When hopping into the wonderful world of blog creation and blog marketing, the first thing you have to figure out is where you’re going to put that amazing company blog. Blogging platform options are vast and varied, but not all of them are fantastic. So what’s it gonna be: Typepad? Blogger? Tumblr? WordPress?

According to a new study, you might want to go with that last choice. Pingdom, a website monitoring firm, is reporting that 49 percent of the Top 100 blogs in Technorati’s index are powered by WordPress.

Still, what’s in a platform? For as much as bloggers complain about WordPress and its glitches, there’s no other platform even comes close to its popularity. Pingdom finds that 40 percent of the WordPress blogs are self-hosted (like this here blog) while 9 percent are WordPress hosted. That’s quite a jump considering 32 percent of the 100 were WordPress powered back in 2009. In a distant second place at 14 percent are custom blogs, one-offs created by bloggers and not powered by a platform. TypePad at 8 percent and then MoveableType at 7 percent, respectively, round out the order. Although Blogger is incredibly popular with budding blog creators, when it comes to the Top 100, only 2 percent use the platform. The trendy Tumblr faired far worse, scoring less than 1 percent.

So what makes WordPress so great, anyway? Well, personally, you can’t beat the ease and compatibility of the format. Non-techie types never have to worry about WordPress not doing what it always does and that can’t always be said about custom platforms. Yet others could argue against WordPress’s clunky functions and stubborn dashboards. The main thing with a blogging platform is how it works for you. If TypePad makes your life easier, then by all means that should be your platform. If you have success on Blogger, go that direction. Because what this study really shows is that top 100 blog can come from all kinds of places.

Brilliant blog creation day after day ain’t a walk in the park. Dynamic content that excites your readers about your brand takes time, effort and help. This blogging workload can really wear a persona out and make the task of carrying on seem nearly impossible. But don’t worry: We’ve come up with a few helpful blogging tips to lighten your load, give you more time and make blogging fun again.

Plan Ahead: Sunday is a great day to sit with a cup of coffee and make a list of what to tackle for the week ahead. So why not map out your blogs for the week at the same time? Coming up with a solid list of blog topics for the week makes sitting down and writing feel less daunting. Sure, you might not stick to your list absolutely, but at least you’ll have an idea where you want to go over the course of the week. Plus, planning your blog topics ahead of time will give you more time to do other things on your “to do list.”

Narrow Your Focus: Does your blog cover all kinds of stuff related to your industry several times a week, leaving your readers overwhelmed and you exhausted? Maybe it’s time to scale back. Check your data and see which blogs consistently garner the most readers and cut out the ones that barely get looked out. This way your blog is talking about things readers are interested in and you can take a breather. Besides, there’s no need to cover everything on your blog. You might as well only talk about the things you and your readers love.

Get a Little Help: There’s no rule whatsoever that says just because it’s your company’s blog that you have to write every single one of them. Why not get guest bloggers, fellow employees or even talented ghostbloggers (ahem, like ourselves) to carry some of the blogging burden? Other voices can also freshen up your blog’s conversation with new perspectives and opinions.

At the end of the day, happy bloggers and writers make for happy reading. Folks who chain themselves to the keyboard and never enjoy their lives don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of entertaining or informing blog readers. Make blogging easier and more fun for you, and your readers will have more fun too.

We human beings are nosy by nature. We want the inside scoop, the dirt and the gossip that brews beneath the surface. This is precisely why behind-the-scenes blogs are so popular. Readers love finding out what really goes down at their favorite businesses, while blogging-for-business gurus love the ease of writing about what’s happening around them on a day-to-day basis. But how do you handle the politics of behind-the-scenes blogging while still managing to make it interesting and fun to read? We’ve scooped up some examples of great backstage blogs to show you how it’s done.

The Editors: This blog from the BBC is behind the scenes with a more informational bent. Readers of The Editors will learn everything from how to work new BBC smartphone apps to inside information on headline-making worldwide news stories. Juicy and fun to read? Not so much, but that isn’t the point here. The Editors goes even deeper with the news and information the BBC is famous for and it makes for a great inspiration for companies who want to give their readers an educational look inside their company.

Bake-Off Blog: The annual Pillsbury Bake-Off is like the World Series with aprons and flour and its competitors are just as serious as real athletes. And that’s what makes reading Pillsbury’s blog so much fun. Pillsbury gave readers an all-access pass to the event, which happened last month, with confessional videos from the contestants, interviews with former winners and photos from the contest. This special event blog makes readers feel like they are there while promoting the brand itself and it’s the kind of behind-the-scenes blogging any company can do from a conference, trade show or awards ceremony.

