Why Advertising, Marketing and PR Pros Should Blog for Search Engine Visibility

Credit for this very pragmatic list of the benefits of blogging for advertising and promotion consultants is provided by Bob Cargill of Yellowfin Direct Marketing in Boston, Mass. If you're just getting started with blogging in 2005, you'll find that his 3-part article provides inspiration to move you forward.

Now, one point not mentioned in Bob's fine work is that blogs are GREAT tools for visibility in Search Engines. You'll hear me say this repeatedly since I stress tools and techniques for search engine visibility for business growth.

A blog will create links back to your website if you're using blog services like Blogger, MoveableType or RadioUserLand, to name a few.  Or, if your blog is installed directly on your website, you'll see Google visiting more often and experience a gradual rise in traffic at your site. Hopefully, this translates into more targeted calls and emails for your business.

If you're writing about a very current topic (for example, I've been writing about Search Engine Visibility for Blogs) and if you incorporate the main keywords into the page title tag, the article title and the body copy of your blog article, then you increase the opportunity for visibility and new traffic from search engines.

I have a client (Claud Matney) who started blogging about Abandonded Cable issues in commercial real estate. It's apparently a huge problem. He started blogging on this topic in early October 2004, and by the end the month he was getting calls and inquiries that directly impacted his potential as a consultant.  He's also coming up in the top 10 in Google for the search words "abandoned cable." 

Finally, if you register your Blog (remember all Blogs have RSS feeds) with 30-40 RSS Feed Directories from Robin Good's RSS Directory summary page, you'll further increase traffic to your blog (or website), and again, this will likely increase your opportunity for more sales.

With all that said, I want to thank Bob Cargill for his fine work. He touches on the human points that make blogging so real and accessible to people, and that's what makes your company more attractive. If static brochures on the web were the answer, we'd be seeing more businesses with that kind of marketing - but you know that ain't true any longer.  If you want to learn more about the philosophy of the "global conversation" approach, read the ClueTrain Manifesto. You'll be glad you did.

Start blogging ... get a conversation going with your visitors and clients about YOUR specialty. Let me know how it goes. I want to learn from your experiences too.