Six reasons for having blog guidelines

Imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint, scale Everest without a Sherpa, or create boeuf bourguignon without a cookbook. Yes, it’s true that certain people can do these things unassisted, either by rote or by instinct. And some could probably do all three… at once. (I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Julia Child was a secret carpenter and mountaineer.)

Most of us, though, need guidelines to help us build, climb, or cook. It’s the same with blogging. Technically, you can create, write, and edit a blog without guidelines, but it’s probably not prudent.

Having guidelines is especially helpful if you’re creating a B2B blog like this one. We’re learning this here at Harding Marketing, as we go through the process of creating the very blog that you’re reading right now. We’ve written some guidelines, but we’ll need to expand them as we learn new things along the way.

Here are some of the things we’ve discovered. Guidelines for blogging can help you:

Decide who will be writing the content. Blogs are written by a variety of different people within an organization. Some companies only allow C-level executives to write blog posts, and others encourage everyone to pitch in. Still others only use professional writers. Deciding early on who will or will not contribute can save a lot of time and energy up front.
Think about the content of your content. In real estate, the three things that matter most are “location, location, location.” In marketing, the adage is “audience, audience, audience.” Dance legend Twyla Tharp once said, “It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience.” She was definitely onto something; this is a good maxim to follow no matter what business or industry you’re in.

Ultimately you’re creating blog articles that you hope will benefit your audience. So think about the language you use when speaking to and about that audience. Then, add those considerations to your guidelines.
Set appropriate reader expectations. Whether you’re writing niche-specific content or a broad-spectrum blog about your overall business, setting reader expectations is important. Transparency is essential, especially if you’re writing for a well-known company. In its externally available blogging code of conduct, HP notes that “blogs are written by a variety of employees at different levels and positions in the company, so you can expect many viewpoints.” It then goes on to tell readers what else to expect.
Get in front of your content; don’t react to it after the fact. It’s better to act than to react, at least in the case of blog content. Reacting can not only waste enormous amounts of time, but potentially damage your company too.

It should be clear, for instance, which subjects are absolutely off limits. It’s much easier to address this before it happens than to delete an already published post. The Internet is an accomplished trailblazer, leaving virtual breadcrumbs of content everywhere it goes.
Establish a system for monitoring/approving comments. Having such a system in place helps you avoid spinning your wheels as you try to determine who’s responsible for these tasks. In our world of instantaneous communications, this is especially important: delaying approval of or a response to a comment could result in a disenchanted reader at best, and a lost sale at worst. Well, obviously there are even worse things, but you get the picture.
Determine how to respond to comments. Speed is not the only factor when it comes to comments. What you’re actually going to say is pretty important as well. Here are just a few questions to consider:
- What type of response will you provide?
- From whom in your company will it come: can anyone respond to comments, or only a select few?
- What is the level of detail your response to comments should have? What about the tone of that discourse?
- Will you wait to respond until you have several comments on the same subject, or will you always strive to address each one individually?

The above six items are just a few things to think about as you draft your guidelines. Some organizations may want to include legal policies or detailed writing tips in their guidelines as well; others may be fine with short, yet handy bulleted lists of dos and don’ts.

What about your own corporate blog guidelines? Is there anything that works for you that you’d like to share?

By Jolene Dobbin, Writer