Using Blogs to Increase Search Engine Rankings
People think that a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultant can get you top rankings in the search engines because you pay him or her to do so. There really is no guarantee of that. Blogging, however, can make a difference.
Increase your search engine rankings
A much better, less expensive and more effective thing to do is to blog to increase your SEO rankings. An SEO consultant will basically get you started with getting to know the appropriate technology and/or he or she will help you to identify the most effective keywords that you should be targeting. You can just as easily learn how to do all of that on your own.
When it comes to learning the technology, if you begin using a good-quality blogging and content system and you add a few popular plugins that will enhance the basic system, you will be on your way to creating effective and useful content that you will be able to share with many other people and that will increase your rankings in the search engines.
Give of your time
The most significant investment that you will be making is your time. If you are able to set aside a few hours a week to post some helpful news items or your opinions on timely and relevant subjects in which you are an expert and do it on a consistent basis, you will see positive results before you know it.
It is not necessary to post lengthy blogs, in fact, other people often have no patience or time to read long pieces. The more relevant the material that you post, the greater your chances will be of moving up in the search engine rankings.
Whatever you are selling, people will always appreciate tips and advice that they can relate to and that will help them to solve their problems. A good way to start to reach out to people in an effective manner is to search online for questions to which you know the answers.
Blog commenting
When you search, you should look for mentions of problems on other people’s blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages and message boards. When you post a comment that addresses one of the problems, you should always include a link back to your blog. Make sure that your comments are well thought out and always try to contribute as much value to the conversation as you can (above and beyond merely posting a link).
The more you comment on other people’s blogs and the more you encourage them to comment on your blogs, the more valuable content will be generated and the more traffic will come to your website. This, in turn, will positively contribute to increasing your rankings in the search engines. When you are looking for blogs on which to comment, you should go with blogs with a high volume of traffic with relevant content that will, in turn, give you a large amount of traffic right away or strong PR blog comments that will allow you to leave SEO optimized anchor text. You should use your blog comments to increase website traffic as well as offsite SEO back links.
Helping others
Remember that you should always put the needs of the people with whom you are connecting online above your own needs. Connecting online (through blogging or in other ways) is not about direct self-promotion. It is about finding ways to help other people, building new relationships and maintaining relationships that already exist and interacting with people on a consistent and frequent basis.
Another very positive way in which blogging will help increase your search engine rankings and your website traffic is by providing fresh content on a regular basis. When you do this, you are keeping your readers updated on everything that is going on and you will be creating an interest in them that will hopefully last for a very long time.
Conclusion
If you always show people that you are more interested in helping them than you are in helping yourself, they will want to continue to build a relationship with you and eventually, they will also be interested in buying what you are selling. Your blog articles should always offer useful and meaningful information that tries to satisfy the needs of your readers. As the relationship develops, your readers will trust you (because they have already gotten to know you well) and find you to have impeccable credibility.
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It is very true that most computer literate business people can gain great benefit from blogging. Back links are truly one of the most valuable efforts you can undertake in SEO of your site. But, does that mean you should not hire a professional? My answer is, run the numbers. What is your time worth?
You should spend a minimum of 8 hours per month (that's only 2 hours per week) researching blog sites to answer, keywords to target and well thought out articles, questions and comments to post.
Is taking time out of your already busy day, or even your far too short leisure and family time worth the savings? Only the individual business person can answer that question for themselves. I still mow my own yard. I can hire a guy to cut it for me, but I enjoy it. On the other hand, I hire a barber to cut my hair. I am certain I can cut it myself, but I am equally as certain the professional will do a better job and will earn the small fee he or she charges.
Michael… Great information. I must take issue with the comment from Richard though, about considering the value of your time. If you hired a pro to blog for you, it would not be a blog. It would be a publication where you hired writers to write articles. If a blog is not the original writings of the blogger, it seems to me that it would not be authentic which is the reason for blogging in the first place. …Howard
"People think that a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultant can get you top rankings in the search engines because you pay him or her to do so. There really is no guarantee of that."
If I pay someone to do a job for me, I expect results. Michael, you know me and you know that if a seller hired me to sell his/her house, I only get paid at closing, when the deal is final. If more SEO consultants worked like I do and got paid when results are achieved, things would be different.
Imagine for a second that in some cases I am with some sellers for 4-6 months, sometimes longer and each month more and more of my own money is coming out of my pocket to advertise that property in addition to servicing the listing.
PaymeLaterSEO-There. I've invented a new trend. lol
I concur. Blog comments are so easy to do and it provides value. I have a blog and I get spam non-stop… when it only takes like a minute to write something of value to the conversation. I just don't get why that is so difficult to do for so many people.
Blog commenting is a very good system to drive traffic to a specific website or another blog. Doing the task done by someone else rather than by own is not at all a bad idea, until that work is done by a professional blogger or someone experienced with related task. Though there's no guarantee that having the job done by an SEO consultant will put the targeted website on the top ranking, but it saves time and also helps to pool relevant expertise.