Anderson Backstage: While the ratings of his talk show might be sagging, Anderson Cooper’s digital presence is truly impressive. The amiable CNN newsman’s Backstage gives readers video blogs from the man himself, off-the-cuff interviews from celebrity guests and his thoughts on his show’s topics of the day. Coop’s style should be considered for businesses who have tons of extra interesting content and lots of interested readers.

But these are just the tip of the insider iceberg! From fashionistas to arts and culture, behind-the-scenes blogs are fun, conversational ways to get readers emotionally connected to your brand. So whatcha waiting for? Start blogging and give us a peek behind the curtain!

When starting a blog marketing campaign, one of the biggest things we hear from clients who are just a tad suspicious of this blogging thing is, “What in the world would we blog about?” It’s a great question, since your company really needs to have stuff to talk about in order for the blog to be something people want to read. But blog topics, once you’re in the groove, just come without much work. Google magically finds news stories that relate to your company, you yammer about it and, before you know it, you have a real life blog. So relax on the “what.”

The bigger question you might want to ask yourself before you start a blogging campaign is “Why?”

We were prompted to get all philosophical and question the meaning of blogging after reading “10 Crazy Things Bloggers Do to Sabotage Themselves” over at BlogWorld. Number 3, “Say it’s a Labor of Love,” pooh-poohs the idea of blogging just for blogging’s sake and suggests that by saying it’s just a hobby you’ve already sealed your blog’s fate as a non-money making disaster.

“If you blog for fun, go ahead and say that your blog is a labor of love. But if you’re trying to make money this way, calling it a labor of love only sabotaged your money-making efforts,” Allison at BlogWorld writes. “Calling it that solidifies in your mind and in the mind of everyone else that it’s not making money and probably is never going to make money. Instead, start calling it a business. You can still be passionate about and love your business! But you need to be the first person to acknowledge it as such if you want others to take you seriously as well.”

So what blogging-for-business types truly need to figure out is why they’re blogging in the first place. Does your blog exist to profile new products? Is your blog there to give clients a look at the daily ins and outs of your company? Is your blog a news resource for all of the relevant headlines rocking your industry? Or do you want your blog to become a business within your business that brings in new customers while generating news stories and opinions not found elsewhere? Once we’ve untangled these “whys” of blogging, we can start turning out brilliant blog creation.

So, readers, it’s your turn: Why did you start blogging? Why does blogging work for your business? Let’s hear all about it in the comments section below!

Facebook marketing experts were hit with a study this week that can only be described as depressing. Psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax has been making headlines with claims that Facebook can actually cause depression in teenage girls.

“Then they look at all the other girls’ Facebook pages, look at them being happy and think, ‘my life sucks, look at all the things those girls are doing and how much fun they’re having,’” Sax says.

Girls who spend too much time on Facebook aren’t nurturing real life relationships, he notes. But this isn’t just sad news for teenage girls and their families. For about two years, mental health professionals have been monitoring what they call “social media depression,” a sadness or deep depression caused by following other people’s lives on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Couple this with studies that link anxiety caused by reading news online, and it’s impossible not to wonder: What can business bloggers and social media marketers do to make the Internet less depressing?

First off, we should make it clear that we in no way think that some happy online marketing can make the problems go away — just as it’s impossible for an organization or company to say things to erase a person’s mental health problems. Still, marketers do have the power to send messages that add to the online experience of users. Blogs with positive themes or that teach readers something consistently rank as the most popular and widely read on the ‘net.

So why not use your company blog to teach your readers a thing or two? Instructional blogs aren’t just a good way to add positive juju to your blog, but they are also a clever way to inject your products and services into your posts. Baking companies like Duncan Hines and Pillsbury have been using their blogs and social media pages like this for years and you can easily see why. Coca-Cola is another big brand that uses Facebook for good instead of evil. The soda company has slyly slipped into the top position when it comes to social media marketing with the happy images and life-affirming messages on the its Facebook page. Coke’s Facebook page isn’t out to change the world, but it does make visitors smile with classic visuals and sunny branded messages from the past and present.

Whether it’s teaching your readers some new tricks or spreading a positive message, we as marketers can do our small part make the barrage of Internet information less drab and depressing. Plus, by offering readers solutions or laughs or good ideas, we giving them a reason to keep coming back. And that’s something for everyone to smile about!

