Earlier today, Problogger’s Darren Rowse declared April 14th “Blogger Appreciation Day“.

Although I read Darren’s blog, I actually found out about it after receiving a link from his colleague, Chris Garrett, thanking me for commenting on his blog over the past year.

It’s no secret that Chris and Darren are smart guys. They knows how to get comments, trackbacks, RSS subscribers, ad revenue… all the stuff bloggers claim to want. In fact, they’ve even co-authored a new book, Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. I haven’t yet read their book, but after following their blogs for a combined three years, I can tell you that their biggest secrets are (*spoiler alert*) that they actually enjoy what they do and they know how to engage and give energy back to their readers.

They also know how to ask for things without being tacky. At one point last year, Chris had an author’s note at the bottom of each post that read, “If you found this post useful, buy me a coffee!” (with “buy me a coffee” linked to his PayPal account). Brilliant.

It must have been a good post. I payed real dollars to buy him a virtual double latte.

So, in the spirit of this imaginary international holiday, here’s GrokDotCom’s short list of bloggers who, for various reasons, we appreciate:

• Linda Bustos & Jason Billingsley
• Mary Schmidt
• Matt McGee
• Andy Beal
• Brian Clark
• Baratunde
• Matt Pace + crew
  
• B.L. Ochman
• Aaron Chronister
• Dave Young
• Rand Fishkin
• Alex Harris
• Joanna Wiebe
• Roger Dooley
• Marshall Sponder
• Linas Simonis
• Avinash Kaushik
• Fred Reichheld
• Andrew Goodman
• Paul Williams
• Gord Hotchkiss
• Joshua Porter
• Adele Revella
• Jim Novo
• Ayat
• Edward Tufte
• Amanda Watlington
• Mal Watlington
• Garr Reynolds
• Tom Limongello
• Olivier Favre
• Jennifer Laycock
• David Armano
• Richard, Marshall, Sarah, Josh & Alex
• Bob Walsh + comrades
• Julien Hervouet & Florent Gosselin
• Peter Kim
• Andy Sernovitz
• Stoney deGeyter
• Jimmy B.
• Tim Huijbers
• Chuck McKay
• Steve Clark
• Kim Krause Berg
• Josh Bernoff & Charlene Li
• John Jantsch
• John Moore
• MarsOcean
• Don Dodge
• Michele Miller
• Jason, Matt, Sarah + crew
• Mitch Joel
• Roberta Rosenberg
• David Meerman Scott
• Juan Guillermo Tornoe
• Olaf Molenaar
• Stéphane Hamel
• Dave McClure
• Christ Coolen
• Robbin Steif
• Wayne Hulbert
• Mike Drew
• David Berkowitz
• Augie Ray
• Bob Souer
• Tim Peter
• Steve Hall
• Angela Natividad
• James Paden
• Yvonne DiVita
• Bridget Z
• Chris Baggott
• Steve Woda
• Tom Fishburne
• Mattias Kindell
• Sam Decker
• Lars Johansson
• James C. Zolman
• Carolyn Gardner
• and Seth Godin (whose link is especially worth clicking if you’ve made it this far)

. .

Find this post valuable? Subscribe to GrokDotCom.

Related Posts:

• How to Find Your Website's Voice (Even if it's a Blog)
• Rediscover Your (Online Copywriting) Groove
• Hyperlink Contest: "And the Winners Are... "
• The "My Hyperlink Can Beat Your Hyperlink" Contest (Winners just announced... )
• Headlines + Hyperlinks = Conversion + Cash

In our “Ask the Experts” post, Dina asks how to find her voice — her copywriting voice, that is — for a blog:

“Copywriting for a lifestyle blog is a mystery. How can a blogger create compelling copy that resonates in the short opportunities available, i.e. tagline, front page, about page, social media profiles so that readers subscribe?

“Long copy strategies just don’t work on my baby boomer marriage blog. There’s not enough room to describe the content, show personality and be keyword-rich without sounding crazy.

“What style of writing works best in a blog situation?”

As social media evolves, businesses of all sizes are struggling to maintain a balance in tone between website, blog, and anywhere else their content and brand are represented.

You may already know how to find your website’s voice, so let’s unpack Dina’s question a bit and see if it applies to your social media strategy as well…

Hi Dina!

First, subscribe to Brian Clark’s Copyblogger. He’s got concrete advice on web copy and content creation in general, and he’s the best of the best when it comes to copy that’s specifically tailored to blogging. In fact, one of his writers just did a post about “How to Create a Rock-Solid Tagline“.

