According to a study from the University of Massachusetts, only 37 percent of companies in the 2011 Inc. 500 are blogging — down from 50 percent in 2010. Here’s the chart:

If you just look at the numbers, it’s easy to jump to conclusions about blogging being on the decline. But Mark Schaefer read into things a little more deeply and makes a couple salient observations:

• There’s a lot of churn in who makes the Inc. 500 list. Companies that were in 2-3 years ago may not be in this year, because it’s a list of the fastest-growing companies and growth naturally slows down over time.
• This year’s list has an increasing amount of companies providing services to the government, and that industry isn’t big on blogging.

In fact, the study’s authors point out this last point:

Changes in industry composition of the Inc. 500 over the past two years are reflected in our sample and have impacted our overall statistics in distinct ways. There has been an increase in companies providing Government Services (a result of some of the Obama initiatives). These companies increased their presence in the Inc. 500 in 2010 and again in 2011 and are less likely to use certain social media tools.

So while the stats may show that the Inc. 500 is blogging less, it may not be because blogging is on the decline … it may be because the Inc. 500 is different than it was a couple years ago.

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

The Inc. 500 Is Blogging Less? It May Not Be What It Seems

I came to wonder about that via a somewhat winding path, so follow along with me if you would, please.

A couple nights ago, I was installing a new self-hosted WordPress blog. One of the many settings you’re asked to configure involves search engine (and web) spiders and whether you want them to be able to access your site. That’s a fair enough question, but it seemed really odd to me that, in 2012, WordPress is pairing these two sites when asking about spiders:

Technorati??? Really? It’s been years since I’ve heard anyone talk about wanting their blog to be visible at Technorati. (It’s kinda like blogging’s version of the yellow pages that way, isn’t it?)

And then I started thinking how, back in the day, you’d add your blog to Technorati, and BlogCatalog.com, and Blogged.com … and several other blog directories. I remember that Lee Odden’s gang at Top Rank had a great list of blog directories, which — as I just discovered — is still being kept up-to-date. (Nice work, Lee!)

So obviously blog directories are still around. Maybe the bigger question is this: Does anyone care anymore? In other words, if you’re launching a new blog in 2012, would you devote time to submitting it to any blog directories like Technorati or the others?

I’d love to get your thoughts on this!

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

WordPress, Technorati and … Where’d All The Blog Directories Go?

If you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy.

I’ve been saying that for some time now, and I think it’s never been more true than it is today. If you want to succeed online in any industry that’s even remotely competitive, you must have an effective content marketing strategy. I’ll explain that more in a moment, but the key point is this: Static, rarely-updated, brochure-ware websites are dead. I think they’ve been dead for some time now, but Google really put the final nail in the coffin with its latest algorithm change that emphasizes the value of (and the need for) fresh content.

Google Wants Fresher Search Results

Earlier this month, Google made a huge announcement that I think probably hasn’t been written about enough. (Certainly not by me; I’ve been trying to write this post for weeks now.) Search results “are best when they’re fresh,” Google said in its announcement. “Even if you don’t specify it in your search, you probably want search results that are relevant and recent,” Google’s Amit Singhal wrote.

To be clear, this isn’t going to impact all small businesses in all industries in every location. In fact, I’d guess that purely local businesses might not be affected at all — searches like “seattle bakery” or “kansas city dry cleaners” probably aren’t the types of searches where fresh content is necessary.

But Singhal said this is a ranking change that affects at least one result on about 35% of all searches, and clarified to say that about 6-10% of searches would be changed “noticeably.” That’s huge.

What It Means for Small Business Websites

As I said above, I don’t think a bakery in Seattle is going to be impacted by this too dramatically. How often is there breaking bakery news? In Seattle?

But there are millions of small businesses that aren’t doing business just in their immediate local area. And millions more that are operating in industries where there is regular news or where things change on a regular basis. In those cases, Google is saying it will reward quality websites that offer fresh content.

If that describes your small business, your static and never-updated website is officially dead. In many industries, I believe it will be nearly impossible to get natural search visibility in Google with a small, brochure-style website that doesn’t offer fresh content.

How to Succeed Going Forward

As I said at the beginning of this article, if you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy. So it’s time to develop a content marketing strategy. And keep in mind that this content has to exist on your website; using Facebook and Twitter are fine, but that’s not where your content strategy lives. It has to live on your website.

Here’s what I’d do as soon as possible:

1. Get your team together and discuss the pros and cons of starting a company blog. Cons: Blogging isn’t easy, not if you plan to do it the right way. More and more business are blogging, but many will get it wrong. Don’t be one of them. Pros: When done right, blogging can mean more search traffic and more inbound links. A great blog can be the best weapon in your SEO holster.
2. If you DO decide to start a blog, start by deciding A) who will be in charge of it, B) who all will write for your company blog, C) how often will you publish new articles (I recommend at least twice per week if you can do it), D) what content policies will you need, and E) what other guidelines need to be in place. (I highly recommend allowing comments on your blog posts, for example, but there should comment guidelines in place.)
3. Before you launch your blog, create an editorial calendar. You’ll use this to guide what articles you’ll write, who’ll write them, and when they’ll be published. Be sure to read my article, A Simple Sample Editorial Calendar to Keep Your Blogging on Schedule, for more guidance in this area.
4. Write a lot before your blog launches. Before you even add the blog to your website, have the first month or two of articles already written — or at least as many of them as you can. Writing material in advance will help with making the launch smooth; you won’t be desperate for article ideas, nor will you be hurt if someone misses an assignment.
5. Know where to watch for new blog content ideas. I’m sorry, but I have a hard time accepting it when I hear bloggers say they can’t find anything to write about. I wrote a series with all kinds of tips for this: 5 Ways To Find New Blog Content. Oh, and when you’re writing, don’t worry about how long your blog posts should be.
6. Know your ultimate goals and be able to track what you’re doing. If you’re already using a web analytics program, it should be easy to tie your blogging in with existing company business goals. Those goals should have something to do with selling products and/or generating leads — whatever helps your bottom line. Don’t worry about less important numbers like how many RSS subscribers you have, how many times your articles are retweeted, etc. Those things are nice, but getting a hundred retweets isn’t going to help you meet payroll next month.