When it comes to corporate blog creation, lately we’ve been seeing double. Or even triple. Many brands are finding that just one blog simply won’t suffice when it comes to talking about all the amazing things their business does. For companies with lots of little niches or several imprints and subdivisions, multiple blogs are an easy fix. A number of blogs can lighten the load for a primary blog while providing specialized topics and information. So when do you know if one blog isn’t enough?

A good, first question to ask yourself when considering multiple blogs is an easy one: Is my current blog successful? If you answered “yes,” then congratulations! You clearly have a well-read blog that could perhaps support spin-off blog that covers additional topics that just won’t fit in your current already jam-packed blog. But keep this in mind before you start spreading your blog love around: In order for your new blogs to be successful, they will require the same hard work, great content and diligent marketing that made your original blog so successful.

Next it’s probably best to figure out what your new blogs are going to cover. Multiple blogs from the same business can be great if they each have their own voice and specific areas of expertise. Readers are not going to come back to read the same information they already read on another blog. So pick topics from your corporate cannon that might not always get a chance to shine in your current blog. Also, multiple blogs can be great for limited campaigns and promotions, covering updates in company policies and new products. Whatever you use your new blogs for, make sure the SEO keywords and strategies from your original blog stay pretty much the same. Clearly your keywords are helping audiences find your blog, so you want to hang on to them for your new blogs, too. Consistent keywords, thorough SEO and solid blog content management, will help your new blogs achieve the same success as your first blogging blockbuster.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to add new voices to your multiple blogs. Different perspectives not only make for more dynamic content but prevent you from suffering a blogging burnout.

If you have plenty to say and a solid blogging practice already in place, why not give multi-blogging a try? Your blogging empire awaits!

When window-shopping around the net at different blogs for blog creation ideas, it’s hard not to notice how artsy things have gotten. From snappy original graphics on design websites to Tumblrs filled with bold images that transcend mediums, art is seemingly everywhere. In fact, it now seems like the cool thing to do to reference famous or undiscovered artists in blogs of all genres. Also, the number of blogs alone devoted to the arts is a testament to how seriously the web loves the arts. With all of these great-looking blogs with snooty-patootie artistic pedigrees floating around, we wondered: Did blogging help artists, or is it the other way around?

To get to the bottom of the question, one need look no further than free blogging platforms like WordPress, Tumblr and Blogger. Blogging platforms are taking the blogs of artists very seriously, with Tumblr leading the pack. Tumblr, it seems, was born for art pimping. With its image-friendly layout, Tumblr makes posting images easy. Almost immediately after Tumblr’s launch in 2007, artists flocked to the site. Tumblr was quickly utilized by artists as “makeshift websites” where followers and buyers could easily find artists’ work without the artists having to sink big money into a traditional site. And Tumblr’s social nature made it really easy for artists’ work to get passed around and shared by other users. Tumblr is so serious about the arts that it has an artist outreach program and even boasts its own office gallery comprised of works by artists from Tumblr. And, naturally, Tumblr features several directories of artists that you can find on the site.

Other platforms are art crazy, too. A simple WordPress topic search for art will turn up blogs by big-time artists and art writers, while Blogger boasts blogs from the Guggenheim. Artists were clearly drawn to the ease of blogging and the rest is history.

The relationship between artists and blogs, it appears, is a mutually beneficial one. Artists can have their work seen by millions of blog readers and blogs can now elevate their appearance to compete with online magazines and tablet publications. But does all this art talk mean our blog content management strategies must now include original artwork? No, but some kind of image plan should be put in place. This blogging art explosion proves that fresh content now includes great-looking graphics.

“Blah, blah, blah” is the last thing you want readers to think after you’ve poured your heart and soul into blog creation. You want your company blog to excite readers about your brand. You want your words to keep ‘em coming back. But if you still feel like you’re getting blah-blah-blahed (accompanied by the required eye rolling and blabbermouth hand gesture, natch), then your blog may be too long. If, however, your scant-yet-efficient blog fails to garner comments over and over again, perhaps your blog is too darn short. So what exactly is the perfect blog length?

The minuscule line between full of information and too much information is particularly fine in the blogging-for-business world. Naturally, you’d like to give your readers and customers an in-depth look into your company, complete with all of your insights. But you don’t want to load them down with so much content that their heads begin to spin. I once had a creative writing teacher who had a perfect formula for this dilemma: leave them wanting more. His theory was this: Don’t give away your entire catalog of grade-A material. Instead, pepper your writing with the good stuff, knowing that you’ll have plenty of opportunities to dish out other nuggets of wisdom. Or, as another writing mentor of mine would say, “slow your roll.” Under this mindset, we can assume a great blog length runs in the 300-600 word length.

