Build Site Rankings and Develop a Following with an Optimized Blog, Part I

Blogs, formally known as web logs, quite possibly have the best formula for achieving high rankings in Google. Written in a diary format with regular entries or posts by the author, blogs are visited often by search engines like Google and experience steadily improving rankings if they are updated regularly.

Developing and maintaining a blog takes dedication and hard work – but once a loyal following and high visibility is established, blogs provide an informal way to communicate with online customers, referring high-quality traffic to your site.

Frequently updated blogs are regularly indexed by search engines to ensure they have the most current content

The frequency this happens is largely dependent on the number of inbound links pointing to the blog from other websites – therefore, only adding new content does not guarantee high rankings. Your blog will be crawled more frequently if it has a good combination of strong inbound links and keyword-rich content.

Blogs also typically include a permalink (permanent link to the post), a link for readers to leave comments and a trackback link…or a link to someone else’s blog in your post(s)… which they will automatically link back to you.

Due to spamming, many blogs include a “nofollow” attribute to their trackback links, which has somewhat diminished the SEO benefits of this feature. To avoid looking like spam, only link to blogs related to yours and represent an extension of the information you’re writing about. They are still a good SEO tool since you can get qualified traffic from other bloggers that link to your blog.

Unlike webpages, blogs are designed to be frequently and easily updated – no HTML or programming skills are required. Most blogging programs are designed like a form - you login, enter the copy and any optional images and click submit. Newest blog posts appear first with older ones appearing as you scroll down the page.

Real Simple Syndication technology helps actively promote and distribute your blog

RSS as it’s more commonly referred is another feature of blogs that separate them from regular webpages. Basically, a feed reader automatically brings posts to your readers where they can choose to view the posts that interest them.

This technology allows people to subscribe to your blog without having to visit your page all the time – saving time, since now the information is fed to users as it is created, providing a way for users to automate their online activities and absorb information more quickly.

Search engine optimization firm SEO Advantage^® provides experienced blog copywriting services. Contact us today and see how a blog can help draw more qualified traffic to your site.

And check back with the search engine optimization Knowledge Center soon for part II of our article series on blogs, how-to write engaging content that gets noticed by your customers and search engines.

About SEO Advantage^®

Led by Stone Reuning, SEO Advantage®, Inc. is an online marketing and search engine optimization firm that helps businesses turn their web presence into a powerful revenue generation medium. Our clients enjoy dominance on Google, Yahoo and Bing through a suite of unique pay-for-performance search engine optimization and online marketing services implemented by a multidisciplinary team of SEO engineers, copywriters and web designers. You'll find us referenced in books such as "Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale" and the BusinessWeek bestseller "The New Rules of Marketing & PR," as well as the popular ebook "The Small Business Blogging Blueprint." Find out more today by calling us at 1-800-366-1639 or email us here.