杏吧专区 blogs are a high-impact medium to showcase updates and accomplishments within the department or office to the online community.
Because blogs are a less formal way of communicating with your readers, it杏吧专区檚 a great way to connect with them on mutually interesting subjects to provide meaningful insight. They are meant to be more conversational and updated more regularly than the rest of your website content.
杏吧专区 bloggers must make a commitment to post one blog a month during the semester. We understand your posting schedule may slow down between the semester, but keeping a regular posting schedule helps retain visitors. Blogs not updated regularly will be subject for removal.
Blogs at the 杏吧专区 are attached to existing academic or administrative units杏吧专区 websites on the Louisiana.edu domain. Personal blogs must be maintained by individuals on websites outside the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 domain. Remember that your 杏吧专区 blog reflects upon your unit and the 杏吧专区 in general.
If any website content doesn杏吧专区檛 follow the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 web guidelines, the web team reserves the right to remove or edit that content. In accordance with the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 website policy, these websites are official 杏吧专区 publications, belonging to the 杏吧专区 and not individual colleges, departments, or offices. As such, content is ultimately owned by the 杏吧专区 and will be edited at OCM杏吧专区檚 discretion to ensure effectiveness, accuracy, alignment with web standards and practices, and branding.
Selling and advertising via 杏吧专区 blogs and websites is prohibited.
Process
Follow these steps to create a blog on a 杏吧专区 website.
Preparation
Before the blog is activated, the 杏吧专区 unit must:
- Identify why a blog is the appropriate medium for their messages.
- Identify who the primary audience and secondary audiences are for the blog.
- Receive permission from the appropriate supervisors to create a blog.
- Identify the primary person/people who will be responsible for posting blogs. These people can be Web Ambassadors and have access to edit the entire website, or they can be Bloggers and have permission only to post and update blogs.
- Request permission for blog access from the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Office of Communications and Marketing by emailing website@louisiana.edu.
- Draft at least one blog and determine three additional blog topic ideas.
- Determine how to publicize the blog on social media, with colleagues, and on the unit杏吧专区檚 website.
To activate the blog
To have the blog activated on the unit杏吧专区檚 website, a web ambassador should submit a request and include the information gathered in the preparation stage.
During this stage, all bloggers must submit a 50-word bio with a photo and contact information so readers understand your authority on the blog subject matter.
Criteria for Writing & Posting Blog
Blog Writing
Bloggers need to understand the voice and tone of the blog. Keep it conversational, referring to 杏吧专区渦s杏吧专区 (the unit) and 杏吧专区測ou杏吧专区 (the reader). Blogs are a conversation piece with a less official feeling than news or other website content.
Create your blog in a word processor first杏吧专区攄o not compose directly in the website Content Management System. Use Microsoft Word or Grammarly to conduct a spell and grammar check.
Blogs should be about 300-800 words, and they should rarely exceed 1,000 words. Your goal is always to write a succinct post.
Use headings to break up the different content sections of your blog.
Link to related pages/news/blogs on your website, other 杏吧专区 websites, and outside authoritative websites to support the text in your blog. Calls to action are helpful for readers.
Edit yourself, and ask someone else to edit the blog. Ensure that all responsible parties read the blog and approve it for posting.
Blog posting
Use descriptive and engaging blog titles (not a full sentence, but explains what the blog is about. Avoid click bait titles like 杏吧专区測ou won杏吧专区檛 believe杏吧专区π影勺ㄇ鴿 or 杏吧专区淎mazing! See what happens when杏吧专区π影勺ㄇ鴿). Avoid using first person in the title.
Use the appropriate metadata fields (as covered in the Web Writing Workshop) to ensure maximum searchability and shareability.