Is Your Corporate Blog a Cheetah Or a Thompson’s Gazelle?

"Marketers often forget that the main reason people use the Web is for content…Search engines organize content and direct people to it," explains Ted Demopoulis in What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting.

Often, the questions I field from business owners during corporate blogging training sessions have to do with "speed" and intensity. Basically these entrepreneurs and managers are asking how long and how hard they will need to work at blog content writing in order to "win the race", with winning measured by their blog’s appearance at or near the top of Page 1 on a Google search.

Although I hasten to disclaim any expertise in SEO technology (Say It For You provides business blog writing services and business blogging assistance, working with the company’s advisers on search engine optimization and with their web designer), I can put the question about how long and how hard in context:  In a recent issue of the children’s magazine TIME for Kids,  I found the most wonderful metaphor for business blogging.

Under "Top 5 Fastest Land Animals," the article lists the African Cheetah as the clear winner; the animal clocks 70 miles per hour! Also in the top five, and also from Africa, the Thompson’s gazelle clocks in at 10 miles per hour.  The author’s observation is very telling for anyone planning an SEO marketing blog or anyone needing business blogging help: "The Cheetah is faster, but the gazelle has more staying power."

In my four years as  professional ghost blogger and corporate blogging trainer, I’ve observed the same phenomenon with corporate blogs.  Putting a lot of new, relevant content online within a condensed time frame can produce Cheetah-like indexing results.  That can be particularly true in local markets where the blogging company’s competitors are making few efforts to enhance their online presence.

On the other hand, the majority of corporate blog writing efforts have tended to taper off rather rapidly, and, with no staying power, companies find that those coveted spots on Page 1 can be easily lost. Thompson’s Gazelle-like blog copy writers, by contrast, maintain the discipline of creating new blog content over weeks, months, and years.

Does your corporate blog have staying power?