Sydney Johnston was frustrated with trying to get her Web site to appear in the first page of results seen by people searching for information on eBay. The owner of Cyberweb Solutions in Lilburn, she depends on the Internet to sell her training course about online auctions. A friend suggested she try a blog. In less than a year, visits to her Web site jumped from 11,000 to 45,000 a month.

"It's now my number-one tool for getting into Yahoo, Google and MSN," Johnston says. "Blogs are incredible search engine bait."

Blogs, short for Web logs, have been around since the 1990s, consisting of individual dated entries (aka posts) and often responses. Think of a blog as a journal, or a two-way conversation with a friend. Most include links to other blogs. It's a form of communication that has become phenomenally popular, with 18.5 million blogs listed in October on technorati.com, a search engine that tracks blogs.

Businesses ranging from Stonyfield Farms to General Motors have started blogs - after discovering that direct, immediate conversation with customers and employees can be advantageous. Several books on corporate blogging will be out by next spring, including Debbie Weil's "The Corporate Blogging Book" and Andy Wibbel's "Blogwild." New York City, meanwhile, hosted last months' "BlogOn 2005" social media summit for executives considering the idea.

To boost her company to the top of Web searches, Johnston researched what keywords people use to search for products like hers, then used those words in the information she posts on her blog. Searchers looking for help with eBay or other online auctions are directed to her site through those keywords. To prevent people from using her blog to advertise their own products, she must approve all responses before they appear. To help eliminate spam, she purchased a program called "Movable Type" for about $200 that deletes any responses that contain words like "Viagra," "Texas hold ‘em" or "poker." Most blog software has the ability to limit posts to registered users, another way to keep unwanted words from appearing.

There are free blog software packages, and more costly ones. Getting started is as easy as registering, typing your post and hitting the "publish" button. But despite the minimal cost, blogs will not help every business. Norcross business coach Dr. Robert Rausch added one to his Web site early this year, but it has not gotten him any more work. Although he feels that the feedback he gets from people is valuable, he says, "It requires spending significant amounts of time finding the right audience."

Dan McDade, president of PointClear, agrees that a blog takes work, but the Norcross company, which provides leads to sales executives, has decided it will add value and plans to start one soon.

"We've seen some of our clients use it, and it's an effective way of sharing ideas in a sophisticated and intelligent way," McDade says.

For information about corporate blogging, McDade turned to Paul McKeon, president and senior writer of the Content Factor, which offers an online 17-page guide "To Blog or Not to Blog, How Businesses Can Get Closer to Their Markets through Blogging."

"People used to have one-way conversations," McKeon says of traditional advertising. "Now the market finds its own way to your site or company. The Web is very link oriented, and a blog facilitates that kind of action."

It also can replace market research, providing instant feedback. While some feedback may be negative, it gives the company the opportunity to resolve the problem. As McKeon points out, that negativity is out there whether you know about it or not.

Additionally, the formation of a community of customers can build loyalty and trust.

McKeon adds that prospective employees like a company that blogs because it indicates an open structure.

Finally, the report points out that there's a blog in your future (even if it's not your own.). "Conversations are already taking place among the millions of blogs you can tap into. These conversations - about you, your industry, your company, your competitors and your market - will occur whether your participate in them or not."