Business blogs help in search engines

Business blogs give your website a boost in the search engine rankings, particularly with Google, Yahoo search, and Microsoft's MSN search.



I have been saying that for awhile, not only here on this blog, but also in my article at SEO Chat called Blogs and Search Engine Optimization.



The latest person to agree with me and to echo what I have been saying is noted internet observer Garrett French. Thanks to The Blog Herald for the link.



Like me, Garrett believes that it will take some real creativity to make money from your blog, however. Unlike Garrett, I am more optimistic that blogging can be monetized by extendng the definition of blogging revenue to include freelance writing and employment.



Garrett French also agrees with me that blogs are a media news source of the future. Bloggers had better be prepared to work with professional mainstream journalists in the future.



Keep in mind that not all journalists will be familiar with, or even friendly towards blogs. It's up to us to clear their path, and make their visits to blogs a pleasant and helpful one.



By being courteous to mainstream media people, blogs can go a long way toward acceptance as a major news source. Already, bloggers are being quoted in the major media on important news stories. Recently Jeremy Wright of Ensight was quoted in the prestigious Washington Post regarding the delayed Google IPO. More such interviews with bloggers will be forthcoming in the future.



There will be more upcoming articles about the value of business blogs, and their power in the search engines. As more people become aware of the blogging secret to search engine success, there will be many more business bloggers out there on the internet.



As most of you already know, the blog advantage is regularly updated keyword rich content, coupled with many incoming links from other blogs and websites.



That is the recipe for high search engine rankings.



Blog serve those rankings up as the main course.

Blog News Agency: Could it work?

Adam Curry has formulated the idea of a Blog News Agency. Thanks to Trudy Schuett for the link.



The Blog News Agency would be a cetnralized global network, providing blog based news to the mainstream media. As most of us are already aware, the major news media currently scour the blogs for newsworthy article ideas.



Anyone who has been blogging for any period of time knows how much of a challenge finding story ideas can be. The same difficulties face journalists as their deadlines loom. They need a story idea.



A Blog News Agency could go a long way toward providing regular story ideas, whether in politics, other news, sports, or lifestyle articles. The many blogs have them all and much much more.



Another interesting aspect of Adam Curry's idea is the paying of bloggers. In his scenerio, bloggers would be paid through the PayPal system for their blog stories.



Contibuting bloggers would be freelance writers under the Agency. Since bloggers regularly are seeking new sources of revenue, writing for the mainstream media outlets, would form another one. It would also be a reputable income source.



The mainstream news media are constantly searching for cost effective ways to provide more indepth news. Bloggers are always looking for methods of making some money from their blogs. The match is a good one.



Let's see where Adam Curry and his Blog News Agency wind up.



It may be good for everyone involved.

We're on the blogging radio

Blogging as a radio show?



It might work.



The fertile mind of Jeremy Wright has brought forth the concept of blogging on radio.



At first blush, the concepts of blogs and radio would seem to be miles apart. On closer examination, however, they seem to have more in common than one would think.



Bllogging is an internet medium and in many ways, radio is a blogging medium as well. News stories on radio tend to be brief and immediate in a similar vein as blog entries.



Talk radio is blogging writ large, complete with comments on and references to, other writers, and news stories. The most popular talk radio hosts opine on news and current events, with references, in the same manner as bloggers.



The step from blog to radio program would be a small transition.



An internet radio show on blogging just might take flight.



The important point, for blogging on radio, would be to utilize the burgeoning idea of internet radio programs. Over the airwaves radio, heavily controlled by very few owners, would not be the place to test an unproven concept.



Like blogs themselves, internet blogging would be on the cutting edge of technological communications. The independent internet radio stations, eager for strong and reliable content, would probably welcome a blogging show with open mikes.



Internet radio could take full advantage of the diversity of the blogging community. Several show themes, from business to technology to news commentary would be readily available. There would even be room for the more personal journal type blogs, as a lifestyle section.



Jeremy Wright's idea has merit.



Let's see what becomes of it.

Farm Computers I Have Known

***Here is a change of pace for your reading enjoyment. This is a humour column I sold to a Canadian farm publication a couple of years ago. For those who don't know, agriculture is one of the several sources of income I have to draw upon. By its very nature, it's harder to money from that industry, than making a living by writing. On that note, without further adieu, here is the story***



Farm Computers I Have Known



I bought a computer. It seemed like the thing to do. Most farm publications offered the same advice. Get a computer now, was their common refrain. Visions of a bright new agricultural horizon swirled like a dust devil through my head. Not wanting to be left in the technological dust, I followed the experts’ advice. I bit the bullet, or perhaps I bit the byte, and entered the world of technology.



