Examples of Great Company Blogs

All week we've talked about the elements that make a great company blog.  Now let's conclude the What Makes a Great Company Blog series by looking at some of the best company blogs.

The first element of a great company blog we talked about on Monday was content.  Kodak's 1000 Words blog is an excellent example of a company blog that just nails the content.  Instead of focusing on Kodak's cameras, 1000 Words instead focuses on photography.  This is the difference between using your blog to promote yourself, and to create content that your readers can find value in. 

The second element of a great company blog is posting schedule.  The Fiskateers Blog is one that has an excellent posting schedule.  New blogs appear almost daily, and most days have multiple new posts.  As you'll note, many posts also receive dozens of comments.  A consistent stream of new content via new posts is a great way to build your blog's readership and community.

The third element of a great company blog is comments.  I love how OpenHouse's bloggers handle comments.  The bloggers make a point to respond to almost every comment individually, and to refer to the commenter by their first name.  Also notice that the commenters also refer to the writer's by their first name.  This might seem trivial, but that small personal touch is definitely resonating with Openhouse's blog readers.

The final element of a great company blog is the sidebar.  A company blog that has an excellent sidebar is, believe it or not, Wal-Mart's Checkout blog.  The Checkout blog includes one key element on its sidebar that most blogs total overlook:  pics of all its writers, and links to their bio.  This is HUGELY important, but again most blogs, even most great ones, totally forget to add pics and bios for its writers.  The blog also has Flickr pics, a section explaining what the blog is about (another key sidebar component that's often overlooked), categories, and a search box right at the top.  It also includes a robust blogroll featuring many NON Wal-Mart blogs/sites! 

Other examples of great company blogs includes Dell's Direct2Dell, LinkedIn's blog, Patagonia's The Cleanest Line, and Innocent Drink's Daily Thoughts.