Weblog (blog)
webl] A blog is a website that is updated frequently by its author, in a standard format, with the most recent entry at the top, and older entries archived. Each entry is a unique URL, a permalink. Entries also include trackbacks and the option for allowing comments. Blogging software (such as Blogger.com and typepad.com) allow anyone the opportunity to be a publisher on the web (no need to know html), thus truly democratizing the process of publishing information (a potential threat to traditional media organizations). Blogs are used to annotate and collect news sources across the web; used as personal journals and for sharing experiences; and used by businesses to reach out to their customers and engage in conversations. Example blogs are: Scobleizer: Microsoft Blog, Diva Marketing: Marketing Consultant Blog, Clear Admit: Portal-Style Blog and Fembat: Personal Blog. Note each blog has a list of other blogs they visit. They can determine who visits their site through the comments system they have in place, and via a program like sitemeter which indicates where traffic has come from (the referrer URL). Blogs can also generate an RSS feed which readers can use to subscribe, via a news reader aggregator. The three main blog search engines Google Blog Search, Technorati and Feedster are good sites to discover blogs. They are also good sites to use to subscribe to search results that include keyword phrases you want to watch (your company, your product, your competitors). You can subscribe to these results in your news aggregator. Blogs are also a good SEO tool. Search engines like sites that update often, and blog authors can certainly be deliberate about including the appropriate keywords in the title and body texts of entries.
Maximizing Business Potential