Like all new toys, the computer became the focal point of the household. That is, if overwhelming an entire room makes for cutting edge interior design. Fortunately for me, crowded bookshelves, calendar covered walls, and a battery charger in the living room are not the dream of interior decorators either. Unsightliness was not an issue. I didn’t care. I was computing.



After connecting up the printer and speakers with a screen and a huge box like thing referred to as a tower, I was set to go to work. If I could translate the hieroglyphics posing as an instructional diagram, anything was possible. I would create and account and maybe even do a bit of field mapping. I had used a computer in the world of employment and considered myself to be vaguely computer literate. I defined computer literacy as the ability to find the power button. Knowing a mouse from a floppy is something everyone from the farm understands. I had this thing covered. I pushed the power button and waited for the entire thing to spring to life. Nothing happened.



An eerie sensation overcomes a person when a piece of equipment fails to operate as expected. Am I at fault, or is the machine in need of immediate medical attention? I suspected both possibilities. I fiddled with the cables and wires and discovered that at least I had it plugged into the outlet. I had visions of money flushed into the regions beneath any septic tank. Something was wrong.



My confidence in my technological skills was draining faster than my neighbour’s pothole into my wheat field. I had to find a solution. I was reminded of the purchase of a new swather that arrived with the knife improbably placed upside down. That I could remedy. It has long been a personal policy to never ask for directions when locating an unknown destination. A little time and patience is all that is needed. After a lot of time and the end of my patience, I was baffled.



No amount of tweaking and poking was getting the desired result. On the verge of ending the problem with axe and sledgehammer, I sought professional help. I asked my mother for assistance. After asking me if I had the contraption plugged into an outlet and receiving an answer in the affirmative, she suggested that I call the dealer.



I knew it. I had to do it. The new toy had to be packed into its original box and returned for repairs. The humiliation was beyond mortal comprehension as I explained the failure of the technology, and downplayed the human element. With a counter side manner that would make a kindly family physician envious, the dealer assured me all would be well. I accepted the reassurances and returned home.



There, where the computer had proudly taken its place, was an empty void. Cords and cables were connected to nothing but open air. The screen was dark and the printer was silent. I endured fitful sleep for two days. The worry was too much to bear. Soon, I told myself, the computer would be home and all would be well. After having survived being stuck in the mud for two days while combining, I was capable of surviving the stress.



On the third day, after the sacrifice, the computer was returned home. I failed to fully comprehend what had gone awry, but the conversation seemed to centre around the need to reload the operating system, or something like that. The transplant had been a successful one, and I was assured that I could now compute until my eyes hurt, or my behind did, whichever occurred first.



Flushed with renewed enthusiasm, I reconnected the cords and cables in rough approximations of their earlier locations; give or take a few creative variations on the untranslatable diagrams. I punched the power button on the computer and the one on the screen. Lights flashed, words describing exotic activities appeared on the screen, colours changed, and odd looking little drawings, referred to almost mystically as icons, appeared where only emptiness had been. In the end all was well. The computer was on. It was working after all.



Following the instructions provided by the dealer, I set forth in a confident manner to load some software. The idea of loading sounded reasonable, like placing square hay bales on an empty hay rack. The screen presented instructions that I blindly followed. I felt almost robotic in my obedience. It worked. The cessation of normal thought, and surrender to the computer’s will was the secret. I had learned its intimate knowledge. The computer is in charge. The operator just clicks the mouse and follows orders. After clicking and following for several software loads, I was certain that the computer and I were on good speaking terms. It had not given me more than a few dozen disciplinary beeps and stern warning messages. I felt that we had an understanding. It was good.



I had a program for something referred to as an office suite, although I saw no usable furniture. Maybe I missed something when it was shipped. I also had a drawing program to compensate for my need to label drawings composed of the most basic of subjects, like stick people. In a more adventurous vein, there are programs for CAD design and for computer geographic mapping. I had successfully entered them into the voracious appetite of the computer memory. There was a lot of RAM in there, tending the growing flock of programs. The world of computational wizardry and creativity was at my fingertips.



With all of the expertise of thousands of software designers to draw upon, I punched up the menu to test drive a program. Would I choose to map the yields of the fields, or to design a slightly better mousetrap? The choices and various options were intoxicating in their bewildering complexity. After much deliberation and careful thought, I made a well reasoned choice. I decided to play a game. I lost.

Paid for writing blogs

I was having a blogging discussion with some friends the other day.



