Blogs

If you are a member of staff and would like to create a new blog, the Web Team offers a service that allows you to set up and publish your own blog via the web at blogs.northampton.ac.uk. The service allows you to edit and publish your blog entirely through a web browser. If you need help with your blog see the blog help page.

What is a blog?

A blog (or web-log) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual or group of individuals, with regular entries, often displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Benefits

Search engine optimisation

Search engines, like Google, love websites that are regularly updated with fresh, well written, keyword-rich content. People will be able to find your website more easily (because Google will list more pages), and Google will re-index your site more frequently (meaning new pages you put online will appear in the search results more quickly).

Direct communications

Over time you will build up a readership of people who have subscribed to receive updates to your blog because they are interested in what you have to say. Every time you publish a new article it gets pushed out to all your readers giving you the ability to communicate directly with your target audience.

Building up relationships

The best blogs are a 2-way communication where your readers can comment on your articles. This interaction gets them more involved and more engaged, and gives you useful feedback.