Second — Before we, or anyone, can help you find the right tone for your blog, it’s essential to understand its goal.

How are you measuring success? You say you want to generate subscriptions, but to what end? Do you plan on monetizing the blog — and if so, how? Question your own assumptions. You’re suggesting that there are only a few “short opportunities available” to ask people to subscribe, but don’t forget that each post can present an opportunity to subscribe.

Your About Us page should be about more than just “keyword-rich” copy; it should tell your story. Take a look at Nike’s About Us page. Powerful, isn’t it? Sure, they hit all of the essential, dry corporate facts, but those few sentences that stick out let you know why people care about their brand. Your About Us page shouldn’t need to be as dramatic as Nike’s, but it should reflect your blog’s purpose. Remember, you’re asking people to subscribe to your blog, not search engines.

Let people know what you’ve done; where’ you’ve come from; what’s in it for you; what’s in it for them. Future Now’s About Us page isn’t perfect, but hopefully we’ve been both honest and persuasive — two things that are essential to our blog’s voice as well.

In your case (Dina runs a lifestyle blog about boomers getting married), here are a few questions that might help you find the right voice:

• What is the overall emotional stance that your blog has towards its subject?
  • How does your blog view marriage?
  • Write down some adjectives or perspectives to help.
• If your blog where an actual person, who would it be? Is your blog:
  • Another girlfriend to talk to about marriage?
  • A marriage counselor?
  • A sincere talk show host?
  • A close friend of the opposite sex who you feel comfortable asking sticky questions?
  • A favorite aunt who has been there, done that, and gotten the t-shirt?
• Is there a favorite quote you have on marriage that sums things up for you?
• Is there one particular moment in the life of your blog that would capture its essence in a nutshell?
• Do certain words or phrases keep popping up in your blog, and would they help show your style/voice?

It may seem silly, but this stuff works.

Third, once you’ve established your blog’s voice, make sure it resonates in the details. Comment directions, error messages, category titles and the like are all good places to indicate your personality. But most of all, headlines are key. Make sure the post titles reflect both your brand’s personality and voice.

Finally, to the degree possible, make sure the content on the blog matches its editorial voice as well. This may be harder to do with multi-author blogs, but having a central blog voice can help. Send the style and voice guidelines out and simply ask for your writers not to stray too far from it. When some of them (quite inevitably) do stray, you can simply make it your policy to brand the post slightly differently than normal, so the readers know that not everyone shares the guest blogger’s perspective.

When in doubt, you can always ask your readers what they think.

. .

Editor’s Note: These are all things we’ve tried to do while finding our own voice at GrokDotCom. It’s not easy, particularly when offering what one hopes is constructive criticism, to be percieved as actually having been constructive. Of course, subscribing to a blog feed or a newsletter does not mean you subscribe to everything its authors say or how they say it. And as Seth Godin points out, “Sometimes, the web is more of a cocktail party than a club meeting.” Very true — and doubly so for those of us who offer advice.

On that note, we’d like to hear your thoughts on how GrokDotCom’s voice has evolved over the days, months, or years you’ve been reading. Don’t worry about hurting our feelings, either. We’d only be hurt if you thought we weren’t listening.

Feel free to share your comments below or email Robert (that’s me) directly. Thanks!

Related Posts:

• Blogger Appreciation Day -- A Few GrokDotCom Favorites
• Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet -- Part 2
• Rediscover Your (Online Copywriting) Groove
• Podcast: How to Profit from the Social Media Groundswell
• The 7th Deadly Claim -- "Best Value"

By now, most of you know about my passion and focus of extensive research: marketing to women online. Over the past several years, I’ve been so consumed by the topic that, in addition to my articles for GrokDotCom, I’ve kept up my own blog as well. Until now. I’m downsizing to one.

From now on, you can now read about all things marketing-to-women-online at GrokDotCom.com/women.

And now for the really exciting news…

Michele Miller and I have a new book coming out March 10th: The Soccer Mom Myth — Today’s Female Consumer: Who She Really Is, Why She Really Buys.

To find out more about the book (and laugh at our bad dance moves), visit us at TheSoccerMomMyth.com.

As a thank you to the frequent commenters on my posts (you know who you are), we’re giving away 10 free copies. Just reintroduce yourself in the comment field and tell the world to “Stop stereotyping your customers!” and I’ll email you to get your address so we can send you a copy.

If you’re lucky, I may even autograph it for you.