I found dozens of studies online, all claiming a different “perfect blog length.” But I tend to think shorter is better given our attention span and newfound love of reading blogs on smartphones and tablets. There is an art to saying what you need to say in a limited space. Plus shorter blogs are ideal if you intend to update several times a week.

However, those 800-1,200 word blogs certainly have an audience. Take a peek at some of the most popular tech and business blogs. Many of them are darn lengthy! And we can assume given the exploding readership of said blogs that people don’t mind and even enjoy getting an eyeful of content. By all means, if you’ve got a hot topic that needs 1,000+ words and your readers are dying to hear more, blog away! Our only rule of thumb is make sure the blog is engaging throughout. Just a catchy headline won’t hold their attention as they scroll for days to get to the end. Also by dividing your longer posts into easy digestible chunks, you make it easy and more appealing for readers to come back pick up where they left off if need be.

While there may not be an exact mythological answer to the perfect blog length, the power and potency of words is what matters. Still, we’re curious. Readers, what do you consider the perfect blog length? Do long-winded blogs delight or frighten you? Sound off in the comments section below!

Wanna see a perfect example of effective blogging for business pulled off with precision, coolness and humor? Then hop over to the Transportation Security Administration blog immediately. (N0, really.) It sounds downright impossible that an organization universally criticized for its ineptitude and crazy regulations would be so awesome at blogging, but the TSA has a secret weapon: Blogger Bob. Bob Burns, the official blogger for the TSA, gives readers a look into the kooky world of airport security with the skill, sense of humor and directness that every company blog should strive for.

Over the last two weeks, Blogger Bob has been making headlines, garnering both fans and criticism while facing controversies head-on. After an outcry in late February from breast-feeding passengers who argued they weren’t allowed to bring their breast pumps and empty bottles abroad, Blogger Bob hopped online with an apology and tried to put out the fire. Last Friday, Blogger Bob went head-to-head with another blogger who claimed he could defeat the TSA’s full body scanners. And even Bloomberg BusinessWeek jumped on the bandwagon when they applauded the coolness of Blogger Bob.

What makes Bob Burns such a great company blogger is his open and approachable look into the TSA.

“I call it the corny dad approach. I’m basically the Bob Saget of blogging,” Burns tells Bloomberg. “This isn’t really the most exciting subject, so I thought I should inject some personality into it.”

Burns himself served time on the front line of airport security, so his blog is peppered with the point of view of someone in the know. In addition to addressing current news stories involving the TSA, the blog also covers new regulations and hilarious real-life stories of passengers and what they try to get away with at security.

All of this adds up to compelling reading and the joining of a real voice to an agency many think of as humorless or soulless. Blogger Bob’s personality and fearless confrontation of sticky issues are techniques we can all inject into our blog marketing.

Twitter is essential to any blogging marketing plan. In fact, most bloggers stick to the following strict Twitter marketing routine:

*Write amazing, informative blog (points for bringing the funny — appropriately, at least).

*Tweet aforementioned brilliant blog.

*Watch said tweet get lost in a sea of other tweets.

*Question this tried-and-true method but proceed with it the next day anyway.

So if we all do this while still wondering if it’s working, what’s a blogger/tweeter to do? Why, tweet again, of course.

Twitter isn’t really “set it and forget it” marketing. The chatty, chirpy social media platform takes time and needs to be checked on throughout the day. Some research of Bit.ly backs this up. The company found that 3 hours after a blog link has been posted, traffic to the blog and the tweet itself are practically non-existent. On its blog in September, Bit.ly explained the phenomenon of the short “half-life” of a tweeted link.

“We can evaluate the persistence of the link by calculating what we’re calling the ‘half-life:’ the amount of time at which this link will receive half of the clicks it will ever receive after it’s reached its peak,” Bit.ly writes.

As usual, it’s our collective lack of attention span that accounts for the 3-hour life and death of tweetable links.

So thank heavens for second chances. The new Twitter marketing norm suggests that you post links in tweetss to new blog posts but then post another link to the same blog later in the day. But why stop there? If an older post from last month, for example, didn’t really rope in the readers, why not tweet it again? Can’t hurt — and, according to Search Engine Land, the life span of a blog increases the more it’s promoted.