89 percent of companies currently blog or plan to start in the near future.

"Over half the respondents have launched one or more blogs within the last year, and 10 percent have blogged for over three years. The study finds a higher adoption rate among smaller companies. Fifty-eight percent of corporate blogs represent companies with less than 100 employees, while companies with over 1,000 employees take up 16 percent of the blogosphere's corporate segment. The same trend rings true from a revenue standpoint; companies with under $100 million in revenues account for 45 percent of corporate blogs. "

Here is a trend that is really amazing. Blogs have caught on so fast it is stunning!

It must be that the technology is so easy that it encourages people to adopt it who would otherwise shy away. Since these blogs are generally easily syndicated, this makes a very easy means of spreading information across the web, allowing users to keep in touch with information sources who provide content of interest to them.

The message for your business is three-fold. First, you better get on board this trend, or you will be left behind. Second, you need to make sure that your blog is RSS-ready. And, third, as always, you must pay attention to the quality of what you put up on the web, as your content must be enticing enough to attract its proper audience. If you do this successfully, the rewards will accrue to your site and to your business!

Common Sense Search Engine Optimization Article

"Common sense tells me that most people would rather be presented with information on the types of products or services offered in clear, concise language, right on the main page of the site they're visiting. Luckily for us, that's exactly what the search engines want to see also!"

Search Engine specialist Jill Whalen writes a good article debunking several common myths about effective marketing on the web.

Number one is pointing out the absence of any need for Flash and other fancy graphics on a web site. She also emphasizes the value of good content on your pages, pointing out that the reason people will come to your site is because they see something there of value to them!

Another myth is that a webmaster has to keep changing pages to keep up with changes to the search engine algorithms. Jill points out that the search engines are always attempting to solve the same problem, which is delivering good content to their users. If you stick with that approach (putting good content on your site), you will be a winner over the long term

I have a summary of the elements of good web page design making much the same points.

Jill's report is one of the places on the web that I review regularly. I have found her advice to always be reliable and sound.

Making your search engine marketing efforts pay off.

"... 42% of users clicked the top search hit, and 8% of users clicked the second hit."

How do you get results from your search engine marketing efforts?

This item from Nielsen 's Alertbox makes a couple of interesting points. First, the top ranking in a search clearly has a payoff. This little study indicates that a large percentage of searchers will click on the top link. Interestingly, it is not "most" searchers, as the study shows that when results of the search were artificially shuffled, searchers tended to move down the list for their first click.

What this tells us, as marketers, is that you need to pay attention to the content on your pages that the search engines will display in a search results page. This requires more effort, and more attention to detail on the part of the page designer, but, as always, attention to detail does have a payoff!

We have talked in our clinic many times about how to identify what different search engines will display on their results pages. Make use of what you learn to improve your performance on the web and the bottom line in your business!