Also known as a geographical weblog, a geoblog is any type of blog that is constructed to include specific types of geographical information within the text and graphics on its pages. Several different types of geographical data may be included, such as latitude and longitude, or any other information that helps to fixed a geographic position. This process of geoblogging is accomplished with the use of metatags that are sometimes referred to as geotags, which are strategically positioned within the text and graphics to attract the attention of search engines, enhancing the chances of the site showing high in searches conducted by Internet users.
The geoblog process begins with the insertion of the tags into the HTML code associated with the pages of the blog. When properly inserted into the code, the tags result in the ability to associate the site with a country, region or even a specific city or community. The result of this activity is that when users conduct browser searches related to that location, the blog pages are related back to that search. For example, if a geoblog has to do with a restaurant in a given city, and a user searches for information on that city, that restaurant may show up in a list of places to see or even a positional map that shows how to get to that restaurant.
The metatags may be positioned in the header or even the footer of the geoblog, as well as in sub-headers that may appear on the pages. The structure of the tag will vary slightly, depending on the type of association that is being made and how the owner of the blog wants to pages to relate to searches using certain keywords. It is possible to include several different metatags on the pages of the blog, allowing for maximum exposure and placement on searches conducted using different search engines.
As with any type of search engine optimization, it is important to use the tags in a geoblog with precision. Choosing to insert tags that have no real relevance to the subject matter of the blog will often result in the site placing lower on search engine results rather than higher. For this reason, properly formatting a geoblog and making sure the data is relevant to specific types of searches will go a long way toward increasing the chances for connecting with users who have a real interest in the data.
