BLOG, BLOG, and BLOG SOME MORE. WHY BLOGGING IS SO IMPORTANT.

When you want to know the answer to something, where do you go? Is it your local library so you can reminisce about the days of fumbling your way through the Dewy Decimal system with the hopes you'll find the answer? Or do you go to your grandmother's shelf and dust off the 20 years of dust accumulation to grab the appropriate encyclopedia? NO! You go to Google (or some other search engine such as Yahoo or Bing) because we all know Google is King - or Queen in the internet world.

As you search to find the answer sufficient to satisfy what you are looking for, how often have you rephrased what you type in the search bar to change the results? Almost always, right? The current generation, and even the one before, will never fully understand the value of instant information. All they (and everyone now) know is the power of the internet. It is the lifesaver that feeds our desire to have answers. The average Google user doesn't even think about how that information appears or determines where a website (company) ranks (how close to the top).

I will explain it a bit more, but simply put, the number one way to increase website traffic and Google rank is through blogging. Blogs answer questions asked by users through a written discussion, study, online conversation, etc. Google is a multi-billion-dollar company because of advertising spends from companies. Businesses want to advertise on Google and will pay to do so.

When you Google something, you will notice (usually) the top three to four results have Ad beside it. This type of result signifies it is a paid Google Ad. Back (way back), when Google started having paid advertisements, the Ad didn't appear, and the results were based on what businesses were willing to pay for users to click on their web link; referred to as PPC (pay per click) and CPC (cost per click). The problem that occurred was users weren't always getting the results they were hoping to get. For example, if someone typed in "best flower shop," the top results were related to plumbing. Why? Because those plumbing companies were willing to pay more for a click than other businesses. If time and time again you were searching Google for something, and you continued to get results that weren't relevant to what you were looking for, you would stop using Google. If users stop using Google, Google stops making advertising money. So, changes had to be made.

One of the top priorities for Google was to make searches user-relevant because it's all about user experience. If you go to a restaurant and have a poor experience, chances are you won't go back. Human brains and behaviour work the same way when trying to find information. Take paid ads out of the equation, I said it above, and I will say it again, blogging is the number one way to increase organic website traffic. I am sure you have all heard the term SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. Why is blogging important? Content is King (or Queen). If you have a business, providing the information people are searching for is what will bring potential customers to you.

I will be the first to inform you that blogging isn't the only factor when trying to increase your Google rank, which hopefully converts to clicks and then into a customer for you. These things include whether your website is secure and accessible, mobile-friendliness (most people use their phones to search items), the age of your website and how often the landing page content is updated, and the list goes on. But, for the sake of this blog, I'm here to tell you to blog. Once you've blogged, blog some more, and then blog again, and never stop. It can take a while to gain traction from blogging, but once you do, the moment you stop because you think you've accomplished the rank you want, it will drop. It's about getting your Google position up, but it's also about staying at the top. An astounding amount of users will never click to see the next page of results on Google. They will re-type what they are looking for until they find the result on the first page of Google.

Let me break it down so you can picture it for yourself. When you go to Google and type in what you are looking for, it triggers Google's bots (let's call them bugs) to crawl the world-wide-web and its millions and millions of websites out there. More bugs will go to websites that (1) provide the information you are looking for, is mobile-friendly, have updated (nobody wants outdated information) landing page content, and a few other Google-friendly items.

If a website doesn't have relevant content or stops updating content, Google's bugs lose interest in the site and stop going to it. Think of the bugs as hungry little critters that feed on information. They don't want to starve, so they look elsewhere, ultimately lowering a website's rank.

Yes, suppose a company does a paid ad campaign. In that case, the CPC will be a factor in determining where a business ranks. Even with that, Google will not place websites at the top that don't promote a positive user experience, i.e., providing the information they seek. How do you increase your traffic and rank? Guess what? Blogging! You have blogs on your site that include keywords. Simply put, keywords are common terms people will use to search the internet. You want your blogs to contain keywords related to your website and what users may type in to find something your website or company offers.

How do you write blogs? The great thing is, you don't have to write them. In fact, I recommend you don't write them, but hire someone unrelated to your business and your services to write them. Or, higher a professional writer (that's me - you can't see my hand, but it's up). I don't suggest you write your own because you are an expert in what you offer, and your writing will come off that way. You are probably thinking, why is that a bad thing? It's not bad; it's good to be an expert, but keep in mind, the people searching for something related to your business aren't experts. If they were, they wouldn't need your information.

Blogs need to connect with the everyday non-experts, since that is how they will search the web. For example, I did some writing for an Archaeology company, and they asked what their team should write blogs about. I let them know their team shouldn't write them at all. A professional archaeologist will use professional terms like AIA (Archaeological Impact Assessment), which I only know because I worked with them. A blogger (me) would write from the perspective of non-archaeology language and search Google using phrases like, "when do I need an archaeologist?" Being an expert is good, just not when writing blogs. You want the information you provide to trigger people to contact you; that's when you get to share your expertise and convert them.

There is no doubt I could write countless pages on the importance of blogging, website content, and how it affects your Google organic search results; however, I don't think I need to. If you want to have a higher rank on Google searches and receive more website traffic, BLOG! My professional recommendation is three to four per week.

To learn more about me, check this out, and to better understand my raw passion for writing, read Why We Write. If you would like more information or a more in-depth explanation of web content, please connect. I want to work with people and companies who want to succeed. Let me use words to bring your business to life.