Fact Sheet 5 - Blogs
There are many options available for blogging, this guideline is not focusing on a particular tool, please research and determine the best option for your department.
To get started selecting a blogging tool, please review the 'Read, Learn, Do' section.
What are blog posts?
To get slightly more technical, the 'stuff' that the Google explanation above refers to is better described as posts. Think of posts as entries you might make in a traditional diary or articles that you would find in a magazine.
On a blog the posts are displayed in reverse chronological order so that the very latest post will appear at the top and the earlier posts will appear underneath it.
What makes up a post?
There are some common characteristics that make up a blog post:
- a post will have a title or a headline, similar in format to newspaper articles or the subject field of an email
- the main body of the post, the core 'blog' content, appears under the title – your content depends upon your particular blog and is limited only by your imagination, e.g. you may upload a photograph to your post. The title would relate to the photo and the content would be the actual photo and any other content you might want to include
- the post will more often than not have a date and time stamp so that readers will know when you put the post online
- usually posts will have comments, this is where readers can respond to the post – it should be noted that not all blogs have comments despite the value that they can add
- you may also find categories and tags which are ways of describing the post through keywords and themes.
What's the difference between a web log and blog?
Nothing at all, the term blog comes from web-log, they are the same thing except very few people still use the term web-log.
Getting started
- Develop a plan as part of your communication strategy before starting setting up a blog.
- Plan what your message is and how much information should be shared. Blogs are no different to a media release or advertisement and should be treated with the same
- Decide if you are going to respond to comments, once you answer one you will be expected to continue. Blog users expect the same level of service that would be received via phone or email if you decide to set the precedent to respond to comments.
- Prepare to engage through your blog, you are sharing with real people who don't like to be talked at or 'spammed'.
- Write guidelines on what content should be promoted and how the account should be monitored. Ensure to include regular monitoring of updates as part of your guideline.
- Blogs are a great resource to boost your search engine optimisation (SEO) and improve results in searches.
- Single point of truth is your department’s website; blogs are a secondary medium to find the information.
- Link information back to your website.
- Requires daily monitoring and updates.
- Creating a personal blog will help in your understanding of the level of commitment required to start, maintain and respond.
Government and blogs
The State Library of Queensland has a blog in place.
Best job in the world blog run by Tourism Queensland.
Participation
Setting up a blog may not be suitable for your agency or campaign, but think about actively participating in existing blogs as a means of:
- interacting with a community of interest
- setting right any rumours or incorrect information
- being a face for your agency or research project.
For example, staff from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation may benefit from following and participating in blogs about horses given the Equine Influenza and Hendra Virus outbreaks over the past few years.
Set up a personal blog
Create a personal Blog on Wordpress or Blogger and start discussing a personal topic of interest. Follow other blogs of interest, read and interact with these blogs. View comments and interactions from readers and understand what is expected by the blogging community.
Checklist
In addition to the Implementation Checklist at Appendix A - Implementation checklist (DOC, 53 KB), the following is also recommended:
Review and updates (daily)
- review comments, respond if required
- plan next blog post
- scan searches for mention of blog or related information.
