As they start to set up a Business Blog and learn about the Blog Search Engines, some people have a nagging doubt that perhaps their blog will only appear in these blog specific Search Engines and not in the mainstream ones. This is absolutely not true.

A Blog at the end of the day is a website, albeit one which has a number of special characteristics - therefore, it will certainly appear in the main Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. In fact, blogs are much more likely to rank highly in the main Search Engines because they have some key elements that the Search Engines find very attractive:

• the fact that they are generally updated on a frequent basis and therefore have a continual flow of fresh content. Search Engines particularly like sites which are regularly updated because the more recent the information, the higher its relevance is likely to be and therefore the better the results they can deliver their customers;
• the inbound links from other blogs (and websites) which is a key part of the ethos of the blogosphere - when you comment on subjects then you reference the source and other commentators you value. Inbound links is another of the major factors in ranking sites;
• their internal structure, which is highly organised and groups similar posts together in categories. This creates highly relevant pages on individual topics which Search Engines love;
• the very focused nature and quality of the content in a good Business Blog which is at the core of what Search Engines are looking to offer their users.

The main Search Engines will find your Blog by following links to it from other sites that are already in their index, or blog directories so there is no need to submit it directly to them. (Google has its own specific blog search engine which you will automatically “ping” anyway and which helps feed into the main results.) It will then be ranked using the criteria that are applied to any other site, criteria which will rank you well if you are using a Blog to good effect.

You can use other Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) methods in addition which will give an additional boost in your rankings, but you already have a number of advantages which will serve you well. Using a blog should in fact be a valuable addition to your company’s SEO activity, so make sure that you write quality and targeted posts on a regular basis and ensure that you promote your blog well.

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