatives for multimedia content. For videos, provide closed
captions. For narrations, provide a transcript. For Flash files in general, provide HTML
alternatives in case users don’t have the proper plug-in installed. And no matter what, pro-
vide a link to Adobe’s web page that allows users to download Flash Player for their
browser. Case studies are incredibly valuable marketing content, and there’s no reason
their message should be lost because the reader lacks the technology or physical ability to
consume it.
PowerPoint, Word, and other proprietary files. Some companies choose to distribute their
customer stories (and sometimes press releases) in proprietary formats like Word and
PowerPoint. By all means, avoid this practice. There are a dozen or more reasons why, but
the only one that really matters is the fact that these are expensive, platform-dependent
applications that a very large, quantifiable segment of your audience does not have access
to. If it’s too much trouble to convert the content to HTML alternatives, at a minimum
export PDF versions and host those instead.
Story length

Case studies, unlike press releases, do not have a soft word limit, and can be formulated
different ways. The ultimate length depends on the customer being interviewed and how
much they offer to the interviewee, plus the richness of the actual story. Never try to force
1,000 words of detail into a 200-word template, and never dilute the content by trying to
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stretch it across an arbitrary minimum word count. By letting your case studies unfold nat-
urally, you’ll begin to sense how they can be deployed across the website as they fall into
one of three categories:
Long; story style: These case studies are written to be read over several cups of cof-
fee. Their elaborate prose and rich detail are written in a story-like manner, and
illustrate how the client solved all their problems using the vendor’s solutions;
these studies include supporting information, customer quotes, summary bullet
points, and more. Their word count could easily fall anywhere between 500 and
3,000 words.
Medium; news style: These case studies mimic the brevity and fact-oriented
approach of press releases, but have just enough embellishment to avoid that title.
They tell the customer story, but are focused on customer testimonials and quan-
tifiable evidence to support it. Typically, these fall well within 1,000 words.
Short; summary style: This approach is used when there is just not much substance
to the soup, and watering down the information with gratuitous embellishment
clearly makes for a lesser product. These might be the hardest to write well,
because it requires editorial restraint to produce an effective case study only a few
hundred words in length.
All of these mention word counts in the assumption the case study will be actually written.
A different medium (e.g., Flash-based interactive) might use overall presentation time as a
more effective measurement of content.
Testimonials
Testimonials are third-party validation in its purest form: quotes right from the customer.

The quotes can be any length, from a few words to a multi-sentence narrative, and can
arrive in several formats, including plain text, audio files, and video files. The hardest part
of testimonials is the actual acquisition (covered earlier in the chapter); distributing them
around the site is easy.
Formats
Customer quotes can be delivered in several different formats, depending on how the sub-
ject is interviewed. Plain text is by far the most common—it’s simple to gather, simple to
produce, and simple to add to a web page. It’s also by far the easiest to get approved
because the writer and original speaker can collaborate on cleaning up the text to read
more smoothly.
Multimedia-based testimonials—namely audio and video recordings—are far more labor-
intensive. Not only are they a chore to create, seeing as a second party actually has to
operate a recording device, but they do not give the client the opportunity of editing their
words beyond what can be accomplished in the post-production room. This also works
against the business trying to use the testimonial—if the quote is inaccurate, mumbled, or
poorly recorded, it may be lost; there is rarely a chance for a second take.
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However, if done correctly—and if done correctly on a consistent basis—the company
ends up with a library of marquee media that can be promoted heavily across the corpo-
rate site, like in Figure 8-9.
Figure 8-9. When a company invests in multimedia testimonials, they can be promoted heavily across
the corporate site.
Delivery
The most effective place for testimonials is in context to the subject. If a customer raves
about the professionalism and timeliness of a certain service, get that quote right up on
that page to support the rest of the marketing effort. If a case study contains a number of
solid-gold customer passages, pick the best one and make use of it as an excerpt or pull-

quote next to the main text. As flavorful additions to standard content, they cannot be
beat—Figure 8-2 is a perfect example of a short, potent testimonial adding tremendous
value to the primary content.
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It is reasonable to create a page dedicated to testimonials, but not common practice. In
order for a testimonial to be effectively exhibited out of context, it needs to be long and
detailed, and these are sometimes difficult to write without sounding contrived, as if the
interview subject had been “coached.” It would be like trying to judge a cake after only
tasting the frosting. Without the context of the cake itself, even the yummiest parts by
themselves are not a replacement for the whole experience.
When adding testimonials of any format to a page, make sure to attribute them thor-
oughly. At a minimum, you should include the person’s name and their employer. If possi-
ble, also include their title.
Awards, recognition, and reviews
While case studies and testimonials present a personal testament to the company, awards,
recognition, and reviews are a more objective means of recognizing a company’s achieve-
ments. For instance, placing a customer quote about a particular product on the product
page tells prospects that at least one other person on the planet really liked the product,
whether it’s good or not. But if the product wins an award, or receives strong reviews from
trade publications, that tells prospects that the same offering has been recognized for
being a good product after a thorough and objective series of comparison tests conducted
by an independent entity. Both are valuable, but in different ways.
None of this is new to the Web. For years, car commercials have referenced awards that
cars have won (e.g., recognition by
Consumer Reports, the JD Power and Associates Initial
Quality series of awards, or some internal award that the company bestows upon itself
after conducting its own series of consumer tests). It makes sense for those same bits of
validation to be sprinkled all over the car manufacturer’s website. (In fact, some manufac-