Oh, and if you end up being commenter #11, no worries. You can always order the book from Amazon.

UPDATE 3/10: The winners have been notified. If we’ve been in touch, your copy of The Soccer Mom Myth is on its way. If you missed out on the contest, no worries, the book has officially been released today. Get yours today at Amazon.

Related Posts:

• Now Available: "The Soccer Mom Myth" by Holly Buchanan & Michele Miller
• Interview on Persuasion Architecture, Personas and ROI
• "Secret Life of a Soccer Mom" TV Show Creates Backlash
• Women Entrepreneurs Grow Firms 2X Faster. Here's Why…
• Why "Harmless" Stereotypes Kill Marketing Campaigns

The results are in: GrokDotCom has won this year’s SEMMY Award for Best Online Marketing Post.

Taking the top honors, Bryan’s post on “How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away” captured a whopping 46% of the vote. Holly’s “Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work,” meanwhile, came in at 2nd place with 22%.

Our sincere thanks go out to Matt McGee, Stoney deGeyter, Jennifer Laycock, and the other judges of the SEMMY Awards for nominating us (twice!), and for recognizing the work of bloggers who create valuable and researched content.

Most of all, thanks to you; for voting for, subscribing to, and reading GrokDotCom. Please do keep your pretty face tuned here.

Congratulations, Bryan and Holly!

[Deep breath.]

Now that our Halle Berry moment’s out of the way… here are the winners in each SEMMY category:

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Ranking Factors Version 2 - Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz

Pay-Per-Click

Optimizing Paid Search & Landing Pages for TV, Radio and Print Advertising - Greg Meyers, SEM Geek

Google

Why Google Can’t Just “Dump” PageRank - Dan Thies, SEO Fast Start

Viral Marketing

Top 6 Ideas for Incredible Viral Content - Tamar Weinberg, Techipedia

Link Building

Help! I’m New, I Need Links, What Can I Do? - Debra Mastaler, The Link Spiel

Local Search

Anatomy & Optimization Of A Local Business Profile - Chris Silver Smith, Search Engine Land

Blogs & Blogging

The Blogger’s Guide to SEO - Aaron & Giovanna Wall, SEO Book

Reputation Management

Buzz Monitoring: 26 Free Tools You Must Have - Andy Beal, Marketing Pilgrim

Small Business

Branding For Small Business And Bloggers - Steven Bradley, TheVanBlog

Social Media

The Social Media Manual: Read Before You Play - Muhammad Saleem, Search Engine Land

Web Analytics

Web Analytics Demystified - Avinash Kaushik, Occam’s Razor

Search Tech

Which Is Better For SEO: Shared or Dedicated IPs - Lisa Barone, Bruce Clay Blog

Online Marketing / General

How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away - Bryan Eisenberg, GrokDotCom

LOL Funny

9 Ways To Bore The Audience at SES New York - Lisa Barone, Bruce Clay Blog

Rants

Web 2.0 & SEO: Must We Piss In Every Public Fountain? - Dan Thies, SEO Fast Start

Related Posts:

• GrokDotCom Up for Two SEMMY Awards -- Vote Now!
• Two FutureNow Seminars, 6/2-3 in New York City
• Save Hundreds Off Our Upcoming West Coast Seminars
• Mobile Marketing Conference Ticket Winners Announced
• Win Tickets to the IMC Mobile Marketing Conference

GrokDotCom is honored to announce that two of our posts have been selected as finalists in the first-annual SEMMY Awards — in the same category, no less.

Launched by Matt McGee of Small Business SEM, these awards are a much-appreciated nod of peer recognition from some of the smartest folks in search and customer experience marketing.

And the nominees for best post in the “Online Marketing/General” category are…

• 17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites
  Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz
• Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work
  Holly Buchanan, GrokDotCom
• How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away
  Bryan Eisenberg, GrokDotCom
• Seeing With Web Designer Eyes - 9 Evident Errors
  Miriam Ellis, SEO Igloo
• 58 of the World’s Greatest Offers (4-part series)
  Dean Rieck, Copyblogger
• 5 Things People Want to See Before the Sale
  Mason Hipp, Small Fuel

Big thanks to the judge for nominating us, the other finalists for inspiring us, and our readers for, well, reading our stuff. Without you, GrokDotCom would be just another blog collecting pixel dust at the far reaches of the Googlesphere.

Bryan and Holly have some pretty stiff competition in this category, so don’t forget to vote for “Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work” or “How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away” if you liked them the best. The polls close January 30th, so vote now!

