I did a post several weeks ago about the quality of company blogs. It turned out to be a very popular post and it got even more interesting when a representative from GE Global Research also commented. She (Katelyn Buress, Communications Specialist) commented on the fact that I included their blog in the ‘Not so sure about category’. Blogs in this category in my opinion had some some aspects missing to be truly recommendable blogs.
Since then GE Global Research and I have been exchanging ideas and concluded that it would be very useful for GE Global Research and you, my readers, to discuss their blog here once I posted my suggestions on how the blog of GE Global Research could be improved. I am providing my feedback in written and video form. The video is at the bottom of this post.
How GE Global Research describe their blog:
“The intention of Edison’s Desk is to be the place where GE Global Research technologists discuss the latest in technology, innovation, science, and engineering. The blog is meant to be engaging, dynamic, and interactive; we are welcome and appreciative of any feedback or input as to the content or style of the site. We’ve got some incredible scientists and engineers with broad interests and technical expertise blogging on Edison’s Desk. We’d love your input what content interests you and ways we can improve the site all together.” – Katelyn Buress, Communications Specialist, GE Global Research
GE Global Research is very keen on feedback from you. So please feel free to put forward your suggestions in the form of comments at the bottom of this post.
My overall impression:
This blog is a good blog in its current form but there is something missing in my opinion. It mainly needs some work to be truly engaging and interactive. Here are some of the detailed changes I would recommend.
Suggestions for improvement
Overall RSS feed
I am missing a possibility to subscribe to all posts via the website-wide RSS feed. I can not find it anywhere other then in my browser address field. So why not provide a RSS button or some other form of visualization for everyone to subscribe to the website wide RSS feed.
Online Community engagement
This blog is a great platform and GE picked up my blog review very quickly. This means that they are scanning the social media sphere for any feedback. This is a good move but what I am missing on the blog is some kind of association with social media sites in order to show your online community engagement. This would personally provide me with the reassurance that you are openly communicating with your stakeholders.
Interactivity on the site
The community engagement criticism is also part of this point – the lack of interactivity on the GE Global Research blog. Why not use more plugins or sidebar elements that show your YouTube Channel for example? Or some kind of a Twitter feed? Anything that might show that you are actively engaging with the reader.
Other GE blogs
How about providing links to other GE blogs? There are many more GE blogs out there and all form part of the overall GE business. I would really like to visit some other GE blogs just to get more information on other parts of GE. A place somewhere on the blog would be an ideal addition to the overall user experience.
I have also recorded a brief video walk-through of the blog talking about these comments.
Here is the video walk-through:
So what do you think about the blog? What would you do differently or advise GE Global Research to do?