One last thing: It’s okay to choose NOT to start a blog now. If you’re not ready to make the commitment, that’s fine. But keep in mind, you still need to have some kind of plan to consistently expand your website with quality content. Can you start a weekly newsletter and put it online? Can you create a Glossary or a Frequently Asked Questions page and expand it regularly?

Whatever you do, don’t settle for a static, brochure-style website. It’s dead. If you’re in a remotely competitive space, you need more from this point forward if you want to succeed online. One last time, because it’s worth repeating:

If you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy.

(Tombstone image created via JJ Chandler’s tombstone generator.)

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

It’s Official: Static, Brochure-Ware Websites Are Dead

Trent’s question was as follows:

Do you think Google is only looking for those that copy content verbatim? Sometimes we’ll summarize an article (and rewrite the title), then cite/ link to the original source.

In other words, how much “scraping” is too much?

This is an important question because when I give blogging advice to small business owners, I always point out that it’s a good practice to write about interesting articles from other sites/blogs that will benefit your own readers — and in the process of doing that, it’s okay to quote part of the article you’re writing about.

But, as Trent asks … how much is too much? When does quoting become scraping? I can’t speak for Google (or Bing), but here’s my opinion:

1.) If the only thing you do on your site/blog is summarize other people’s articles and link to the original, you might be considered a “scraper.”

A local real estate agency recently started blogging and, unfortunately, many of their early articles were copied word-for-word from another real estate site. Here’s one of the articles on their site:

The original version of the article was published here: http://www.kcmblog.com/2011/09/15/how-to-pick-your-lender/ — that blog belongs to a company that offers various training and guidance to real estate agencies and agents. So, for all I know, both parties might be perfectly fine with having the articles copied in full.

But here’s the thing: Google and Bing won’t be perfectly fine with it. Search engines don’t want to crawl and index multiple versions of the same content. So, business relationship or not, the local real estate agency is at risk of getting the “scraper” label because many of its blog posts are direct copies from another site.

2.) If you actually write something original about the other article in the process of linking to it, that should be fine.

I just did this very thing last week in this post: Two Must-Reads About Blogging.

There were two articles I wanted to share with readers. I quoted a small portion of each one, wrote some of my own commentary and linked to the originals. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. The Internet was built on the idea of linking to interesting content on other sites; you shouldn’t get penalized for doing that, as long as you’re not copying/quoting too much of the original article.

3.) Ultimately, as long as you have plenty of your own high-quality, original content being published alongside these shorter pieces that link to other content, you’ll be fine.

Great content that’s successfully promoted creates trust, and when you’ve earned the search engines’ trust, you shouldn’t have to worry about being labeled a “scraper.”

(Stock photo via Shutterstock and used with permission.)

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Will Google Think I’m a “Scraper”?

First article:

What Does Eight Years Of Blogging Get You?

This is a great piece from Mitch Joel, who’s thinking about the 8th anniversary of the day he started blogging.

Starting this Blog was (and still is) without the question the single most important thing I have done in my professional life. It has changed me. It has changed the way I learn and grow and it has changed how I think about the world (and business and marketing and media and beyond). In spending some serious time soaking in this anniversary, I listed out why Blogging was (and still is) the smartest thing I have ever done.

Second article:

Talker’s block

It’s been a while since I’ve stopped reading Seth Godin, but this piece deserves some attention. I’ve written at length about how to find blog content, but Seth looks at the “writer’s block” problem in a different way:

We get better at talking precisely because we talk. We see what works and what doesn’t, and if we’re insightful, do more of what works. How can one get talker’s block after all this practice?

Writer’s block isn’t hard to cure.

Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better.

He goes on to say that blog comments should “certainly” be turned off — that may be right for someone who’s just starting out and learning to blog, but it’s not necessarily right for established blogs. So maybe ignore that line, but definitely read the rest if you’re struggling with the writing thing.

Trust me — these two are worth the 10 minutes it’ll take to read them.

(Stock image via Shutterstock and used with permission.)

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Two Must-Reads About Blogging

Hugh basically says that he’s quitting Twitter and Facebook to focus on his own blog, instead.

Why?

“…even if they’re very good at hiding the fact, over on Twitter and Facebook, it’s not your content, it’s their content.

The content on your blog, however, belongs to you, and you alone. People come to your online home, to hear what you have to say, not to hear what everybody else has to say. This sense of personal sovereignty is important.”

(emphasis mine)

It sounds like Hugh invested too much in other social networking sites and forgot about his own site.

Don’t do what he did.

I don’t think you need to give up on Twitter, Facebook or social networking in general. But you do need to keep that stuff in its proper place.

Don’t be one of those small businesses that skips having a website in favor of having a Facebook page.

Don’t make social networks your primary business asset.

Focus on what you own and control. Build it. Grow it. Make it the hub of your social activity online, then use Twitter, Facebook or another appropriate social site to connect with your audience and introduce them to your blog.

Don’t get to the point where you have to “reclaim” your blog someday.

Hey! RSS Subscriber: Have you purchased my e-book, “How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes”? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s only $25 (for the time being). Find out why Search Engine Guide said, “I can almost promise that following the advice in the book will earn you your money back ten to one hundred times over.” Here’s where to learn more: E-Book: How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Don’t Get To The Point Where You Need to “Reclaim” Your Blog