Related Posts:

• GrokDotCom Wins SEMMY for Best Online Marketing Post
• Two FutureNow Seminars, 6/2-3 in New York City
• Save Hundreds Off Our Upcoming West Coast Seminars
• Mobile Marketing Conference Ticket Winners Announced
• Win Tickets to the IMC Mobile Marketing Conference

Seth Godin piqued my interest (there’s a surprise) with his post about a shortage of digital coaches. Seth points out a need that a whole lot of people, myself included, have: Help getting more from the technology in which they’ve already invested.

We have an interesting discussion going about Apple, technology needs, and advertising to different types of computer users. Here’s another chance to look at how people use technology and how you can use that knowledge to create better advertsing for them.

As Seth tells it on his blog,

Here are three things that are true:

1.) Digital technology, especially computers and cell phones, can dramatically increase productivity.
2.) More and more users of digital technology are small firms or individuals.
3.) The vast majority of users of digital technology are totally lame in getting the most out of the investment of their time and money.

My guess is I’m not alone in how I use technology. I can set it up myself, and I do. I can figure out some stuff, and I do. But is there a better way to use this technology? You bet. If I had about 200 extra hours, I could go out and educate myself on every cool product, feature, new software, etc., and set it up to greatly increase my productivity. Here’s the only catch: I don’t have 200 hours.

I don’t have one hour.

One hour that takes me away from what really matters to me — researching marketing to women online, doing outstanding client work, being taken for my afternoon walk by my Lab — is one hour too many. Like many people, I would gladly trade time for money. I would gladly hire someone who has lost 200 hours of their life learning this stuff so they can set it up for me.

In his blog post, Seth is looking for the same person I am.

Here’s what I haven’t found: people who charge $100 an hour to hear what you do and how you do it and then show you how to do it better. People who organize data and put it in the right place. People who overhaul the way small groups use technology so they can use it dramatically better. People who use copilot to take over a PC and actually rearrange it so that it works better.

YES! Where is that person!? As luck would have it, the post links to a Squidoo page where people who provide just such a service let you know about themselves.

Last I checked, there were over 40 responses, but only one really got my attention. Here’s what it said:

“Your tools should fit YOUR life”

Now THAT’s great copywriting. (Sign me up!) Use words that your customers can relate to. In one sentence, they managed to explain exactly how I feel: Technology should work for me, not the other way around.

Here are some of my reactions to the other “digital coach” auditions:

“Web gurus help make sense of online technologies.” (I’m not interested in trying to make sense of technology. My love life, yes. Technology, no.)

“Simple easy to do lessons and tips.” (I don’t want lessons and tips. That’s why I’m hiring you!)

“Have you been seeking some hand-holding?” (Not since I was three.)

“Teaching digital literacy.” (Did you just call me illiterate?)

People who are not tech-savvy are not inherently stupid. It’s not that we don’t understand; it’s that we choose to spend our time doing other things that are more important to us. There’s an important distinction.

Don’t be condescending.

If you want to build solidarity with someone, look at their problem through their eyes. That’s why “your tools should fit YOUR life” is a very powerful message. You shouldn’t have to work your life around technology. Technology should work around you.

If you’re going after the do-it-yourselfers, some of those other lines would work. But if you’re going after the do-it-for-me crowd, try the “your tools should fit YOUR life” approach. (Trust me, it could win you a lot of business.)

Agree with them. THEY are not the problem.

[Editor’s Note: If you’re a fan of his work, take a moment to listen to our exclusive interview with Seth Godin, or download it by right-clicking here.]

Related Posts:

• (Free Download) Seth Godin & GrokDotCom Sync Into Meatball Sundae
• Podcast: Seth Godin on His Latest Book, "Meatball Sundae"
• Using Video to Build Better Customer Relationships
• How to Find Your Website's Voice (Even if it's a Blog)
• The Demise of Borders Books: Death by Internet

“The problem with social media is… there are more people writing it than reading it. That isn’t very social, huh?”

I laughed when I first heard it, but my friend explained:

At last count, there were some 75 million+ blogs out there, but very few of those blogs have many readers besides the writer, his mom and the family pet; and if it’s a cat, they just casually glance at it. If you care to argue that people use it as a personal journal, I’d suggest they use a more elegant and simpler technology, a moleskine notebook and a pen.