turers have a submenu item in their pages called “Awards” that list everything a particular
vehicle has won.) The film industry is no different. A movie’s success is almost wholly
dependent on reviews, and to a lesser extent, awards.
As you might guess, these bits of validation are best used in context of the original subject.
Sometimes it’s for an individual product or service, sometimes it’s for the company as a
whole. For instance, in our example of the Inc. 500 award, many of the higher-ranking
companies chose to show the logo on their homepage, as you can see in Figure 8-10.
These pieces of third-party validation are important to talk about on corporate websites,
and should be referenced as much as possible to build credibility and prestige. The public
at large puts tremendous stock in the opinions of professional reviewers, whether it’s an
award from a nonprofit like
Consumer Reports or a self-serving industry award like CNET’s
“Editor’s Choice.”
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Figure 8-10. Companies winning prestigious accolades can display them right on their homepage.
This website uses the Inc. 500 logo as a way of telling the public about the distinction.
Summary
Third-party validation can add tremendous value to your company’s website. By reinforc-
ing your marketing message with customer success stories, testimonials, press releases,
and editorial distinctions, you help build your corporate brand value. You also instill confi-
dence in prospects, helping them understand that you are not marketing in a vacuum, and
that others in the world are using your products or services with enough success that they
are willing to voluntarily share their positive experiences.
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9 THE CORPORATE BLOG

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For years, many modern businesses have recognized the value of communicating with
their customers about events, news, policy updates, changes in leadership, and other sig-
nificant happenings within their organization. In fact, some of that communication has
been made mandatory by law—any publicly traded company, for instance, is required to
provide quarterly financial information. Over the years, marketing and public relations
departments have seen the tremendous benefits of maintaining an open line of communi-
cation with the public. On a basic level, this transparency builds customer trust, which
builds brand loyalty, which can be gasoline for the word-of-mouth marketing fire.
Traditionally, a company’s stream of communication has flowed in one direction: from
business to individual. Annual reports, financial statements, newsletters, mailing lists, and
letters from the CEO are all positive, proactive steps in informing the public about the
happenings inside the business, but they do not allow for reader feedback. All of these are
controlled environments in which public relations can operate; the best a customer could
do was respond with a letter or phone call to voice their opinion. The only forum where
opinions could be voiced by the public were annual shareholder meetings, or indirectly
through mainstream media.
The World Wide Web has leveled just about every communication-related playing field.
Web-based publishers can report news the second it happens, small media outlets can
compete with large media outlets, independent blogs can compete with all media outlets,
and any reader can instantly argue with anyone simply by posting a comment.
The Internet community at large has become jaded to the barrage of paid opinions from
pontificating columnists, vested political interests in the “unbiased” media, and news with
thinly veiled corporate sponsorship. People seek authenticity. The fragmented Web makes
it increasingly difficult to focus on any more than a few sources of information, and users
are seeking sites with a laser-like focus on the topics they care about.
The need for authenticity and topical focus has been the single greatest catalyst for the
phenomenal growth of blogging. Coupled with the ability to publicly comment on the
content, smart web users have found the perfect medium to satiate their content thirsts as
well as stand on a virtual soapbox and sound off.

Corporations who take advantage of blogging can also meet these simple reader needs. By
offering a topically focused blog written by members of the company, they provide the
audience with an unfiltered view into the thought process of the business while simulta-
neously allowing people to comment on topics they care about. While promoting an open
exchange of thoughts has its potential downfalls, the benefits of a well-operated company
weblog cannot be ignored.
The success of a business blog depends on several key factors:
The content and goals of the site need to be well-planned, focused, and consistent.
The implementation needs to be technically sound with a means for readers to
provide public-facing feedback.
The interaction between writer and reader needs to be encouraged, nurtured, and
moderated.
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This chapter will cover all of these points, but for now, keep in mind that while blogging is
the new cool thing all the kids are doing, trendy technology does not always align with an
organization’s marketing, public relations, and sales goals, and should only be imple-
mented if it provides legitimate value to the business.
Your blogging mileage
Like any communication technology, the massive marketing potential of blogs is crippled
by their susceptibility to abuse by both publisher and reader. While any company could
use the medium to their advantage, it must also be prepared to absorb the risks as well as
reap the rewards. But before going into the hard-lined pros and cons, let’s explore why
someone might start a corporate blog.
Purpose of the business blog
Arbitrarily launching a corporate blog is generally not a good idea. Any platform for inti-
mate conversation between business entities and their interested public has to be carefully
planned.
For businesses, blogs are marketing vehicles. Even if the president of General

