What is a blog?
The word 'blog' is a contraction of web log. Blogs started out as online journals, but are now regarded as a particular form of website in their own right.
Blogs are characterised by their:
- informal nature:
they are normally written by one person only, which in a school environment would normally be the head; - ease of use:
they are exceptionally easy to update; - categorisation:
blog posts are automatically grouped into months; - ease of distribution:
blog followers can easily and instantly be alerted to new posts
School Blogs
Why should schools consider blogging?
- Personalisation - if a Head post his or her own thoughts, the blog audience will come to regard the writer almost as a 'friend', which in turn will build much higher levels of trust.
- Differentiation – a blog will give you the opportunity to show how your school differs from others. Done well, it will set you apart in terms of the benefits you offer.
- Search Engine Marketing & Visibility - your main website should get higher rankings and therefore greater visibility on the main search engines because of the regular updates, great (automatic) structure and the focused content.
- Creating a dialogue with those who matter - you have the opportunity and the ideal tool to start to open up new and very real communications channels with the wider community.
- Brand awareness – An ideal channel through which to put your brand in front of the customer and communicate what it stands for you could be a small company or multinational, either way you are strengthening your online position.
Blogs are a great way of personalising the relationship between a Head and the wider school community. In some cases, individual classes have blogs which they update on a regular basis.
A few reasons why well maintained blogs work well for schools:
There is a caveat though - blogging does demand discipline, with weekly posts: they don't need to be long, a single paragraph can be enough. For some schools even this can be too onerous, in which case a school Twitter account may be a better solution.
We can link to your own blog for FREE. Alternatively, we can set up your blog, and customise the look and feel to reflect your main website for a fee of £195.
Examples
A few examples of schools with branded blog templates:
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