Quiddity! - the SEO Blog

I seem to have been a little quiet of late, what with the hectic schedule of the fast approaching Christmas holidays, but never fear mom, for I'm alive and well and firing on all cylinders - almost - just in time for what apparently is the tenth anniversary of the coining of the term 'blog'. All right, I'm actually a day late but I'm never one to let tardiness spoil a poorly executed plan. So in my usual unfocused, rambling manner, I have decided to write about what is essentially the beauty of the blog and why it should be used to its maximum potential. Ahem...

It is nigh on impossible to skirt the edges of the SEO world without coming across that old, much wheeled-out mantra, 'Content is king'.

Don't take your Blog for Granted
Without wishing to dwell on this too much, it can be said that a site that delivers well-written, informative copy will always have the edge (user-wise at least) over one that's been thrown together without any thought or care, for the sole intention of turning a quick profit and getting the hell out of dodge. A recent post posed the question is content key anymore? asking whether Google were now devaluing constantly updated content because of the amount of sites that were publishing low grade, poor value material in a bid to 'game' their results in the SERPs.

Well I for one sincerely hope that this never becomes the case. I love to read and I love to write and a blog should never ever be solely for the purpose of search engine rankings or inviting somebody to click on an ad. True, a blog is an ideal way to keep a constant stream of information, thought, opinion, and relative news moving through your site, and therefore prove to the likes of Google that you're a serious proposition that should be justly rewarded within their search engine ranking pages. But in my opinion, and bear in my this is just my opinion and open to as much criticism as you'd wish to fling at it (for not even I'm perfect – I know, it's hard to believe), a blog should never just be for that purpose alone.

Blogging - The Future of Mankind?
As I said in my most recent post John Lennon Imagined Social Media, blogging has opened up the world to the average man in the street, giving even the smallest of voices the chance to be heard and taken notice of on a global scale. Track back a hundred years or less and in the UK (as everywhere else), those that weren't regarded as being of the privileged classes or 'good stock', were discouraged from reading altogether, let alone writing. (I resist the urge to use the term 'banned' from reading and writing)

That's why books are so valuable, because we should never take for granted that which was once denied to us.

But the dawn of blogging has meant that all of us that have ever held any aspirations to wield a pen in an unseemly and often reckless manner, now can; even if the literary agents and publishers aren't beating a path to our front doors with a hefty contract and a freshly inked quill in hand.

I have always envied the writer that makes it into physical print, for they have achieved what has thus far eluded the vast majority of us. To be fair, I envy all writers that have achieved their goals, particularly serious songwriters, for theirs is perhaps the most difficult of the written disciplines (apologies for the pretentious terminology), in that:

A) telling an emotive story in the form of song when done correctly can be supremely effective.

and

B) I can't do it.

I refer to the likes of Jagger and Richards, Lennon and McCartney, and Pete Townshend, during the late 60's through to the late 70's when they were in their prime. Theirs is a body of work to truly be proud of.

The Beauty of the Blog
But back to the matter in hand, the value – nay beauty – of a blog and why it should be made the most of. Where else can we see ourselves in (digital) print if our names are not Stephen King or JK Rowling? For those with a passion for writing it not only satisfies our artistic bent but also the need to have somebody other than ourselves read it. Even if that's just a single subscriber (hello again mom, I'm still here) - a sole stranger in a far-off corner of the world that has read, and hopefully enjoyed the meagre outpourings of our feverish, certifiable minds – it can be viewed as a minor success, for even though I write for myself primarily, a writer that doesn't wish to share his work with others is possibly deluded and most probably wasting their time.

So as I keep saying, a blog is the perfect opportunity to express ourselves and announce to the world that we exist. In a time when stricter sanctions are placed on certain freedoms, and information is available through a greater number of outlets, yet its distribution is controlled by an ever-decreasing number of vendors, it's to cyberspace we should all flee and make the most of the blank page that is there waiting for us, whilst we can. Even if the likes of Google control how and what the large majority of us see for the most part, across the internet, there are ways and means of getting ourselves noticed beyond their unblinking gaze, through social network and media sites, which encourage the modern equivalent of 'word of mouth', the ever-reliable link.

We are living in a time when Gonzo journalism is no longer just within the realms of Hunter S. Thompson and the counter-culture of the 70's, but accesible to all through the simple beauty of the blog. I call you all to arms (or pens, perhaps) and ask that you utilise what is there to its full potential and make yourself heard. Remember, a blog, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste.