35% of searches will be affected - think you can possibly dodge that?

As social media becomes more pervasive, Google's search results have become less relevant to those who are looking for real-time news.  The latest changes in Google's search algorithm are the search giant's attempt to compete for those searchers by providing "the most up-to-date results."  Your site's ranking in search results will undoubtedly be affected since the company expects the changes to affect about 35% of searches.

"Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today's world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old," Google said in announcing the changes.

These changes will make it much more difficult for small, rarely updated sites to achieve decent search ranking.  One of the best ways to update your site frequently with fresh content is by integrating and frequently updating a site blog.  Entries don't need to be long - the best ones are short, informative, and related to your industry.

Long before Google even made these changes, statistics showed that sites with blogs have 55% more traffic, 97% more incoming links, and 434% more indexed pages (source HubSpot).  HubSpot's research also shows that "blogs and social media channels are generating real customers: 57% of companies using blogs reported that they acquired customers from leads generated directly from their blog."

If you've been putting off adding a blog to your site, the time is now.