Why This Business Consultant Hates the Term Blog

Besides being an ugly word, the term blog isn’t an accurate descriptor when applied to the business side of media presentation. Most people today understand what they’re looking at if they’re told it’s called a blog, but the definition has notably expanded in recent years. It’s time for businesses to stop using this outdated term, and instead seize the opportunity to enhance their brands, attract more viewers and strengthen their online audiences. Read on to find out why businesses should drop the term blog, and then pick up your favorite from the list of alternatives to try out in your operations.

Businesses Don’t Really Blog

When they first started out, blogs were meant to act as personal diaries that passionate writers could post for the world to see. When bloggers began getting serious attention, everyone noticed an incredible new phenomenon; the spending power of an online audience. It was only a matter of time before businesses developed their own version of content sharing, but even in it’s earliest forms, it was never really a blog.

From sales announcements to event recaps, third-party content, or pictures, and videos; everything that a business posts through their online presence serves a definite purpose. Engagement is normally the most important goal of any posted piece of media. Sometimes, it’s a sales pitch, but no matter what the goal of a piece happens to be, the point is that there is, in fact, a goal.

In traditional blogging, there was no goal. Posts were simply the musings of their authors, and few old style blog posts ever breathed a single call to action. Today, a post that lacks purpose is a waste of time and precious audience attention.

Another thing that sets modern business media apart from traditional blogging is the importance of chronology. In traditionally written blogs, posts can be organized according to topic, but are typically presented in order of recency. Business posts experience the best success and have the greatest value when the content is evergreen and surfable, regardless of when it was originally published.

While Saying Blog Won’t Hurt, It Won’t Help Businesses, Either

When a company invests any amount of marketing dollars in a project, they want to see a return on their efforts. With modern tactics focusing so strongly on content marketing, real, measurable returns are sometimes difficult to report. Building an online audience is a difficult enough task as it is. Fortunately, tweaking the presentation of a business blog offers a brand new opportunity for viewer attraction.

The trick is to find a new word to use to describe what a business blog actually is. When a viewer sees a collection of business generated posts, they’re seeing something entirely different than what they’d see on traditional presentations. It varies from business to business, but almost everyone can find a different term for their collection that resonates with their audience better than blog. Changing the word a business chooses can elicit curiosity from fleeting viewers, offer viewers a sense of exclusivity and help enhance the continuity of the business brand. Check out some alternatives below.

Try These Phrases Instead of the Word Blog

• Media Vault
• Insider Information
• Our Secrets
• Shop Gossip
• What Interests Us
• Our Passions
• Get to Know Us
• Information Gallery
• Content Crop
• Snippets & Snapshots

The new term really doesn’t matter as long as it’s relevant to the business brand and culture. It should match the attitude of the rest of the online presence, and make a viewer want to click through. The challenge comes when referring to posts, normally during social media updates. In cases like that, simply drop the word blog as an adjective. For example, just say, ‘Check out the new post in our Information Gallery on our website!’

Whatever you do, stop using the term blog, it makes your business seem old.