Motors decided to write about pruning bonsai trees, his name would still be linked to his
company, and one false or poorly worded comment could dramatically impact the public’s
perceptions of the software giant—whether it was intended or not.
A business blog has to have focus, goals, and purpose; it needs to exist for a set of tangi-
ble, real-world reasons that can be quantified (or at least qualified) to justify its existence.
The worst possible reason to start a business blog is “for the heck of it.” Readership and
participation will be much stronger if the content is consistent and relevant.
Tell the news
One of the most intriguing and reader-snaring aspects of blogs is their near-realtime deliv-
ery of news. Almost anything significant that happens in the world is blogged before being
picked up by the media, and the public actively looks for that exclusive, first-on-the-scene
information. Corporate blogs can easily be built for the same type of content.
Large companies are always in the news. Some of them are constantly being blasted by the
media (like Microsoft, for their never-ending string of lawsuits), while others become
media darlings (like Apple, whose gadgets and secrecy are easy stories for reporters).
Imagine a business blog that works in tandem with the traditional media, making small
announcements, teasing at bigger ones, always one step ahead of the public because it has
the inside track. The audience would be sitting on the edge of its seats, waiting for the
next post. Here are a couple examples of the type of news that might appear.
Product announcements. These are the big announcements that the public waits for. This
type of content is best suited for companies that have a passionate user base—
people who wait for these announcements so that they can scrutinize the product from
every angle, possibly buy the product, and then give the rest of the world a recommenda-
tion on whether to buy the product.
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Keep in mind that the size of the user base has nothing to do with the users’ level of inter-
est

. Few of the billions of people using computers wait breathlessly for the latest driver
updates for their video cards, but almost all users of Six Apart’s Movable Type publishing
platform are tuned in to the latest updates of the product.
1
(And the Six Apart team has
its own series of blogs discussing these very updates.) Similarly, most car owners don’t care
enough about their manufacturer of choice to pay much attention to any blogs on the car
maker’s website, but there exists a small niche of dedicated auto aficionados whose pas-
sion is following the automotive industry. It is this second group to whom a blog from a
car maker should be focused.
Corporate and industry news. When a company becomes entrenched in an industry, peo-
ple look to it as the expert in its field. And not just from a product- or service-offering
standpoint, but as training ground to educate a concentrated group of employees in the
industry to create a focus point for talent.
Consider golf. Millions of people enjoy the sport of golf—and a large percentage of them
are fanatical about it—but the true talent of the industry, the people who obsess over the
grams of a driver and the shape of a tee, often end up working for companies who pro-
duce golf-related equipment. Businesses operating in the golf industry become breeding
grounds for golf experts.
Taking that one step further, it’s a natural leap of logic to transform that technical knowl-
edge and passion for the sport into blogs, as Alpha Golf did with its website, shown in
Figure 9-1. The blog not only discusses the company’s products and general company
news, but the industry as a whole, from tours to individual players.
Figure 9-1. Alpha Golf uses a blog to discuss its products and the industry
as a whole.
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When a company can leverage its industry expertise into an interactive publishing platform

that encourages reader feedback, it creates a winning situation for both parties. Fans of
the organization have a place to gain industry insight from people and organizations they
respect, and the business can connect with its customers on a direct but informal basis.
Insight into the process
An increasingly common practice for technology companies is to support internal blogs
discussing progress, landmarks, dilemmas, and achievements regarding the projects for
which they are responsible. These blogs are generally technically focused and devoid of
fluff. They are written by people immersed in the process for people who care about the
process, and provide an unprecedented, telescopic viewpoint into an organization.
Often, these blogs are written by a team. For instance, Microsoft employees write a num-
ber of internal development blogs. One of the most popular is IEBlog, where members of
the Internet Explorer team regularly post about the latest developments in the browser
and the browsing industry in general.
2
This blog is heavily trafficked by web designers
because it provides frontline insight into the future of the most prevalent browser on the
planet, and thus deeply affects almost everything produced for the Web.
As Internet Explorer 7 began climbing out of the beta stages of development, Chris Wilson,
the team leader, posted two articles on Internet Explorer 7, standards, and forthcoming
CSS compatibility.
3
These posts aggregated nearly 600 comments each. They heralded a
pivotal moment in web design, as thousands of web designers began planning for future
compatibility of their websites. Without the expertise of Microsoft’s team and its willing-
ness to share their information through a blog, industry professionals might never have
been able to prepare as well as they ultimately did.
This type of focused content into the business process is not limited to software manufac-
turers. Service-based companies also openly discuss their process and projects—blogs
exist for architectural design teams, legal teams, advertising teams, consultancies, and
more.

