Technorati has been reporting quarterly on the state of the
blogosphere. The blogosphere is a term they have coined to mean
the blog world.
In the most recent "State of the Blogosphere" they have reported
that the blogging world continues to expand at an incredible
rate.
This leads to the question: Are you blogging? And if not, why?
In this article I look at blogs in general and why they are good
for your business.
The first time I heard of the "Blogosphere" was back in October
2004 when David Sifry posted the first State of the Blogosphere
on his Blog
http://www.
sifry.com/alerts/archives/000245.htmlAt that time Technorati, a well-known, well used,
self-proclaimed authority on weblogs announced its first report
on the blog universe. At that time there were 4 million weblogs
and it was "more than 8 times as large as it was in June of
2003."
Flash forward to March 2005 and Technorati was tracking over 7.8
million weblogs - more than double the number reported just 5
months previous.
Recently Technorati released yet another report on the weblog
universe and it continues to grow.
In this most recent edition of the State of the Blogosphere
http://www.
technorati.com/weblog/2006/02/81.html Technorati reports
that there are now over 27 million weblogs - almost 4 times what
there were less than 1 year ago. They are still tracking how
quickly it grows - continuing to double every 5.5 months. The
most impressive point in this most recent article: "The
blogosphere is over 60 times bigger than it was only 3 years
ago."
With growth this rapid, and with such widespread adoption why
aren't more business sites adopting blogging as the new content
development strategy?
I guess that's the point of all this - blogging isn't just
blogging any more. It's the new form of corporate communication,
content development and search engine marketing rolled into one.
Blogging is the long tail searches
http://www.textlinkbrokers.com/blogs/comments/307_0_1_15_C/
which will drive the best qualified traffic to your site. It is
the link baiting
h
ttp://www.textlinkbrokers.com/blogs/comments/318_0_1_0_C/
used to drive buzz around your site helping to build your brand.
It is one of the best ways to build links to your site as well.
Knowing all this, why aren't there more blogs?
Before you say "It's too hard to set up," or "We don't have the
resources to keep it up," consider that there are many free blog
software packages out there that only take minutes to set up.
Then all that you need to do is commit to posting on a regular
basis - whether it's daily, weekly or every couple of weeks.
And really, all you do when you post is report on your industry.
For example, if yours is a site devoted to home building, why
not post about the latest industry news such as new regulations
in your area, new techniques being employed, the latest salary
reviews and more?
Anything to do with your industry that will help you build your
brand is acceptable blogging material.
In fact, I recently helped a client do just such a thing. They
sell houseplans online and their concern was like many I've
heard, "But what do we write about?" Once I told them to merely
report about the industry they were amazed. "That's all we have
to do?"
Since then they've been posting 2, 3 even more times every day.
Their blog is now referred to by dozens of other builders' sites
on the web and their backlink count has increased by a few
hundred.
That's the other benefit of blogging - the increase in
backlinks. This is one of the most natural ways to build links
to your site. Not only that but they are the best type of links
- those highly relevant, highly related links the engines look
for when determining your link popularity.
No longer do you need to spend hours hunting for links. Now the
links can come to you provided the blog content is timely and
relevant to your industry.
So before you dismiss blogging as an effective organic search
engine positioning strategy, take a look at the most recent
State of the Blogosphere
http://www.
technorati.com/weblog/2006/02/81.html and look at just how
quickly it's growing. Also consider that while you are
dismissing it, your competitors may be considering it or have
already implemented an industry blog.
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