If you’re working on a Web site with the intention of strengthening your company’s brand and improving its search presence on major Internet engines, you’re working on an SEO project.

The content, title, and meta-data of any SEO project is what will determine the relative success or failure of that project. Shoddy content, especially writing obviously stuffed with buzzwords or irrelevant drivel, will cause your page to be penalized by Google’s search algorithm. Tight, creative content conversely will help you to build a Web brand, which should cause subsequent spikes in traffic – algorithms will recognize your site as reputable, based on content, and reward it.

An easy way to enhance the search engine relevance of your Web page is to pair it up with a content-rich blog. This is especially useful for sites that are dynamically generated, like PHP pages, or Flash-heavy sites. You might have optimized such a site with as much content and relevant meta-data as you could, but you want more. And, stuffing a site with content-loaded back pages is a solution, but not the best one.

A popular SEO rumor that ought be put to rest is that cramming a site with new content is the key to driving up both traffic and search engine rankings. That’s because it is absolutely false.

Any Web site continually crammed with content will eventually become cluttered and impossible to navigate, drowning even the biggest brand or mightiest message. For folks trying to brand their startup company or nascent business, this can be incredibly deleterious to success.

Blogging is a great alternative to the common, site-content-on-steroids approach. Why is this?

First, a blog will not detract at all from your main site, in any way, shape, or form. A blog will not change the navigation of your site; it will not directly add content; it will not change the layout of the site map; and it will not be an obvious or intrusive entity.

Sounds good, you might be thinking. So what are the advantages?

Simplicity is the first advantage. One neat link from your site to you blog (and please, make it a prominent, HTML-based link with relevant anchor text) will direct traffic there. You won’t have to worry about the content, meta data, and site mapping of multiple new pages. In fact, the content itself might be easier to develop for a blog, resulting in time and hassle savings for you. The very format of this medium – essentially, a business-related diary that you share with the World Wide Web – lends itself well to a bit more flexibility and creativity than would be acceptable on a strictly-business site.

And, blogs are free. The two most popular blog publishers, Wordpress and Blogger, allow you to publish text-based entries for no hosting fee, providing you continue to use the blog domains (I.e. SmithHardwareCalifornia.blogspot.com. For a blog that bears only your company’s name, like “SmithHardwareCali.com”, you will need to pay a hosting fee.) Your blog will get recognition via search engine algorithms organically, providing the content is relevant to your business (so, no use creating multiple, keyword-saturated blogs about pigeons, pygmys, or peppermints when you’re in the painting business).

Appearance is the second advantage. By presenting topics pertinent to your business in short and accessible bursts, you create an attractive image of your business and your brand. Your visitors will be compelled to visit and re-visit your site as they learn your story in the entries of your blog. This is a cost-effective way to generate leads and sales, because it is the structure of the blog — and the blog format itself — rather than deliberate content generation efforts driving visitors to your site.

Reciprocal linking is the biggest advantage. It’s easy to see why a blog can be so successful for SEO. You have a link to your blog placed prominently on your Web site. In turn, you have links to your Web site placed prominently on your blog. Visitors can linger, happily clicking between the two URLs, boosting your traffic and your name. Your blog will (or, at least it should) contain relevant title and meta data for each entry. The content will be on point with your business’s home page, so your visitors will get to know you and your services. In some cases, your blog can be responsible for converting traffic into effective business leads.

So what’s the key for blogging success? Persistence. Update your blog as frequently as possible – once a day is great – because Google and other search engines will recognize and index your blog more quickly.

You will draw visitors organically, and, even better, you will draw them by word-of-mouth. I begun following my friends’ business blogs because they were recommended to me, and now, it is habit for me to check them for new content. I spread the word about these blogs to others, who in turn, recommend them to others. My friends’ traffic grows, and their business does, too, as a result.

The critical final note: Blogs that are really relevant, really innovative, and really well maintained excel in the blogosphere. That’s why it pays to stay abreast of trends in your industry, especially amongst your competition. Knowledge is power.

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