Well its about time really. Like many SEO professionals I spend a great deal of my time each day reading the latest industry news, reading and occassionally posting in various forums, and doing a bit of research regarding keywords, “search engine-friendly” website design, link popularity and the various aspects of marketing websites on the internet.
But I didn’t have a blog.
How can one call themselves an SEO Professional and not have a blog? Popularized by their search-engine friendly structure and always-fresh content, weblogs (aka blogs) have really risen to popularity in the past couple of years. Originally they were used more as journals, primarily by individuals discussing personal matters and the like:
“… So today I went to the store, took the dog for a walk and then rushed back to my computer to record these exciting events.”
Okay hold the phone. I like to talk. Alot, in fact. Even more I like to talk about myself, what I know, what I think I know and so forth. Why didn’t I have a blog? Well, in some sense I did. I built my first personal website around 1996 or ’97 – some Geocities or Tripod website that is far too embarassing to provide a link to (its still up). Since then I’ve had at least a dozen recreations, many of which had personal journals – which I used as a way to sort of unwind and indulge in a little self-therapy. But since each of these journals was static – meaning I actually typed an entry into the html code of the page or editing software, and then uploaded the page – it was really a pain in the butt. Thus, I was never consistent in writing. We’ll see if that changes this time around.
This site can more accurately be called a blog though, rather than simply a journal or frequent postings of recent news… if for no other reason than I’m using a blogging software program – WordPress. WordPress, like its competitors MovableType and Blogger, makes it easy to post frequent content, manage it, allow readers to comment and so on. I was recommended WordPress by Millennium Systems, my hosting company (these guys are great by the way). After checking out the above named competitors, I decided the ease of use, ease of installation and, more importantly, the fact that WordPress was FREE even for commercial use all were great reasons to give it a shot.
So now this site – this blog of mine – will serve as a database that will hopefully capture and retain some of the endless amounts of search engine related discussion that spews from my fingertips each day. No longer will I spend 45 minutes typing up an email to explain something I’ve explained 100 times before…
No, indeed. Now, I’m organized. Now, I have a blog. Now, I am cool.