The comment that "blogs were designed to be used by people who don't know about web design" is simply not true.
Blogs sole purpose when first hitting the main stream in the mid 90'S were for people to give a personal account into their lifes, I think off the top of my head it was a uni student who wanted to create an online diary.
Amazon, google, microsoft, about.com, every major news network site; they all use blogs. It is true that they're typically easy to use, but don't take that to mean that they're simple, basic or unprofessional; they're not.
You are now talking about what a blog has EVOLVED into, so the reason blogs were first about is a small personal online diary where you will leave a LOG of your daily experiences, and you have no web building experience.
They are simple and basic this is the whole point......You will also be surprised to know that the companies you have mentioned do not use a blog for the intended purpose of this thread ie SEO(Search Engine Optimisation) they use them to add extra customer benefits.
Having a blog on your site (and I would call it a blog, not a news page--they're two different things, and having a blog on a professional site is perfectly acceptable) increases your organic search ranking and establishes your credibility.
Not at one point did I say they were not good for SEO what I did say to clarify is that there are many other easier methods to use to get to the top of yahoogle. I could do a million and one searches on google and I would put my money on 99% of the top results will not have a blog.
When visitors see that you know what you're talking about and are knowledgeable about your profession, they begin to view you as trustworthy. Once that happens, they're more likely to use your services when they need them.
This could be done as Ruth and I suggested earlier updating news pages, even adding more pages to give relevant advice.
A blog is good for your site if you can commit to updating it regularly and if you can post content people want to read that is relevant to your business. What could that be? Certainly news snippets about your business and notice of specials is part of it, but also think of items like "Top 5 ways to extend your results after your massage", "Easy stretches for office fatigue and muscle pain", "Wellness Tips for Cold Weather" during the winter, etc.
This type of information should be in your web site anyway to even give you a chance of a high ranking under broad searches.
Not all websites are right for a blog, to be sure, but don't discount it immediately. Google business blogging or should I start a business blog? and read some of the material you find. It should give you a good idea of whether to pursue it or not.
You have to all remember what industry you are all in, the competition out their isnt as fierce as insurance or holidays on the internet, unless you are selling beauty products you shouldnt have a problem getting to where you want to get ie page 1 of yahoogle.
If any of you are a large corporate company and you are struggling to reach the top then yes by al means try anything possible to get you higher. but I will repeat it again dont look down the blog route, not yet anyway, if you are struggling with your site give us your web address and I will give you plenty of pointers to help you.
Oh and pagerank is now starting to be a thing of the past.