In fact, besides a few really popular blogs, most blogs don’t have enough readers for a pickup game of basketball. Please don’t lecture me about the long tail — I understand niche, even micro-niche. I think as marketers, though, we have bigger issues to overcome if we ever expect to see the acceptance of social media as a viable media channel.

1. Splogs, Scrapers and Money Making Fakers

Way too many of the blogs out there have been created because someone heard the search engines love blogs. And eventually, some low life figured they could get more traffic is grabbing garbage content from others to post and post and post. The frightening part is that Google and Technorati can’t filter out these content thieves and their sites often show up in listings so that in aggregate they deliver traffic. Both blog publishers and readers feel this pain.

Also, according to Google, of the 2 billion or so pages containing the word “blog,” only about 200,000,000 of them don’t contain the word “money” somewhere on the page.

Based on these statistics, close to 90% of the blogs you’ll find on the internet are the products of get rich quick schemes.

2. New Year’s Resolution Makers and Promise Breakers

Do you have your list of things you plan to do in the new year? Ready for a fresh start? Do you plan to lose weight, start exercising, find a better job and quit smoking? Like many people, you might sign up for the gym the first week of January; you’ll feel the burn of that first session you have with the personal trainer. You’ll thrill from buzz and bustle of the crowds. Waiting for your next machine may whisk you back to memories of standing in airport TSA lines during the holiday travel season. You’ll return, but, unfortunately, by March the gym will be so empty that you’ll hear an echo every time you swallow. Sure you’ll keep going, because you’re different.

Blogging, like any of these resolutions takes a real commitment. Out of the 75 million plus blogs started, in April Technorati reported that 15.5 million of them were “active.” What exactly does that mean?

Technorati claims about 1.5 million new posts a day. Take a look at popular blogs like, Boing Boing, Engadget, TechCrunch, Lifehacker, Scoblelizer, Search Engine Watch, and Search Engine Land, and you’ll notice many of these are publishing 5 or more posts a day. Meanwhile others — top marketing blogs like Seth Godin, SEOmoz, Duct Tape Marketing, Search Engine Journal, Marketing Pilgrim and us at GrokDotCom — try to publish a couple of posts a day. To really feel the benefits of blogging, or any of those other resolutions, you have to do it regularly and you have to do it well. How many actual blogs do you think are doing it and not just polluting the interwebs?

3. Link Baiters and Content Masturbators

If you don’t have easy access to Reddit’s leaked algorithm or know the secret formula to be Dugg, let me tell you how most people get to the front page of these sites.

• Create a list. Title it any of the following: The top 10…, a definitive guide…, 101 resources for…
• Pick a hot topic. These include: Apple, Ubuntu, Linux, Wii, Halo, Ron Paul, or choose something trendy from Google.
• Link to a whole bunch of other people’s posts.
• Voila, you have viral post.

Need an example? Just this week I saw a post on analyzing traffic and improving conversions rise through the social media networks. Not to take anything away from the effort made to create the post, but its first link is to a parked GoDaddy domain page with no content. Even still, people saw the list, didn’t read, didn’t click, but just bookmarked it. Is that the promise and purpose of social media?

Bring the Social Back to Social Media in 2008

Promise to create useful, updated, and unique content every day. I toast each and every one of you who make valuable contributions to this blogosphere every day. It’s hard work and I, for one, respect and appreciate it. Will you?

P.S. Happy New Year to you all.

Related Posts:

• How to Find Your Website's Voice (Even if it's a Blog)
• ESPNU to be a Fast Follower of NASCAR
• AdAge Unveils "Power 150" Marketing Blogs
• If Rank Meant Everything...
• Grokcast: Arik Czerniak, Co-Founder of Metacafe

You’ve heard it time and time again: “Search engines love blogs.” You’ve read in one too many places that your website should include a blog in order to get better positioning in search engine results.

It’s not as simple as some may lead you to believe.

First, there’s the issue of relevance. A blog won’t magically give you a top ranking position on Google, Yahoo! or the like. The content your blog has, the frequency with which such content is being updated, and the amount of relevant incoming links to your site are some of the factors that will make-or-break the effectiveness of your weblog.

Don’t add a blog to your site if you’re not willing to consistently invest time and effort. An outdated blog will reflect the opposite image of whatever it is you want potential customers to know about your company.

Some bloggers are a bit obsessive-compulsive when it comes to “keeping it fresh.” No, you don’t need to add 10+ posts per day; what you need is consistency and relevance. You can update your blog daily, weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly, but you need to do it on a regular basis.

