Blogging is apparently good for business.

Anecdotally, bloggers and business owners can point to increased enquiries, improved visibility and growing reputation. Logically, creating new content via a blog increases your chances of getting found by search engines and creates more information to be shared via social media.

Logic and anecdotes are cool, but if you’re going to invest some time and money into blogging a few cold hard facts wouldn’t go astray either.

Business Blogging Increases Traffic

Inbound marketing company HubSpot decided to do a little research into how blogging affected the performance of their clients’ websites. They sampled a little over 1500 companies – roughly half of them blogged for business and the other half didn’t.

The results were striking.

The businesses who blogged had 55% more traffic, nearly double the number of inbound links and over 400% more pages indexed by Google.

Why the Figures Matter

Working from the bottom up, more indexed pages create more opportunities for search engines (and people) to find you. It also creates more things for people to link to.

Having more inbound links improves your authority with the search engines – leading, again, to more traffic. It also creates more breadcrumbs for actual humans to find your website without the help of Google.

Finally, in the same way as a better retail location gives you more chances to sell your wares, more traffic to your website gives you a better chance of converting that traffic into sales (or whatever it is you are looking for).

There are plenty of other reasons to blog for business – from customer service to building a brand personality – but on this very practical level at least the numbers seem to back up what good business bloggers have known for some time.

Content marketing expert Joe Pulizzi penned a recent post advising custom publishers how to use professional blogs to grow their reputation and attract potential clients.

There is, of course, a certain irony in explaining to custom publishers how to use content but at the crux of the post was a simple step-by-step guide to starting a business blog.

To summarise:

1. Determine a focus. Generalists have a harder time.
2. Make a list of the top 10-15 blogs relavent to your industry focus and read them regularly.
3. Leave useful comments on those blogs.
4. When you’re comfortable with the social media space, start creating your own content with a blog. Set a schedule, posting 2+ times a week.
5. Start distributing that content through your social media accounts.
6. Review after 6 months.

Disarmingly simple but ultimately, effective.

Image by Mexicanwave, under Creative Commons licence

Developing a business blog is a great way of getting your content out into the world. They’re easy to set-up, easy to use, can provide a ‘voice’ for your brand and are extremely flexible.

OK so far.

The problem is that while business blogs are easy to get started, they’re not nearly as easy to keep going. Developing a business blog as a true asset takes time and consistent effort.

What will you write about?

How often will you post?

Will you have the time?

It’s a commitment – and a big one at that – so it’s not surprising to see so many well-intentioned businesses letting their blogs fizzle out. And there’s nothing worse than a fizzled-out blog.

Who Will Produce All This Great Content?

You may feel like you have the energy and enthusiasm (and time) to go it alone. This may well be the case, but things happen and even the most experienced bloggers sometimes find it hard to keep up (I know). With that in mind, it’s always a good bet to have a backup plan.

Your first port of call could be to tap up the rest of the team and encourage them to get involved. After that, you might approach key clients to provide their take. Guest posts from readers or other industry figures are also a good bet for quality, relevant, content.

Hire a Co-Blogger?

A final option would be to bring in the professionals. Not to run your blog for you (although this can be done) but rather to ensure that there is always something fresh and informative being produced.

A co-blogger (and yes, we made the term up) is a little like a co-pilot. They can use their expertise to help get things started, keep an eye out for warning lights and make sure the wings don’t fall off if you get a little distracted.

But you’re still the Captain.

Pros and Cons

The benefits are simple enough. You get professionally written content for your blog, in the same way that you might hire a graphic designer to produce a leaflet or get a copywriter to help with a direct mail piece.

You guarantee that your readers and prospective customers will continue to receive great content, even if you’re stuck working on something else – and an outside voice can often bring insight or a new perspective. If you’re new to blogging, an experienced co-blogger can help point you in the right direction, advise on practical bits and even help promote your blog.

The negative (apart from cost) is that a freelance blogger is not you, they don’t work for your business and they’re probably not expert in your industry. With that in mind, freelance ‘co-bloggers’ are best suited to producing news-based content or research-led pieces – not building relationships.

Where Can You Find a Co-Blogger?

There are two basic routes – find someone who knows about blogging or find someone who knows about your industry. If they do both, there’s a good chance they’re your competition, if not, hire them!

A good way to find a freelance blogger would be approach the authors of the blogs you read – you already know their abilities. If you can’t find someone with a particular knowledge of blogging, freelance journalists and copywriters are a safe bet.

Finding non-competing industry experts (who can write) is probably a slightly more difficult task. Again, look for people whose work you like or whose opinion you trust.

Co-blogging is no replacement for a well-written blog that brings your brand’s personality to the fore – but it could be a practical solution to ensure your blog continues to grow and deliver results, even when you’re busy elsewhere.

What do you think? Is co-blogging a good idea for business bloggers?