All about the personality
Sometimes the personality of a company leader is all it takes to make a successful corpo-
rate blog. Ideally the person will discuss issues facing the company, the future of the indus-
try, major product insights, and other topics that the public would expect from a
top-ranking figurehead, but it’s certainly not required if they carry tremendous charisma.
(Chances are if Steve Jobs were to start blogging, his site would be in the top five most-
read blogs on the planet, no matter what he wrote about.)
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2. />3. “IE and Standards,” at and
“Standards and CSS in IE,” at
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Many company leaders are already widely known. Blogs inflate their fame and draw atten-
tion to their company. Bob Lutz, vice chairman of General Motors, blogs regularly.
4
Others
are not widely known but become famous after their blogs gain huge, dedicated followings.
Joel Spolsky, author of the Joel on Software blog,
5
brought unprecedented success to his
development company, Fog Creek Software, after his posts started getting read by millions.
His excellent writing, topical relevance, and fearless approach to the industry positioned him
as a prominent thought leader.
Naturally, a blog driven by a single authority in the company is a double-edged sword. It
will get traffic simply based on their name and title, but its content has to be vigilantly
monitored to avoid public relations nightmares. You may have an outspoken, intelligent
CEO who makes great jokes, but whose comments are better left behind closed doors, not
recorded for public consumption.
The bad, the good, and the better

Corporations are constantly policed by their own internal PR and marketing departments,
making sure their image is polished and presentable to the public. Blogs present the
opportunity to strip away the veneer and let some of the raw thought process of the com-
pany show through. While that makes for an ulcer recipe for a PR executive, it also has the
potential to benefit the company by establishing a more human face to the corporate
entity.
The risks of business blogging
Since companies are dependent upon their customer base, they have to delicately craft
the content and direction of the blog. This is especially true for publicly traded companies,
whose fortunes can rise and fall with the ebb and flow of public opinion. While any of the
following issues can be solved or at least nipped in the bud before they grow out of hand,
it’s best to avoid them altogether if possible:
Trade secrets being leaked: Imagine if Coca-Cola’s secret formula were published
on a blog, or detailed schematics of Intel’s computer chips, or the source code for
Windows.
Bad information being disseminated: The last thing you want is the public reading
false rumors about the management team, incorrect earnings reports, rumblings of
acquisitions, and so forth.
Overwhelmingly negative response: While the old cliché “any publicity is good pub-
licity” is true, it is only true to a certain extent. If a company’s blog generates
nothing but negative, heated response from the public, it should be either taken
down or realigned, because after awhile that negativity is going to become a
feeding frenzy of bad media.
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5. www.joelonsoftware.com
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Most of the risks of blogging can be addressed with training. The writers and designers of
the blog need to know exactly what can and cannot be written about, and the audience

needs to know exactly what behavior will be tolerated before being subjected to modera-
tion. Once these wrinkles are ironed out, the organization can reap the benefits a well-
structured weblog.
Tangible benefits
When it comes to business blogs, the benefits are both tangible and intangible. There are
some that can be directly measured in numbers, or at least estimated within reason, and
there are some that are very difficult to quantify, but whose results are plainly evident. The
tangible benefits, some of which are listed following, tend to directly influence the success
of the company.
Deliver news faster: If a company chooses to make announcements via its website,
there will be no faster mechanism than the corporate blog.
Gain reader response: One of the most valuable aspects of operating a blog is the
dialog it creates with customers. These aren’t idyllic case studies or paid spokesper-
sons, but real-world patrons using your company’s offerings every day. Their insight
and responses to different topics should be taken seriously. Unfiltered and unso-
licited feedback is rarely so easy to come by.
Increase traffic: Few areas of a corporate site are as interesting as the blog. People
understand that this is where the action lies, and that it offers the best chance of
finding the juiciest bits on the company. Adding a blog to a site can only increase
readership.
Increase search engine positioning: Blog posts are indexed highly in search engines
for several reasons: they are topical and short, they are comprised of real HTML
text for easier indexing, and they tend to get linked by other sites because their
content is more compelling than the general marketing fluff present on other
pages.
Intangible benefits
Just as important as the measurable advantages of corporate blogging are the peripheral
benefits that are difficult to quantify. While it’s difficult to apply hard numbers to these,
companies with well-organized blogs will realize these in some capacity.
Position the business as an industry thought leader: If a business writes consistently

about its process, products, services, the industry, and even its competition, it will
earn itself the reputation of being a principal thinker in its field. When a prospect
looks to make a decision between companies, and all other things are equal, that
potential patron will choose the vendor who is vocal and passionate about its
trade.
Give the company a personality: It’s too easy to get swept up in the slick marketing
copy prevalent on most business websites, so when readers come across an entire
section written by a real person with a visible personality in the writing style, it can
be a refreshing change of pace. As businesses grow, the tendency (intentional or
not) is to become increasingly faceless and obtuse, so countering that with friendly,
engaging writing can be very appealing to the audience.
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Blogging platforms
Thanks to the consumer appeal and widespread adoption of blogs, there are many soft-
ware and platform solutions for just about any situation. These packages range from free
to several hundreds of dollars, from DIY to fully hosted, from open source to tightly
licensed, from strictly blog-specialized software to complex, all-purpose CMSs.
This section explores the different software packages available, including features, require-
ments, and scope. Since the range of software and solutions is so great, every possible
option cannot be covered, and high-end CMSs (like Vignette) and solutions that are too
complex for the average design team to configure are avoided.
Hosted platforms
For those who lack the ability, time, or resources to implement a customized blog environ-
ment on an internal system, there are a number of plug-and-play websites that allow the
near-instant creation of a complete blog. These are advantageous for companies seeking a
simple, fast solution; they are not intended for companies desiring a fuller, feature-rich, con-
figurable weblog.