More importantly, write about your product/service/industry from as many angles as you can imagine. Link and opine on news and commentary related to your business. Doing so will benefit your customers as they try to wrap their heads around the issue (or problem) that your organization is able to solve.

If you are selling Piñatas, talk about piñatas; how they originated, the different materials/manufacturing techniques being utilized, market share, growth opportunities, or give examples of when and where it’s appropriate to have one. Show piñatas across the world, client testimonials, the most commonly used characters, licensing issues, what NOT to put inside them, the best sticks used to break them, how to liven any party, how to grab the kid’s attention during a birthday party . . . you get the picture.

Don’t go off on a weird tangent by addressing personal interests (outside of Piñata World) in your company blog. Have the need to do it? Start a personal blog and be as weird, nerdy, cool, public or anonymous as you wish to be. And, when it’s appropriate, link to your company’s blog.

Here’s a personal example of the true power or blogs: “Hi, my name’s Juan, and I’m an obsessive-compulsive blogger.” I have to blog on a daily basis about my passion, the Hispanic Community.

Every single post on my blog has something to do with Latinos; marketing and advertising, culture, religion, language, sports, business, buying power, politics, education, health. Bottom line: If it’s relevant information that will help you acquire a stronger grasp of Hispanics, you will find it on Hispanic Trending.

Through many years of non-stop blogging on the subject, I’ve been blessed to have established good relationships with many interesting people, from all walks of life, with the same interests as me.

One such individual is Dave Schechter, a news editor at CNN. In late September 2007, when interest regarding Hispanic Heritage Month was reaching its zenith, CNN and CNN.com launched a very insightful initiative, both on and off line, under the name, “Uncovering America,” with humongous coverage of everything Latino in a very professional and thorough manner. Early morning on September 28th, I received an email from Dave, requesting that “Uncovering America” be mentioned on Hispanic Trending. He even emphasized that coverage would be on both CNN and CNN.com.

Knowing that the entire coverage would be extremely relevant to the blog’s readers, I complied with my friend’s request and added a simple (and truly short) post that evening, with a link to “Uncovering America’s” landing page on CNN.com. Programming began on September 29th and everything was business as usual at Hispanic Trending. Being addicted beyond hope to my site’s analytics, on October 1st, I noticed abnormally high traffic numbers (trending towards 4 times the “normal” number of visitors for a single day). My analytics showed that the traffic spike was being generated through Google, specifically for the search term: “cnn.com/uncoveringamerica.”

I was fascinated by the phenomenon and kept digging deeper into it. I went to Google Trends (also captivating) and finally grasped the magnitude what was going on. For reasons beyond my control (I’m guessing the mention of the website on CNN’s TV coverage), “CNN.com/UncoveringAmerica” had reached, according to Google Trends, “On Fire” search term status that day; ranked #2, right between “veratril” and “aliens in america.”

Google Trends not only shows the most popular search terms of the day, it provides links to the news articles, blog posts and websites people are visiting after performing that specific search. There were no results under the news articles section, and my guess is that there wasn’t one article from any tracked media outlet that included the specific term being searched.

Under blog posts, I was pleasantly surprised to see my blog ranked number one. Then, looking closer, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The actual CNN.com site had the #2 and #3 positions behind, you guessed it, my blog. People were searching for the term “cnn.com/uncovering america” and clicking on my blog. Once there, they found a prominent and clear link to the information they were looking for and off they went. Since that day, the blog’s readership — although not at the record level it reached — was permanently increased to a new level that otherwise would have taken much longer to achieve.

The power of a relevant and consistently updated blog is not to be taken lightly, nor is it for the faint of heart. Years and years of posting relevant information about the subject made Google consider the blog so relevant that, when this specific term was searched, they listed it “Numero Uno.”

Advertising investment: $0.00

Hispanic Trending didn’t reach this milestone because of a catchy name, a nice design, or by who I know; it was a combination of perseverance and focus over time.

Sure, a blog can do wonders to increase traffic to your site, but do you must consider it a long-term investment.

Has blogging helped your organization? Got any lesser-known examples of how blogging has or hasn’t helped business?

[Editor’s Note: This is Juan Tornoe’s first guest post for GrokDotCom. He’ll be joining us at least once a month to share his insights about blogging and online Hispanic marketing trends.]

Related Posts:

• Why Free Web Tools Make Customers Want to BUY NOW
• Are Your Visitors Searching for Your Products?
• Do French Canadians Search Different?
• How to Rank in Google Blog Search
• How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with Search Engine Optimization

2007 was the year “blog” became an everyday word. Only twelve months ago, blogs was seen as a fad that maybe, in a few more years, might be seen as credible by the masses.

