SEO, or search engine optimization, is implemented in a much different way today than just a few years ago. For the most part, SEO is content-driven; this means that original, compelling content drives potential clients to your website and blog, and ultimately boosts rank. This can be accomplished by links to your content from social media sites, sharing of your content through the use of social sharing buttons, or content that is well optimized for search engines in terms of keywords/search terms. Usually, it’s a combination of all of the above that help website pages rank higher in the search engine results pages. So, what does this have to do with blogging? A lot.
Today, most companies realize the importance of having a blog on their website. The old days of having a “static” website where nothing changes and everything stays the same are long gone. It’s all about engaging, adding value, informing potential clients, providing solutions. How can you accomplish this? Through a great blog.
SEO is Content-Driven; How Better to Add Content Than with a Blog?
For most businesses small and large, the pages of a website provide information about products/services, the company’s history, price, guarantee, etc. While this information IS important, a blog is a natural way to build your brand, gain the trust of those who visit your website, build relationships, engage, share news, and even entertain.
Many companies are just beginning to realize the benefits of a blog in terms of SEO and search engine marketing. Ultimately, a blog can be your most valuable SEO tool. What impact can a blog have on your SEO campaign? Here are a few examples:
- Search engines (particularly Google) love blogs, because they provide fresh content. This can send your page rank soaring, because of the depth/scope of your content.
- Increases the traffic coming to your website. This is very important, as Google uses the amount of traffic a website gets and how long visitors remain on your site in ranking.
While keyword optimization must be done carefully (over-optimization can get your website penalized), it is still very important. Blog entries should be created with keywords in mind, however the focus should always remain on giving value to the reader, providing solutions, answering questions. When writing content for your blog, the reader should always be the #1 focus. Would you want or be compelled to read what you’ve just written?
Blogs make it possible for companies to develop a deeper level of content, which results in higher rank and an increase in organic or “natural” search engine traffic. Great blog posts attract inbound links from relevant sites. This means that not only do your own visitors enjoy reading your blog posts, those sites that link to your posts share your great content with their readers as well – and content engagement is an important SEO ranking factor as well.
Whether you post to a blog daily or weekly, sharing industry news, product releases, how-to tips, or just your thoughts for the day will help your company develop a following. You will also become a trusted “expert” or authority within your industry. The more content you create and share through your company blog, and the more people who read and share it, the more favor you will have from the search engines – which ultimately means higher rankings, which is what SEO is all about.
In this age of content-driven SEO, blogging isn’t really an option anymore, it’s a must. Until you create and maintain a quality blog, you cannot imagine the benefits your company will reap.
About the Author: Phil Singleton is the owner of KCSeoPro.com, a full-service online marketing services company that provides organic search engine optimization and other Internet marketing services, and KCWebdesigner.com, a WordPress web development firm specializing in custom SEO-friendly websites and custom web applications. Phil is also a Duct Tape Marketing™ Certified Consultant and leads a small team of Kansas City marketing consultants at The Kansas City Marketing Agency™.