As the primary author of one of those top 200 blogs (Online Marketing Blog) that has also been highly recognized by publications such as Advertising Age (AdAge Power150 #3) and well respected PR industry blogs such as in Edelman’s Social Media Index #13, I’ve found some of the measurable outcomes from business blogging include:

• Use of brand names in text, in links
• Number of comments
• Number of subscribers via RSS and RSS to email
• Media attention
• Speaking requests
• Customer loyalty
• Inbound links to the blog
• Search engine ranking for the corporate site
• Corporate website traffic
• Leads/sales initiated
• Volume of blog traffic
• Technorati and other credible rankings
• Search engine ranking for the blog
• Increased company visibility within the industry
• Increased media coverage
• Improved customer loyalty
• Increased sales leads/revenue/new customers

And there are many more depending on the purpose of the blog, whether it’s to build thought leadership, announce new products, offer SEO friendly content for a troublesome CMS or ecommerce platform, generate leads, support media relations initiatives or simply serve as a sounding board for ideas. The true measure of success for a business blog is entirely predicated on its purpose.

Once goals are defined, a content and outreach plan implemented and measurements are put in place, any business can create a successful blog. It’s simply a matter of time, resources and a willingness to try until “what works” reveals itself. Here’s a long list of specific business blogging considerations that companies should be aware of when starting a blog.