How optimized blogs boost search engine visibility

Optimized blogs can help boost a web site’s positioning within natural search engine results, according to SEM provider MoreVisibility.com, in a new report on the topic.

Search engines have historically looked for content-rich sites that are updated frequently, making them a good match for the content that typically constitutes a blog, according to MoreVisibility CTO Joe Laratro, whose report offers marketers tips on how to optimize blogs for search engines.

Specifically, to optimize blog entries for search engines, MoreVisibilty advises its business clients using blogs on their site to focus on a very limited set of keywords in any blog updates. The main keywords should appear it the title of the blog entry, and the same keywords should also be mentioned one to three times in the blog entry itself, based on its length.

Among the other rules that make blogs friendly to search engine spiders, MoreVisbility advises marketers to limit blog content to simple, quick reads. ”Blogs should not be graphic-intensive, marketing-driven web sites,” says Laratro. In addition, blogs should be updated frequently, at least once a week. “The more frequently the content is updated, the more popular your blog will become,” notes Laratro, citing comScore Networks data showing that the typical blog visitor is a voracious user of web content and viewed 77% more web pages in the first quarter of this year than the average web user.

In addition, MoreVisibilty advises retailers exploring blogs for commercial use to stay committed to them as their popularity grows. “Commit to blogging and the benefits should grow over time, ” notes the report. “Creative uses of blogs are driving their expansion. As part of an online marketing mix, blogs open new channels to your consumers.”