Most hosted blogs are burdened with several key shortcomings. Since they are often cre-
ated from predesigned templates, they often have the appearance of being haphazardly
stapled to the main corporate site without consideration for design continuity. Depending
on the system, the alteration of these templates ranges from simple CSS and image alter-
ation to the more intense customization of proprietary templating systems. On top of that,
even if the primary design of the mother site can be approximated, their URLs can be dis-
jointed with the rest of the site because they are not hosted locally, as you can see in
Figure 9-2—although some hosted solutions allow clever redirecting or full DNS capability.
Finally, hosted solutions run a slight risk of data loss simply because content is being
entrusted to a third party. While hosted solutions run their own backup systems, if the
service ever folds, copies of the content might be difficult to obtain. To help prevent this
worst-case scenario, many hosted systems provide manual backup options.
Also consider content restrictions. If the host company interprets any post to be offensive
or running into the naughty section of their Terms of Use, individual entries or entire blogs
can be taken down without explanation or justification, whether you consider the action
warranted or not.
Even after all these appreciable deficiencies, hosted blogs remain a viable option because
their free, elegant systems allow rapid publishing with little resistance, avoiding some of
the headaches that can arise with an internally managed platform. This is valuable to writ-
ers and editors who may not want to hurdle technology barriers in order to post content.
There are a few hosted services available to companies today.
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Figure 9-2. Blogs hosted on third-party systems often have URLs that are different from their main site.
Blogger
Blogger is the blogging tool owned and developed by Google.
6
It is an immensely popular
platform used across the world in dozens of languages by individuals who value express,

push-button publishing. The site boasts well-designed templates, a simple but powerful
user interface, and exceptionally fast publishing times. It is also completely free to use,
including its advanced features.
From a designer’s perspective, Blogger has two advantages. First, you can get under the
hood and edit the presentation layer. Clever web designers can not only mess around with
the HTML and proprietary Blogger tags in the templates, but also tweak the CSS, images,
and more to wrangle a customized design out of the system. This customization is capped
by Blogger’s inherent limitations (like the fact that a single template drives both the land-
ing page and individual post pages, and functionality is limited to available tags), but this is
usually sufficient if all that’s needed is a blog, not a whole site.
The second advantage of Blogger is its ability to point the entire blog to a custom domain.
This is accomplished by entering some general access information for a host (see Figure 9-3)
and pointing the domain’s DNS records to
ghs.google.com. This enables the business to use
its established domain (e.g.,
blog.yourbusiness.com) rather than Google’s internal URL
(
yourbusiness.blogspot.com).
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6. www.blogger.com
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Figure 9-3. Blogger allows companies to point the blog toward a custom domain using Google’s
nameservers.
WordPress.com
WordPress is a popular piece of blog software. It comes in two flavors. wordpress.org is
the home of the WordPress publishing platform itself, where you can download installa-
tion files, search the forums for help, and learn about different plug-ins that extend the
system’s functionality. It is a CMS that is heavily biased toward blogs, and is covered in

some detail in the next section.
WordPress.com, by contrast, is the
hosted version of the software. It operates along the
lines of Blogger—users create an online account, name their blog, and start publishing
almost immediately with a very intuitive interface and dozens of design templates to
choose from, which can be changed instantly. It contains almost all of the tools of the tra-
ditional WordPress software, but without the need for a local installation.
While WordPress.com offers writers tremendous flexibility in publishing options, the sys-
tem itself can be harder to customize than Blogger. The template is fragmented into cate-
gories like
CSS, Sidebar Widgets, Custom Image Header, and more, rather than being
condensed into a flat template. As you can see in Figure 9-4, customization is limited to
what the WordPress system will allow.
Finally, WordPress.com also offers free domain pointing, a la Blogger, but it arrives with a
fee of $10 per year. WordPress.com also charges for other upgrades, such as expanded
storage and full editing capability of the CSS.
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Figure 9-4. WordPress.com allows users to edit pieces of the template, but does not allow full access
to all the HTML driving the page.
TypePad
Six Apart, the company behind TypePad, is a pioneer of blogging software, having devel-
oped the venerable CMS Movable Type, which brought simplified commenting, track-
backs, archives, and more to the mainstream. While Six Apart still produces other
advanced blogging platforms, TypePad is marketed as the hosted option for professional
bloggers, as it allows for deep customization and advanced features not present in the
other options.
TypePad’s subscription-based model sets it apart from Blogger and WordPress.com.
TypePad is not free to use. In fact, there are four levels to choose from—Basic, Plus, Pro,

