If there is a downside to blogging, I have yet to find it. The \rmore you learn about blogging, the more there is to like.

In fact, here are 6 mouth-watering reasons why every marketer \rshould be blogging:

1- Fast Search Engine Spidering and Indexing of Your Site:

Did you know that Google owns the most popular blogging platform \ron the planet? Blogger at http://www.blogger.com is used to \rproduce thousands of blogs. Even a complete internet newbie can \rset up a blog in about 5 minutes at Blogger. And guess who can be \rcounted on to come by and quickly spider all those new blog posts \ras they are written?

Yahoo is also embracing blogs and feeds in a big way. Savvy \rmarketers know that adding their blogs and feeds to their MyYahoo \rpage can bring the Yahoo spider to their site almost immediately.

One of the reasons that blogs get spidered so quickly is that \rmost of them produce a feed. Many blogs automatically "ping" (or \rnotify) some of the large sites that carry these feeds and make \rthem available for syndication. Search engines spider these sites \rmany times a day. Blogger, for instance, pings Weblogs every time \ryou make a post. You can also "ping" a free site called \rPingomatic (http://www.pingomatic.com) every time you add a new \rblog post. Your ping will notify Yahoo and 11 other large feed \rsites that you've added a post. If it only were so easy to get \rGoogle to notice new pages on regular sites!

If you have a new site that you are having trouble getting \rindexed, adding a blog or RSS feed is one of the quickest ways to \rget the spiders to come calling.

2-Blogs can Build Your Backlinks Quickly:

If you've spent time trying to get reciprocal links to your site, \ryou know how frustrating, boring, and time-consuming it can be. \rI've long considered reciprocal link building to be one of the \rworst ways to develop link popularity. Many SEO experts consider \rone-way links to be far more effective.

A blog can build one-way links to your site fast. If you've just \rstarted a blog, you should submit it to the large blog and feed \rdirectories. Here is a list of the Top 55:

http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

Once you've submitted your blog to these directories, you'll find \ryour backlinks growing quickly. This past year, more webmasters \rare using RSS feeds on their sites to keep their sites fresh and \rspidered frequently. Software applications such as RSS Equalizer, \rExpress RSS, and CARP make this easy.

After starting my first blog, I was amazed at how many different \rsites carried my feed with a link back to my site! These links \rcan multiply exponentially over time.

Now tell me something. Wouldn't you rather be spending your time \radding content to your site than trying to get questionable \rreciprocal links? Especially when it doesn't take any extra time?

3-A Frequently Updated Blog will Keep the Spiders Visiting Your \rSite Often:

Most of us are aware that the search engines like sites that are \rupdated frequently. If you have your blog set up correctly, every \rpost will update several pages of your site. Then pinging Yahoo \rand the blog and feed directories at Pingomatic can bring out the \rspiders in just a few hours. This is a great way to get new pages \rof your site indexed quickly and frequently.

4-Your Site is Stickier and More Appealing to Visitors:

A blog on your site is an easy way to keep your site updated on a \rregular basis. The upside is that visitors will come by more \roften. If they find your blog interesting and informative, they \rmay bookmark your site. That means you have a much greater chance \rof making sales. And you have a ready-made audience for any new \rproducts you launch.

A blog can also add a human face to your website that potential \rcustomers will trust and respond to. Most marketers know that \rpeople buy from people they like and respect. A well-written blog \ris a great way to build a relationship with your visitors.

5-A Blog Is The Fastest And Easiest Way To Build A Brand-New \rWebsite Without Training:

Even a 10 year old could set up a blog at Blogger.com and be \rblogging almost immediately. No HTML knowledge is necessary. You \rdon't need to know how to FTP. You don't need to know how to link \rthe pages in your site together. All you have to do is type in \ryour post and click on the "publish" button. And yet you can \rstill set up an attractive, spiderable site in record time.

Blogs can be used for any type of site, not just for online ezine \rdelivery or a place to announce new products. Using a blog you \rcould quickly build a niche site. Just research the best keywords \rfor your niche. Then write articles around those keywords and \rpost them to your blog. Include your keywords in your title. You \rnow have an instant niche site that will be spidered quickly and \rbe easy to maintain.

6-Keyword competition in RSS feed sites is much less than in the \rSE's:

Google, Yahoo, and MSN each have many millions of webpages in \rtheir indexes. It can be almost impossible to get top rankings \rfor competitive keywords if you don't have a high PR site with \rlots of backlinks.

It's a completely different story at the RSS feed sites. The \rcompetition for many high-competition keywords is almost \rnonexistent. Setting up a blog in some of these high-competition \rniches is a good way to successfully compete.

Marketers spend a lot of time and money getting traffic to their \rsites, creating backlinks, getting good SE rankings, and building \rrelationships with their customers. A blog can improve your \rresults in all those areas. There aren't very many free marketing \rtechniques that can make that claim!

For more tips and ideas on how to make money blogging, be sure to visit my "Why Marketers Should Blog" weblog at (what else) http://www.WhyMarketersShouldBlog.com