Podnar Consulting, LLC

Should your content have bylines?

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By now, most businesses know that, if you don’t blog, you don’t exist (in the minds of consumers, that is):

  • Businesses with a blog have over 400% more indexed pages than those without.
  • Businesses that blog get 97% more inbound links than those that don’t.
  • B2B businesses that blog get 67% more leads than those that don’t.
  • Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than those that don’t.

But, if you’re bothering to read this, I’m probably preachin’ to the choir. ([tweet]For those of you who don’t speak Southern, that means, “You’re telling me something I already know, so stop talking like I’m a few sugars shy of a sweet tea.”[/tweet]) The question of whether to blog or not to blog has been asked and answered. But there’s one question left: Should your blog posts be bylined?

There are some situations — press releases, for example — when content shouldn’t be bylined. When the content is a statement from the company as a whole — like when the White House issues a statement speaking as the face and voice of the United States — a byline is counterproductive. But blogging is more about thought leadership and branding, and there are strong arguments for attributing each post to a particular person — whether or not it’s the person who actually wrote it (as in the case of ghostwriting).

Credibility and trust

A full [tweet]70% of consumers say that their purchasing decisions are influenced by blogs.[/tweet] And blogs affect those decisions more than other forms of social media, like Twitter and Instagram. True, some of those blog posts are written by other consumers rather than anyone associated with the company in question. But there’s no denying the influence of business blogging. And here’s the thing: People trust people, not faceless entities. In addition, [tweet]people trust blogs written by multiple writers more than those written by a single writer[/tweet]: 63% to 37%. It’s not a big leap to conclude that no attribution has some of the same drawbacks as single authorship. So if you’re using multiple writers (for the blog as a whole, not individual posts), highlighting that fact with bylines could boost your blog’s credibility.

Expertise

This is what I call borrowed glory. It’s like in high school, when hanging out with the cool kids made you look cool, too. The writer’s credentials spill over onto the content itself. Depending on the topic, this argument is strongest when the byline goes to an expert or leader within the company. But it can also be valuable when you outsource: Having Seth Godin’s byline on your agency’s marketing blog would imply that he thinks your agency is pretty hot stuff. And he should know, right?

Social sharing

Some of the agencies I’ve written for put a big emphasis on sharing your published content with your social network. But that’s not as simple as it sounds. My social network would think it was weird if I shared an article on maritime safety — unless the article had my byline. Actually, other writers would know exactly what was going on, but everybody else would think it was weird. [tweet]When you give your writers a byline, most will share their work without being asked. So their social networks become an extension of your own.[/tweet]

Capital value

This comes into play when you outsource your content. For writers, bylines have a capital value. They boost the writer’s SERP, authority, and influence. They drive traffic to the writer’s website. They can be included in a portfolio and used in future marketing efforts. That’s why I offer a discount when I get a byline. So if you would get no tangible benefit from attributing the content to someone else (or nobody at all), consider offering the writer a byline in exchange for a lower fee.

Quality

People pay more attention when they have some skin in the game. Whether you’re talking about a writer building a portfolio or a VP hoping to get that next promotion, most people unconsciously apply more effort when their name is attached. Bylines deliver built-in quality control.

 

Whether you credit the actual writer or someone else (provided that’s part of the agreement,of course) depends on a number of factors, including your goals for the content. But, in most situations, there’s little to be gained and much to be lost from publishing blog content without a byline. You’re trying to build a connection, and connections happen between people, not entities. If you leave your content unattributed by default, it’s time to ask yourself if that’s really the best use of time and effort — for both you and your audience.

 

Additional resource

The State of Freelance Writing (2014): Data on Pay, Bylines, and Quality Control

What Your Content Writer is Really Thinking But (Probably) Won’t Say

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I’m a southern girl through and through, so putting a premium on good manners is just part of my DNA. If my kids forget to include “ma’am” or “sir” when addressing an adult, they’ll immediately cut their eyes in my direction, knowing I’ll be shooting them “the look.” And don’t even think about forgetting “please” or “thank you.”

But when it comes to business, being overly worried about accidentally offending someone can hold people back from saying what needs to be said. Especially when the person you’re worried about offending has control over your income stream.

What’s that got to do with content marketing? Well, there might be a lot of things going through your writer’s head that they’re reluctant to say — and that goes double if you’re outsourcing, because you don’t get the comfort level that comes from day-to-day interactions. So let me give you an insider’s view of what your content writer really thinks:

How well do you know your…stuff?

