What are the basics of doing blogs and using them for maximizing visibility?

[jessica]

Hi Everybody,

Lets have an open conversation here on Blogs. Please share in all that you know about blogs? How can blogs help improve site visibility? Which are good blogging sites? etc.

Please share your views here.


Regards,
Jes

[beu]

Check out the posts on blogs here at SEW. Blogs can help your Search Engine Marketing efforts and branding if done properly.

[Marcia]

Check out the posts on blogs here at SEW. Blogs can help your Search Engine Marketing efforts and branding if done properly.That's what Jes wants to do, is discuss using blogs to help promote a site, right here in this thread. :)

Please share your views here.Jes, you've wrapped up a lot of issues and questions in one paragraph, so let's break them down a bit.

Please share in all that you know about blogs? I don't personally know an awful lot. I don't really care for blogging; I'm too lazy, and frankly I prefer the interactive nature of forums. But I know I should learn more,and I do personally have a few issues that I've not resolved with firm answers

Which are good blogging sites? etc.There are sites to list blogs on (or through), but first off there's a question of deciding whether to do a blog at a third party site like WordPress or Blogger (Blogspot), or what are probably the better choices:

1)As part of a main company or ecom or organization site, or
2)As a stand-alone domain

How can blogs help improve site visibility? This is the crux of the issue, but it probably depends in part on what kind of a site or organization - and to a big degree, what the differences would be between choices 1) and 2) above.

[beu]

Yeah.. sorry for the short answer but, wanted you to know that your thread had been noticed. My plan was to come back after getting all the Turkey off my hands and getting in a nap. :)

This is a really big question, as in there are books out there that don't fully answer it. Either way, here goes:

I think of Blogs or web logs as personal journals if you will, only instead of being written by hand they are posted online. Sure there are company blogs but they don't have the same personal touch that a "blogger" blog has, at least in my opinion. At the same time, if your company allows "personal" style blogs with "by lines" I think that adds a nice touch. I like Google's blog for that reason because they allow "by lines" which allow the reader to know who wrote it.

If you decide to go with a company blog it's good to set up policies in advance. You don't need any PR blunders (PR as in Public Relations) because of some random "off message" post.

Blogs help improve a site's visibility because a blog and it's comments are content. As I'm sure you know "content is king"! At the same time remember to use less industry jargon and more real words for which users & clients search.

By allowing comments you allow others to develop additional content at no charge. At the same time, comments help because they increase the update frequency of your pages. Updating your content is important when it comes to search. Search engines like fresh content.

Another way blogs increase visibility is via RSS that feed other sites. This process can help create inbound links automatically if you add links in your blog's content. Inbound links can help not only in ranking but also by increasing PR.

Personally I use WordPress (google "wordpress") but if you don't have your own site you might try blogger. If you use WP there are a few technical changes to make you blog more search engine friendly during the initial instal but after that it's pretty easy. If you have some technical expertise you can have WP up in 5 minutues.

In addition to the oh so very 2003 standard blog format you might also consider video blog as well as image blog formats or "mashing up" your blog with a few other web services! Just ideas to consider...

So, my two cents, hope that helps and best of luck :)

[AussieWebmaster]

blogs with followers are fast becoming more popular than forums in some cases

[jessica]

Hi Everybody,

First of all, sorry for bombarding this thread with too many questions in the initial post:D

Secondly, thank you for giving an initial insight as to what blogs are and can do. I hope more posts would come up here so that anyone like me looking to explore the world of blogs will get all the needed help.


Regards,
Jes