How many blogs are out there?

Posted by Laura Bergells

May 30, 2007

Blogs are easy to start. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can start one.

(In this online video, I show you how you can start a blog for free — in under five minutes!)

But keeping your blog alive with fresh, interesting content is what really, um, counts.

Every quarter for the past few years, Technorati tracks “the state of the blogosphere“. If you want down and dirty data about the number of blogs, go take a look, quarter by quarter.

Last month, the answer to the headline question was “over 70 million blogs, but only 15.5 million active blogs.”

An active blog is defined as one that gets at least one post per quarter.

And that’s not really super active now, is it?

Hey, anyone can start a blog. But what are you doing to keep your company’s blog alive, fresh, and part of a thriving online conversation? What are you doing to attract visitors, subscribers, and commenters? How are you using it to connect with customers and prospects?
If a company doesn’t provide ongoing thought leadership or new ideas, then they probably won’t have — or need — an active blog. Followers with few fresh ideas will have nothing to blog about!
But if you are in a business where being perceived as\a thought, trend, fashion, or news leader is important — you had better be leading an ongoing, active, active vibrant conversation. Your company website had better not be a mere online brochure with no chance for interaction (other than to interact with obligatory phone number or email address — or to download a pdf brochure!)
Without frequently updated online content, you’ll quickly be perceived as a follower, instead of a leader.