Needless to say, they had not heard much more about blogging than it involved discussing what the writer had for lunch.



I was telling them about the concept of business blogs and how a business can help itself with customer service, public relations, marketing, and search engine optimization (as in this blog's description!) by using a blog.



Somewhat convinced, they had some other concerns.



Time and post writing quality.



They felt that the time and effort to write blog posts was better spent on other work. The actual writing of the blog should be subcontracted out to professional writers, they thought.



Their logic was based on the premise that not everyone writes well and not everyone has the time to do it. Like many aspects of business, the job is better left to others. Simply pay the writers to create regular top notch blog content and post it.



The idea might not be for everyone. Many business people will certainly prefer to write their own posts. After all, one of the purposes of a business blog is to add your personal voice to your company. The business blogger places a human face on what could be a faceless bureaucracy.



On the other hand, hiring bloggers to do the actual writing and posting might have benefits as well.



First of all, it would put some revenue into the pockets of the many good bloggers out there. Earning money, for for their thoughts and writing, is a constant source of concern for many bloggers. Being hired to write specific articles, to post on company business blogs, would help ease that concern.



For those bloggers, who would consider such a concept to be selling out, keep in mind that the writing would be simply another freelance job. The job is to write the article, as with any publication, whether on the internet or offline.



For the companies using the purchased posts, their time is saved and the company would have a business blog. Perhaps without hiring freelance writers, the organization would not have a business blog at all.



Of course such an arrangement is not for every business blog or for every writer. It all depends on individual circumstances.



Just like anything else.



The possibility of a win-win situation exists for both the business and the freelancer. The business gets the benefit of a professionally written business blog. The freelance writer gains some cash and some highly marketable writing credits.



The idea may have some merit, after all.

Bloggers helping bloggers

Bloggers are a tremendous, if perhaps underutilized support group.



We often see blogs, where people with various illnesses and concerns help and support one another. The blogging community forms, for them, a widespread therapy group. The realization that one is not alone with a condition or concern is liberating for those involved.



Blogs are also helpful for some good old fashioned networking for getting a job.



The always generous Jay Solo recently blogged employment notices on behalf od two other bloggers.



James Joyner of the well known Outside The Beltway joins Kathy Kinsley of On The Third Hand in the job search market.



Because bloggers are such a diverse lot, with many connections adding up to a blog version of Six Degrees of Separation, the possibilities for mutual assistance are unlimited.



Jay Solo may have hit upon a burgeoning underground job search technique. Letting other bloggers know of your skills and employment availability could lead to some new employment opportunities. Those jobs could range from short term freelance work to permanent employment.



All bloggers have to do is make their availability known to others.



For example, I do freelance writing and search engine optimization.



Your skills and talents are marketable.



All you have to do is get the word out there. Let other bloggers know you are available for work and tell them what you can do.



Bloggers like Jay Solo are spreading the word.

Permanent links now working

I finally have this blog's permanent linking feature working.



Yay!



My thanks to Jeremy Wright for his fixing my delinquent coding.



For those of you who may not be aware, I am nowhere close to a computer coder. I learned how to use a computer the hard way. In my work experience, I was given the office, and the computer, and told to get to work.



I had zero training, and I never took a single computer course while at University. I was an Arts student. I took subjects like History and Political Science and Geography and English. I hdd two Majors. One was Political Science, and the other was History. I never went anywhere near the Computer Science department. Ever.



My computer skills are entirely self taught, by doing. I believe that is referred to as the seat of the pants methodology. I have learned a lot of basic computer work skills, mainly out of having no choice, but I have a lot of holes in my knowledge. That is usually the end result of self teaching. You learn the necessary skills for what is needed at the time. Everything else gets ignored.



Thanks to Jeremy Wright, a major hole in my coding deficiency has been plugged.



His assistance is greatly appreciated.



Thanks Jeremy!

Publicity and bloggers

I have written a few times about the value of blogs to your public relations and publicity efforts.



By keeping and maintaining a business blog, you have a built in press release, updated on a daily basis. All you have to do is alert the mainstream media.



Now, there is a new twist on the same theme.



Jay Solo was writing about the problem of receiving his first comment spam. I just got some comment spam on this blog, and I don't know how to remove it from my third party commenter.



While the evils of comment spam were being pointed out, Jay made another interesting observation. The spammer, craving attention to their rather pitiful efforts at being regarded as humanity, could have done the following:



"The smart thing would be for them to have created a blog as an adjunct to their site, covering internationalization and other business issues. Then they could have introduced themselves to me (and other bloggers) for a plug or a link, or maybe offered to get on the list of future CotC hosts. Boom, you're on Google! Heck, contacting someone like BusinessPundit with a "press release" of sorts might have gotten you a mention. Just as you'd hope to get by sending press releases to the mainstream business press."