Oh, how quickly things change. Blogs have taken over, creating a feedback loop between journalists and readers, businesses and customers, you name it — conversation has officially changed the game.

While this may not represent all of the year’s best marketing bloggery, it’s a start. Are there posts by other bloggers you’d like to see on here? Let us know with a brief comment and (so long as it fits) we’ll add your suggestion to the list. Enjoy!

December

“Best of 2007: Top 7 Tech News Stories” — Mashable (The top tech posts from the Mashable.com team.)

“2007 Brand Autopsy Marketing Book Awards” by John Moore, Brand Autopsy (Find out which books John thought were made to stick, so to say, in ‘07.)

“The Cosmo Headline Technique for Blogging Inspiration” by Brian Clark, Copyblogger (Shows how to spin brilliantly trashy headlines into useful attention-grabbers, e.g., “Headline Help: Crucial Tips That Brian Clark Forgot to Mention” [Hint: It’s not just for bloggers.])

November

“The Blogger’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization” by Aaron & Giovanna Wall, SEO Book (It’s quickly becoming the go-to resource for blog SEO.)

“Close Encounter with Facebook Beacon“ by Charlene Li, Groundswell (See what happens when you back peddle into a revenue stream by snooping on your users.)

“Who Owns Your Data on Google, Facebook, Netflix?” by Don Dodge, The Next Big Thing (One of the year’s top debates, nicely distilled in a simple response to Jason Calacanis, Doc Searls, and Dave Winer.)

“Amazon Sets eBook World Alight with Kindle” by Richard MacManus, Read/Write Web (Review of a clunky internet-connected e-book reader. Will it catch fire or burn up?)

“Google’s Android Arrives . . . An Open Source Mobile Phone Platform” by Greg Sterling, Search Engine Land (It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s not a Google Phone, but a mobile operating system.)

October

“Sorry PR people: you’re blocked” by Chris Anderson, The Long Tail (If you’re in PR or have ever considered emailing Wired Magazine’s editor-in-chief, or any other blogger/author/journalist, don’t do a thing until you read this appropriately scathing post.)

“Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet” — GrokDotCom (Resources for anyone who wants to communicate on the Web.)

“Radiohead’s In Rainbows: A Look at Anti-Marketing in the Music Industry” by Maki, DoshDosh (One band schools an entire industry on “the ROI of free,” but stumbles a bit in the process. Read our follow-up case study for more.)

September

“Dear Steve Jobs” by Robert Scoble, Scobleizer (Apple announces iPhone. Zealots and Geeks wait in lines for days. Sales are a bit slow for Jobs, so he drops the price. The blogosphere speaks up. Jobs listens.)

“Forget About Page Rank and Build a Better Blog” by Darren Rowse, ProBlogger (A terrific video post on why it’s important to put content first, then let search engines do their job. Optimization matters, but what you’re optimizing matters more.)

August

“Damn, I am so busted, yo” by Fake Steve, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs (One of our favorite satirist bloggers, Daniel “if-that-is-his-name” Lyons, gets outed by a New York Times writer whose name happens to be BRAD STONE.)

“Moving Day” by Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics (In a freak move, NYTimes.com picks up Dubner & Levitt’s popular blog, breathing new life into old media.)

“See Who’s Editing Wikipedia” by John Borland, Wired (A Cal Tech graduate student makes a program that allows us to see who’s editing wiki entries. You might be surprised. Read our follow-up post for more.)

“Answer These 10 Questions Before You Charge for SEO Services” by Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz (A must-read for all SEO firms and the people who hire them.)

July

“Will The Last Corporation Leaving Second Life Please Turn Off The Light” by Duncan Riley, TechCrunch (The L.A. Times talks about the pink elephant: Are businesses making money or even wooing fans in Second Life?)

“Sphinn: Our Social Site For Search & Internet Marketing Professionals” by Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land (Danny and crew launch a cool, 2.0-ish social news service for SEO’s.)

“FreeBurner for Everyone” by Traci, Burning Questions (Google acquires yet another important company. David Dalka gives six reasons why the deal was a mistake.)

June

“Why I disagree with Privacy International” by Matt Cutts, Gadgets, Google, and SEO (Google gets poor grades on their privacy practices. Matt speaks out.)

“Ask Launches Ask3D” by Eric Enge, Search Engine Watch (The “first” major launch of universal search.)