We all know that plenty of people assume anybody can write. And surely anybody can pick up the phone and let a writer know what the marketing department wants…right? Maybe. But the corollary is that the person who’s the contact between the marketing department and the writer could be a pro with 30 years of writing experience — or he could be an intern. The contact could know the industry inside out…or he could be an administrative assistant who just came over from the not-for-profit side. Your writer doesn’t want to talk down to you or tell you things you already know — here in the South, we call that “preachin’ to the choir” — so they’re probably going to keep quiet and give you the benefit of the doubt. But that can cause problems.

I’ve mentioned before that I had a client ask for a post on how to prepare for an OSHA inspection, not realizing that OSHA inspections are unscheduled. I’ve never shied away from taking on the “devil’s advocate” role, so I didn’t hesitate to point that out. But a lot of writers would deliver what was ordered — a well-written post on something that doesn’t make sense. To do anything else is to suggest that the client’s contact doesn’t know what they’re talking about — a move that’s almost always risky.

However, it’s equally important to remember that most writers couldn’t care less whether you’re an expert or an amateur. They just want to know so they can do their jobs.

I’m not an idiot, but I’m not a mind reader, either. Just tell me what you’re trying to accomplish.

People who aren’t writers themselves often think it’s unnecessary to tell a writer the purpose of a piece of content. But they’re wrong. If you ask me to write an article about the different types of sunscreen and the active ingredients in each — I can do that. It’s easy. And that’s fine if your goal is to educate people about different sunscreens. But if you’re switching to a vendor that uses different ingredients and are worried your long-time customers will balk — that’s an entirely different article. Sure, the facts are the same, but the way I present those facts would be drastically different. Not telling your writer what you’re trying to accomplish with a particular piece of content is like telling dog owners not to chew gum without telling them that one of the ingredients in sugarless gum can be lethal to dogs. Purpose matters!

Did you really think this through?

This one’s about the law of unintended consequences. The chorus of voices insisting that you have to choose blog topics based on keyword research is hard to ignore. But it’s important to remember that, in most business cases, the goal isn’t just to draw people to your content — it’s to accomplish a business objective. If a piece of content has tons of page views and shares, but drives undesired behavior, it’s bad content, no matter what the metrics say. I recently had a client request a blog post about the best time to get a certain service performed. My first thought was, “Well, if you’re trying to shift traffic from a busy time to a slow time, I need to know what those times are.” But they weren’t. They just wanted an informational article. Well, I’m not arrogant enough to think that my blog post could transform the traffic patterns for a whole chain all by its little ol’ self…but what if it did? Inventory might be off. Staffing would definitely be off. And there are probably other possible consequences I haven’t thought of yet. Or, let’s say you own a restaurant, and you publish a blog post extolling the virtues of grass-fed beef. Well, do all of your beef dishes use grass-fed beef? And, if they don’t, how will your servers respond when a customer says, “The meat in this spaghetti sauce is grass-fed, right?” And would focusing on grass-fed beef violate any vendor agreements with suppliers whose cattle aren’t grass-fed? If you’ve got a good writer, I guarantee you they’re wondering.

Is anybody backstopping me?

Most writers harbor a secret fear that you’re just putting stuff out there without a thorough review. It’s not that we expect you to catch our typos (although we appreciate it when you do!); it’s that we aren’t you. There are so many reasons that the content I submit might not be what you had in mind — some my fault, some not — that I would never want you to press “publish” without reading it with a very critical eye.

Is this based on data…or supposition?

A lot of content is designed to solve a particular problem. But knowing what the problem is and what’s causing it are very different from thinking you know. So if you ask me to write a blog post touting the value of your product, and your reason is that people aren’t buying it because the price is too high, I’m going to be wondering, “Do you know that’s why people aren’t buying your product? There are so many other things it could be. Maybe there’s just no demand for it — it sound cools, but nobody needs it. Maybe your website is too slow or too hard to navigate. Maybe your returns procedures are too cumbersome. Or maybe your customer service just stinks.” Most writers really, really want to produce content that matters — which is why they hope you really know what matters.

The bottom line is that, if you’ve got a good writer, you’re probably not even close to tapping their full talents. Make sure you’re not wasting a valuable resource.

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