and Business Class, with prices ranging from a few dollars a month to well over a hundred
dollars a month. Six Apart touts the latter as the “only enterprise-grade hosted blogging
service,” and they’re probably right. The Pro and Business Class levels approach the func-
tionality of custom-installed blogging software—domain mapping, multiple author levels,
full template control, and more—but without the maintenance headaches. In addition, the
paid service allows you to get under the hood and tinker with both the functionality and
presentation.
TypePad is the clear choice for companies who take their blogging seriously, and who want
the raft of advanced features without the need for software installed on their own servers.
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Locally installed platforms
Every hosted blog solution has its inherent limitations. Those systems are targeted toward
the consumer not needing or wanting granular control over the design and structure. For
any deep level of customization, a company should install, develop, and manage a local CMS.
There are many to choose from, but most share some common requirements and capabil-
ities. All of them allow full control over the presentation (including template editing and
creation), the ability to develop an entire site (not just a blog), plug-ins, rich support con-
tent, and more. All of this culminates in seamless site integration. Users should never know
that they are tapping into a variety of back-end systems when visiting different areas of a
site—the design should be consistent from the About section to the blog to the support
forum. This visual alignment can rarely be achieved through strict hosted environments.
There are many, many CMSs to choose from. They come in all shapes and flavors, all levels
of complexity, a range of licenses, and nearly endless bugs and shortcomings. There is no
perfect system. However, for our purposes, some accommodate blogging with fewer
headaches.
Movable Type
This system, created by Six Apart, pushed blogging functionality into the mainstream.

Almost from day one, the software let designers use comments, trackbacks, RSS, archive
pages, and static pages for a richer user experience. Movable Type (or MT, as it’s known by
its users) is rock solid in terms of security, deep in terms of functionality, and extensible in
terms of the host of plug-ins, hacks, and more that the wide user base has created.
The system is available in a variety of licenses, from free personal licenses to multiuser
licenses to an enterprise edition that affords businesses cutting-edge functionality such as
user-specific permissions and support for Oracle databases. It is built for businesses and
professional installations.
Companies seeking technical support will find solace with Six Apart’s support center. With
Movable Type’s rich language and highly scalable capabilities, this dedicated support is
very appealing to companies wanting a professional-grade solution.
One great resource to keep bookmarked is Open Source CMS (www.opensourcecms.com),
which allows the public to try out free, open source CMSs. Since all software is automat-
ically reinstalled every 2 hours, visitors can experiment freely. The open source solutions
described following—Textpattern, WordPress, and Drupal—are all available to test drive
on the site.
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Textpattern
Textpattern is a free, open source, PHP-powered CMS.
7
Despite the proliferation of similar
products, the power of Textpattern lies in its elegant separation of content and structure,
the simplicity of its templating system, the wide developer and user network, and the
library of plug-ins that extend the core system.
One of the great draws to Textpattern is its well-designed administrative interface (shown
in Figure 9-5). The system allows for several types of roles and permission levels, so a
group of users may have one master publisher, several writers without publishing capabil-
ity, system admins, and designers. The architecture is virtually transparent—templates are

100 percent customized by the designer without any built-in code, so the CMS can blend
in with any site.
While Textpattern is a fully capable CMS, it excels at blogs. It has a configurable authoring
environment and full commenting, and supports all of the technology designers expect in
a blog, such as RSS syndication and archive pages.
Figure 9-5. Textpattern offers writers a well-designed and functional authoring environment for
blogging.
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7. www.textpattern.com
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WordPress
WordPress was launched in 2003 as a user-friendly and standards-compliant PHP/MySQL
solution for building websites.
8
Unlike other CMSs, WordPress maintains a laser-like focus
on being the best blogging solution available, instead of trying to be the best general CMS
available.
This dedication has earned it deep loyalty among its users, who have installed the software
on hundreds of thousands of sites. WordPress also boasts a thriving community of con-
tributors who lurk the forum, construct plug-ins, and add to the source code. While there
is no formal support in place, almost any development question can be answered by
searching through the vast knowledgebase that this cooperative has built.
For businesses looking to get up and running quickly with a locally installed blogging solu-
tion, WordPress is the ideal candidate. For those looking for a richer, more extensible CMS
with far greater functionality, consider one of the two following options.
Drupal
Drupal is another open source CMS built on a PHP and MySQL foundation.
9

It is a CMS by
definition; blogging is only one application of a vast pool of functionality that includes
peer-to-peer networking, forums, file and photo management, and much more. Because
of the system’s breadth and depth, it requires a fair amount of technical know-how to get
things done—server-side scripting and database management skills will serve a designer
well when working in Drupal.
Although the system is ready to go out of the box, its core is extended through modules,
which are scripts that add chunks of functionality to the primary system (much like plug-
ins for other systems). For instance, the Chat Room module allows registered users of the
site to chat with one another in a JavaScript-powered window.
Like most open source software, support is very much a find-it-yourself affair. As with
Textpattern and WordPress, the forums are flooded with users asking questions. For pro-
fessional support, the Drupal organization recommends hiring professional Drupal
programmers—there is even a listing of qualified service-based companies on the Drupal site.
ExpressionEngine
ExpressionEngine is a full-fledged CMS built by EllisLab that happens to do blogs very well,
but also supports forums, wikis, member management, e-commerce, and more.
10
The dif-
ference between ExpressionEngine and most systems is its license, which comes in three
flavors: free, personal, and commercial.
ExpressionEngine has a very well-organized support structure. Users of the free version
have access to the knowledgebase, documentation, wikis, forums, developer area, and
more, but users of the paid versions have access to unlimited technical support. Again, for
personal bloggers and DIYers, this may seem gratuitous; for businesses accustomed to
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8. www.wordpress.org
9. www.drupal.org
10. www.expressionengine.com

