(photo:Josh Bancroft - Geek Blogger)

The internet amazes me every day.  Even with 60 million blogs out there, a lot of people still have no clue what a blog is and/or what it can do for you and your business. Blogging has been around for a good solid 7 years, but I think in the last 18 months, businesses have really started to realize this is the new "it" marketing trend and it can give you a huge lift in search engines. Just this week, I left a comment on someone's blog and within 48 hours, my comment was on page 1 of Google! Tell that to your webmaster of your website!

A few years ago most business people who had even heard the word blog,  associated it with crazy opinionated geek-nerds and  potty-mouthed teenagers,  expressing their angst  on myspace and online with blogs.

Somewhere along way, blogs got serious. All of a sudden, newspaper reporters started finding blog entries coming up ahead of their well-researched pieces.  Those in the know realized search engines liked blogs.  Now it's hard to find a reporter without a blog!  Businesses started getting in the game. From carmakers like General Motors  to businesses of every size and every industry, wanted to start  taking advantage the benefits blogging. Blogs are a powerful tool for marketing and promotion. Because the entries are short, and often full of links, they are more keyword heavy than standard articles often are.

What does all this do? Create loyalty. Position yourself as an expert or leader in your field. Attract new clients and customers. Engage your customers with your blog. Create an ongoing dialog about your products. Being open and honest about your company invites trust among prospects, vendors, investors. Improve your customer service. Inviting direct feedback from your customers gives you first-hand information about how make your products services more desirable. Best of all, you improve your search engine ranking. Search engines love fresh, relevant content. Keeping your blog up with news information adds value your customers also make search engines love your site.

No matter what your business is or where you are located, you can benefit from a blog. Even if you don't want to start your own blog - at the very least, you should be reading blogs and leaving comments, with a signature back to your website!