“Building 43” by Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog (You can’t out-SEO the team behind Google’s algorithm.)

“If Clicks Were Votes” by Andrew Meagher, Compete blog (A fun double-header analysis that tries to infer what could happen to Democrats and Republicans in the ‘08 U.S. presidential election if Web traffic on its own actually mattered.)

May

“Google Maps is spying on my cat…” by Xeni Jardin, BoingBoing (Google Street Views takes some very revealing photos, backlash ensues.)

“New Version of Google Analytics!” by Jeff Gills, The Official Google Analytics Blog (Sparks go off as Google unveils its updated analytics solution. Impressive, but is it an enterprise solution?)

“Thank You for Helping Me Write The New Rules of Marketing & PR!” by David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now (With one of the year’s best executed and most earnest linkbait posts, David proves why everyone should read his book. Thank YOU, sir!)

“The Movie is Finally Here,” by Geert, Bring Back the Love (Have advertisers lost that lovin’ feelin’? This short film shows why it’s time to bring it on back, now.)

April

“Google beats Microsoft in DoubleClick bidding battle” by David Hunter, Microsoft News Tracker, (GoogleClick? They win another acquisition battle.)

“Google Website Optimizer Launches” by Robert Gorell, GrokDotCom (Now everyone can do A/B and Multivariate testing at zero cost. Want some free resources with that?)

“Video: RSS in Plain English” by Lee Lefever, Common Craft (Finally, someone shows how RSS really is simple.)

March

“Viacom Sues YouTube for $1 Billion…The End of the Tube?” by Pete Cashmore, Mashable (If you can’t beat ‘em, sue ‘em? The great debate rages on.)

“Why Online Advertising Economics Are So Messed Up” by Scott Karp, Publishing 2.0 (Now that “page views” are dead, it’s time to take a look at the real problem. Just beware of those zombie metrics.)

“Taking the Week Off” by Robert Scoble, Scobleizer (After receiving horrible anonymous threats, Kathy Sierra, one of the world’s top bloggers, quits blogging. A regrettable chapter, indeed — but there was a silver lining. Ultimately, greater minds prevailed and the incident fueled a much-needed conversation about balancing professionalism with free speech in blogland.)

“10 Reasons Commenting is Good for Bloggers” by Chris Garrett, ChrisG.com (’Tis better to give than to receive. Here’s why.)

February

“Why People Hate SEO…” by Jason Calicanis, Calicanis.com (SEO is Bull? Although there are likely reasons why Jason would say such a thing, at least he got savvy search marketers to link to him and even challenge him back. Mahalo!)

“National Pork Board Goes After Breastfeeding Search Marketer” by Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land (The Pork Board shouldn’t whine about spilt milk, especially when it’s not their own.)

“7 Big Questions for Online Marketers” by Jeffrey Eisenberg, GrokDotCom (Everyone loves answers, but are you asking the right questions?)

January

“Steve’s Devices” by Nicholas Carr, Rough Type (The post that put the year of the iPhone in perspective, explaining its limitations and predicting, without saying as much, that 2008 will be the year of the open mobile platform. Oh, and Nick does this six months before the iPhone even launched.)

Did we miss something?

Probably. There were so many eye-opening blog posts this year that we need your help updating this list so that it is definitive — or close to it.

What were your favorite posts this year? Leave a comment and/or link to let us know.

Related Posts:

• How to Make a Billion Dollars in Your Underwear
• AdAge Unveils "Power 150" Marketing Blogs
• The Would-be Most Popular Blog
• We're All Still Learning About Blogs...
• Using Customer Review Keywords to Pick Up Women, Men

Trying to figure out the perfect holiday gift for the blogger in your life? Kevin Ryan, Global Content Director of Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch was looking sleek modeling the latest from Despair.com the night before Search Engine Strategies in Chicago. He plans to send a bunch of these out as holiday gifts. Know who would look good in one of these? Don’t despair. Now you know where to get ‘em.

P.S. The t-shirt reads, “More People Have Read This Shirt Than Your Blog.”

P.S. #2 During one of the sessions at SES, Kevin asked “Should I make a video of me hitting myself with a ball ping hammer?” What do you think?

Related Posts:

• AdAge Unveils "Power 150" Marketing Blogs
• If Rank Meant Everything...
• Jakob Nielsen on Blogging: Don't Do It!
• Blogger Appreciation Day -- A Few GrokDotCom Favorites
• How to Find Your Website's Voice (Even if it's a Blog)