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paying for support services, this is a great deal. For a comparison of technical support,
consult Table 9-1.
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Table 9-1. Blogging software comes in a variety of flavors
Server- Support Internationaization/
System License Side Database Language Localization
Movable Free to Perl 5.6 MySQL, Online knowledgebase, Yes
Type $279.95-plus and above SQLite, community forum,
PostgreSQL, technical support with
BerkeleyDB paid versions
Textpattern Free (BSD) PHP 4.4.1 MySQL 4.1.7 Online knowledgebase, Yes
and above and above community forum
WordPress Free (GPL) PHP 4.2 MySQL 4.0 Online knowledgebase, Yes
and above and above community forum
Drupal Free (GPL) PHP 4.3.3 MySQL 4.1 Online knowledgebase, Yes
and above and above community forum
Expression- Free to PHP 4.1 MySQL 3.23.32 Online knowledgebase, Yes
Engine $249.95 and above and above community forum,
technical support with
paid versions
Custom applications
It is entirely possible that a business will scorn premanufactured software and choose to
build an application with its internal development team. This choice may descend from
technical limitations (for instance, its databases are in Sybase or its servers run IBM’s
Domino platform, neither of which are supported by mainstream blog software) or from
policy (some companies restrict the use of open source software). In either case, building
a blog application is not difficult, but it needs to support certain technologies that readers

of blogs expect:
Chronological posting, permanent links, and archiving: Best practices in blogging dic-
tate that the most recent content appears first, and that past posts are smartly organ-
ized in a public archive where people can browse older content. Weblog entries are
constantly linked to by other sites, and it’s important to maintain the integrity of
those links by giving each entry a permanent link (sometimes called a permalink),
such as
www.bigbizcorp.com/blog/2003/11/07/title-of-post.
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Commenting: While some blogs eschew soliciting comments because of comment
spam (covered later in the chapter), it remains an overwhelmingly standard feature
on blogs. Posting content is only the first half of blogging. Comments facilitate a
dialog between writer and audience, and encourage people to return for the con-
versation, not just new content from the host.
RSS, Atom, and general content syndication: While the use of RSS is not
mainstream—even among avid, educated blog readers—there are too many people
and applications that employ the technology to ignore it. The technology is used by
Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and other major personalities on the Web, and is steadily
gaining in popularity as people become educated about RSS’s capabilities.
Trackbacks: While not as critical as other technologies, trackbacks are still a build-
ing block of the modern blog community. They allow other blog writers to refer-
ence your business’s post by using your post’s original trackback; this acts as a small
“ping” to let you know that someone else is talking about your article. There is a
small, ongoing debate on whether trackbacks provide value or whether they’re just
a gimmick of the blogging trend.
11
There is no reason not to build a custom blogging application, but if all things are equal
and your company can support the technology requirements of out-of-the-box software
(see Table 9-1), then use a prebuilt solution. The core functionality, community of sup-
porters, plug-ins, and more are already there. Even high-grade car manufacturers out-

source their tire manufacturing because they understand companies that specialize in tires
can do a far better and less expensive job outfitting their vehicles.
Implementation and architecture
Whether using a custom application or a prebuilt solution, consider the architecture,
design, and functionality of the corporate blog from the very beginning. Analyze and plan
how this section will fit into the overall business site. Chances are there’s nothing else on
your website to compare it to, so it’s a good idea to rely on best practices established by
the web blogosphere. Since there are millions of blogs out there, thousands of them run
by companies, there are plenty of examples from which to pull inspiration.
There are many aspects of the blog architecture that need to be considered, such as
adding the section to the site navigation, URL structure and link consistency, the overall
look and feel, and the added functionality a blog requires, like RSS.
Adding the blog to the site menu
A blog is only as important as the company deems it, and that level of importance is
directly reflected in where the blog sits in the site navigation. There are many places to put
it: directly in the main menu, as in Figure 9-6, tucked in a submenu (e.g., within the About
section), or not linked at all (e.g., if the website is very large and the developer does not
wish to clutter an already complicated navigation).
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11. See www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/003307.html.
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Figure 9-6. If blogs are important to the company, they might become a top-level choice in the main
menu.
Even if the blog has an official name, it’s probably better to keep the menu text Blog
unless the name actually incorporates the word blog. (As an example, Bob Lutz, the vice
chairman of General Motors, writes in the “Fastlane Blog.”) Clever names do not bode well
for users unfamiliar with the company’s products or brand. Design Within Reach, a retailer
that sells contemporary furniture, runs a corporate blog called Design Notes.
12