The interesting part here is the discussion of how other bloggers can be sent press releases. It's so obvious, it is often overlooked.



Many of the major bloggers have traffic approaching that of small to medium sized daily newspapers. Some lesser lights, but still heavily visited, have over 1000 unique readers per day.



Bloggers are now ideal targets for press releases themselves.



Since most bloggers (well maybe not Jeremy Wright) have a constant need to find "a topic". It's one of the most difficult parts of the...I just can't resist saying this...the blogging experience.



Topics are gold, whether for the blogger or the mainstream media (who call them story ideas.



Press releases solve the blogger's dilemma.



Instant topic!



The blog owner who sends out a release to the larger readership bloggers, and selected niche bloggers, may find a mention on the so-called "A List". The resulting influx of traffic, should send the previously unknown blogger's visitor counter logs, into a major upward spiral.



When you send out your press releases to the mainstream media, don't neglect to send them to other bloggers in your niche area.



You may find your blog mentioned elsewhere.

E-mail as a posting idea

E-mail.



Blog comments.



Both are huge, and usually untapped, sources of blog post ideas.



Reading and even posting selected e-mails from readers, is a healthy source of post inspirations and concepts for even the most prolific bloggers. Highly regarded baseball blogger Aaron Gleeman is one of the blogosphere's most exhaustive writers. I say that in a good way. He writes abundantly on his favourite subject.



And I mean abundantly!



Despite his multitude of story ideas, Aaron Gleeman often posts parts of e-mails to help create entries. He takes the ideas from the e-mails, and puts them through his usual indepth analysis. The result is a post, on a topic of proven interest, to his readers.



Comments on blogs form another fertile garden of ideas for blog posts. You have first hand, ready at your fingertips, statements from your readers. They have, in effect, spoken. They have told you what they want you to discuss. All you have to do is write about it.



Similar to using your site counter visitor logs, your e-mail and commenters show direct evidence of your visitors' interests. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't have taken the time to write, commnent, or in the case of keywords, search for your blog.



Don't treat your e-mail as spam (unless it promises enlargements and alleged improvements of various body parts).



Don't consider your comments section to be throwaways.



They are direct messages from your most interested and loyal readership. Let them help you make your blog better.



Take a hint from Aaron Gleeman and let your readers help write your posts.

Blog stats: helping your readers

It's often considered to be bad form, according the stiff upper lip types who care about such niceties, to post about your blog statistics.



They say it's not interesting to your readers. Perhaps it is boring to some readers, but I am personally very interested in other bloggers' stats.



Maybe I'm a minority of one, but I like to know how long you've blogged, your total number of posts, and how many incoming links you have. I care how many visitors find their way to your blog, and from whence they arrived. Was their road in via a link from another blog or website, or did your reader find your corner of the internet from a search engine?



Those are interesting quesions you should be addressing. They are not only for your own benefit, but that of your visitors as well.



I have advised my readers to analyze their visitor counters before. By reading the visitor logs, you can determine if your visitors are heavily new ones or repeat returnees. Those bloggers who find a high degree of turnover in readers, and little repeat visitor traffic, may find a requirement to change their subject matter. After all, if no one returns to read it, perhaps it's not all that exciting to anyone.



If you are getting a heavy influx of visitors from search engines, your blog is probably optimized well for those keywords. Those are topics in which your readers have shown an interest. After all, if they searched them and clicked on your link, they must want to read about those subjects. I would suggest writing more posts on those keywords.



Keeping track of your incoming links, and the type of blog that links to yours, is also of interest. Of particular interest to you, should be the blogs that link to yours without asking for a return link. They linked to your blog because they enjoyed reading your subject matter. Be sure to include a few posts of interest to them, as their own readers probably will enjoy your material as well.



it's always interesting, to me at least, about how many blog posts you have written in total. Longer running blogs should have fairly strong daily traffic and regular return visitors. If that is the case, your blog is certainly providing information of interest to your niche readership.



As always, keep a close watch on the ratio of your new readers to your returning visitors. Too few returnees could be an early signal of readership decline. Heed the warnings, and provide some extra good and targeted posts, especially for those regular readers.



By being a bit "navel gazing", you can help provide the type and quality of posts your readers desire.



Don't think of yourself a hit obsessed blogger, but rather as a reader concerned blogger.



Use your statistics to benefit your readers.