Upcoming Google Blogger changes may be an indication that Google understands users want to not only express themselves, but also promote their content - and their personal brands - via Blogger. Marketers should similarly promote their brands with blogs.

An upcoming Google upgrade attests to the fact that blogs are a key part of Americans' online experience, with the company's announcement that Blogger will receive some updates this year.

According to Google, Blogger users published more than half a billion posts in 2010, and blog content published via the platform was read by more than 400 million consumers. At the South by Southwest conference held in Austin, Texas, the company has offered a look at the new Blogger template.

The new Blogger features will be unveiled throughout 2011. They include an updated post editor, a more intuitive dashboard format and a content discovery feature. The content discovery feature helps Blogger users get their content shared across the web by suggesting blogs to active readers based on their interests and current reading topics.

These updates follow changes from last year designed to help Blogger users enhance reader engagement. The previous updates included real-time stats, comment spam filtering, mobile templates to reach on-the-go readers and more. These changes may be an indication that Google understands users want to not only express themselves, but also promote their content – and their personal brands – via Blogger.

Marketers may take this as a cue that they, too, should be using marketing blogs to promote their brands. Brafton reported earlier this month that blog readership is strong across demographics, indicating that businesses in different industries can find a relevant online audience.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.