What's a "blog and ping" program?

Dave, I've been hearing in the search engine optimization community about programs called "blog and ping" utilities. Supposedly, they are a real boon to getting top search engine ranking. What are they, how do they work, and what's your opinion of whether they're worth using?

I too have been seeing this discussion about these B&P utilities and I have to say that I don't like them. Here's why...

Weblogs are designed to allow you to easily add material to your Web site quickly and as frequently as you'd like. If you have a website about wedding favors, say, then you might write blog entries about weddings, receptions, dresses, rings, etc etc., to drum up interest in your particular niche of wedding favors. Search engine-wise, these blog entries help you be more easily found for people searching on these related topics too, and if I Google "wedding receptions" and one of the top few matches happens to be an article from your weblog, well, then I'll visit your site, read your article, and, gosh, you sell wedding favors? Let me check it out while I'm on your site.

Behind the scenes, weblogs...

Continue reading about Blog and Ping at Ask Dave Taylor Tech Support.