Search and Ye Shall Find. Maybe.

Searching for blogs just got easier… At least that’s the reason ostensibly behind Google’s new blog search service.

Us search geeks have been using Technorati to stay up to date on all things blog. But outside our ivory tower, the general public often finds blogs only through word of mouth or through traditional media outlets – or they just don’t find them.

But that’s about to change. Or is it? That’s the central question for marketers to consider. Will Google’s entry into the blog game make blogs more accessible to the general public? If the answer is no, then there’s nothing more to say. If it’s yes, then the conversation is just beginning for marketers.

But first, a little background. Chris Sherman over at Search Engine Watch does a great job explaining what Google’s new blog search is all about:

While Google web search has allowed you to limit results to popular blog file types such as RSS and XML in web search results for some time, and its news search includes some blogs as sources, Google hasn’t had a specialized tool to surface purely blog postings. In fact, while all of the major search engines have been dabbling with blog and feed search, none has done much with blog search until now.

He concludes with:

Now that Google has launched blog search, expect the other major search engines to follow suit fairly quickly. All have been feverishly working on blog search over the past year, and now that Google is first out the gate the others will likely move quickly.

The industry has anticipated Google’s move into blog search for a while now. As a search engine optimization and marketing firm, we’ve been asking this question: Can blog search get better results for our clients? In this specific case, asking that question leads us to two larger questions.

One, are blogs an effective means of search marketing?

To find that answer, one needs only look at StraightUpSearch’s last post. Megan’s short answer is that blogging can definitely mean better search positions due to an emphasis on relevant content, simple and static architecture and more (although higher positions are by no means guaranteed).

Two, will Google’s blog search increase traffic to blogs?

Time will tell. But when the most famous name in search throws its hat in the ring (and others are soon to follow), you better be ready to rumble. The new tool is going to put hundreds of thousands of blogs at the fingertips of millions of searchers. If you’re not there, you’re missing an easy and cost-effective method to have your message heard.

Our recommendation: Start blogging today.