not addicted to rankings…

No, really I’m not. I only found out that I am #9 for the Google search Brian Keith because someone came to my blog based on that search term.

So when I am in the top 3 results for Brian Keith, I will let you know.

Why do you care? Because I did not spend mega-hours or mega-bucks getting there. Just blogging interesting stuff, tagged appropriately, for 3 months.

Are you on the first page for your name? Your brand? Your category?

ADDED: Seth Godin tells people to search google for Seth to find him. Just his first name. How cool would that be? We can say, just search google for internet marketing agency.

What? Bragging? No! Because I can also say search google for Groomsmen Gifts, or Sea Salt, and you will find one of our clients at the top.

‘razorfish internet marketing jobs’ | SEO case study

Let me drive home the importance of blogging as it relates to SEO. Google razorfish internet marketing jobs. Now, if you are Razorfish, you want your jobs page to be first, right?

Well, a bunch of other websites where jobs at Razorfish have been posted are first, and one craigslist entry. Fine.

But, at #9, is me. Talking about Razorfish internet marketing jobs as it relates to the talk I am giving soon in Pullman on that topic.

You do not want your competitors to come up before you in a search on your name.

What about a Avenue A | Razorfish (their full name) jobs blog? That could be #1 for searches like this, and connect directly with people looking for jobs with that firm.

What do you want top rankings for? Now go blog about it.

UPDATE: This post is #2 under the search for ‘jobs at razorfish.’ A variety of other job sites still show up under that search, and a Razorfish URL is nowhere to be found.

blogging is for seo, community, and authority

Blogging is fun.

That is not the reason you should be blogging.

You should blog because:
1. The blog format lends itself to constantly updated, keyword rich content, which search engines love
2. blogging can help connect you with your clients
3. blogging helps you become an authority in the community, in relation to clients and other businesspeople.

I sometimes lose track of SEO being the #1 reason to blog, because the community aspects of it are so exciting. But we need to keep that in mind: most of the clicks go to the top 3 spots in Google. Getting in those top rankings is more important, for most clients, than building a strong community.

Community building is what you do once you already have the top spots in google and you want to grow even more.

(cribbed in part from conversations with Ian, not that he would say it this way)