Unfortunately, the name is so easily confused with the company’s products, or possibly a
service, that it opens the door to uncertainty when sitting in the main menu.
If a user has to click the name of your blog just to find out whether it is a blog or not, you
need to reevaluate the menu. People look for the word
blog. Anything else is just an invi-
tation for confusion.
The URL structure
Depending on how your blog is set up and whether you’re using a hosted solution, your blog
may reside at several different URLs. None holds any particular advantage over the other
except how easy it is for your visitors to remember. Some options include the following:
A subdomain (e.g., blog.yourbiz.com): This is common when DNS information is
pointing to a hosted solution. If you run your blog through Google’s Blogger service,
for example, you could easily point the preceding sample domain to Google’s name
servers and it would look like the content is being operated out of your own site.
A subdirectory (e.g., www.yourbiz.com/blog/): This is more semantic, in the sense that
the URL structure reinforces the idea that the blog is an integrated subsection of the
greater site. Having a subdirectory like this would require locally installed software.
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12. www.dwr.com
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A different domain entirely (e.g., www.yourbizblog.com): This presents an opportu-
nity to brand and market a blog in a completely different direction than the main
corporate site. It does present a discontinuous architecture, however, and unless
executed well, may come off as gimmicky or amateur.
Since the organization of content is largely chronological, the structure may differ from
the rest of the static pages—instead of
www.yourbiz.com/about/contact/, the directory
structure might reflect the actual date of the post, like

www.yourbiz.com/blog/
2007/05/22/this-entry-rocks
.
Every blog post must have a permanent URL. This is the unique location of the post, estab-
lished when the content is first published to accommodate incoming links for the duration
of the blog’s existence. This permanency prevents link rot. The last thing any business
wants is a first-time visitor landing on a 404 page because the blog entry is no longer
online or has moved to a new location because of flaky URL policy.
Thankfully, all the CMSs covered earlier in the chapter automatically generate an entry’s
permanent link. Sometimes this is a physical HTML file sitting in a physical set of directo-
ries (in the case of Movable Type, the system actually generates a file for each entry), and
sometimes it’s a clever bit of programming (in the case of Textpattern, the
.htaccess file
is used to dynamically generate any URL combination on the fly).
Archive pages
In addition to a consistent and manageable URL structure with permanent links, every blog
needs an archive to house older content. This is not optional. Because blogs produce so
much content, it is imperative that they be searchable from the first day of publication.
This not only helps search engines keep tabs on the body of writing, but helps visitors who
enjoyed a recent article to find others like it within the blog’s back catalog of content.
There are many, many ways to design an archive section. The more content that needs to
be organized, the more cumbersome the process of archiving becomes, and so it’s imper-
ative to keep usability and accessibility at the forefront of all design work.
Content can be organized by whatever aspect of metadata will resonate most deeply with
users. Consider the following options:
Chronological ordering: All posts are listed by date, either backward or forward.
Ordering by keywords or tags: Posts can be searched and ordered by specific words
that describe the content. This can also be represented by a weighted tag cloud.
13
Categorical ordering: Generally, blog entries are filed into particular categories, like

“New Widget Releases,” “General Company News,” “Personal Announcements,”
and so on.
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13. For more information about tag clouds and how to create your own for free, consult
www.tagcloud.com.
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Alphabetical ordering by title: This isn’t particularly efficient unless the first word of
the title is indicative of the rest of the content.
Ordering by important data field: If a travel agency posts every blog entry from a
different location in the world, its blog entries should be searchable by location.
If possible, keep all posts visible on one page. Splitting an archive across more than one
web page defeats the purpose of a person being able to browse all content from one loca-
tion. However, a blog with a lot of entries might require more than one way of organizing
the archives, as shown in Figure 9-7. Chronological ordering might be the default method,
but offering a tag cloud or categorical arrangement can also be very beneficial to readers
looking for specific classes of content. Having fancy ways to browse stuff can also make
you look cooler.
Figure 9-7. It is entirely reasonable to provide users with multiple ways of searching the content.
Look and feel
Designers often refer to a site’s interface as the “look and feel.” Mountains of thought,
planning, and production work go into developing a site design that brands the corpora-
tion in a way that reflects its values, services, and attitude. This is what makes the web
space so valuable. Companies can present themselves exactly how they wish, and many
spend a lot of money doing just that.
A corporate blog should look like it is an integral part of the parent company, not a red-
headed stepchild created by some maverick designer. Although new pieces of the design
puzzle are required for the content and functionality introduced by a blog (e.g., building the
display of comments and the commenting form), this only reinforces the need to maintain
design continuity between the sections. In other words, just because a blog requires a few

new nuggets of design, it does not need to be a whole new design. See Figure 9-8 for an
example of consistency between the blog and the rest of the corporate site.
Developers, designers, marketing mavens, and everyone else involved in the site design
needs to avoid the temptation to use prebuilt templates for the blog. There are literally
thousands of templates created for the major platforms (especially WordPress, which
allows bloggers to switch between templates in a matter of seconds), and many of them
admittedly look halfway decent. However, no third-party template will ever be as good as
a custom design measured and tailored to blend with the rest of the corporate site.
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