Teresa on the BBS blog points to an article in the Seattle PI citing that only 8% of Americans read blogs, therefore blogging’s popularity and power is all hype. From the Seattle PI:
"One of the things that’s probably overstated by the press is how many people are visiting online blogs," Poltrack said in a presentation to TV critics recently. "I think you all blog each other, but I’m not sure the rest of the world is joining in the process that much."
Fair enough. Yep we all do link a lot to each other. Teresa chimes in with one of the good reasons to blog, SEO:
Except that it isn’t. So what if only 8% of people read blogs on any kind of a regular basis? The important thing is that search engines read blogs. What’s more, search engines like blogs. They update a lot and they are remarkably free of stupid, confusing code. Dynamic sites have a huge leg up in the world of search and everyone knows it.
If your customers are looking for products that you make, or services that you provide, you want to be the first thing to show up in the search results. And if you want search engines to consider your site to be the most relevant result to your industry, blogging is the best way to accomplish it.
Teresa only scratches the surface here. There are a couple of other points that are equally, if not more, important to make. First is that IMHO a lot of American Internet users don’t realize they are reading a blog when they are. And, really that’s a good thing. Blog as website, website as blog. I think many, many people have a picture in their minds of what a blog is and how to recognize them. Can’t really fault them for that.
The second more important factor isn’t that only 8% of Americans read blogs, it’s which 8% read them. Watch CNN for a couple days and you’ll notice pretty quickly they cite blogs and other social media very often in reports. It’s also very certain that a lot of the MSM looks to blogs as the source for fast-breaking news and for additional insight into an issue. Think of it this way, what percent of Americans read the Wall Street Journal? I don’t know the answer, but it isn’t the majority for sure. Then consider the influence that the WSJ has on opinion and the news. Blogs and social media are exactly the same. Blogs often influence the influencers, and that’s the major reason that blogs and blogging have risen to the fore.
For a small business, the search engine benefit is probably the key one. For now, that’s fine. But as any business blogs, eventually the blogger there will become recognized as an expert in that industry segment. That has untold value. That’s why you, me, and everyone else keeps blogging.
Tags: blogs, blogging, blog influence
