The Pros and Cons of a Corporate Blog

Today it seems everyone has one. Every day, keyboards clatter as personal and commercial bloggers around the globe add the next installment to their online journals. But are blogs really worth the time and upkeep, and can they do more harm than good?

by Helen Leggatt

A corporate blog may project a cool “we’re embracing social media” image, but they are hard work. Plus, if not properly managed and maintained, a blog can turn from cool to catastrophic.

As recently reported by the Washington Post, some bloggers of old have even come to the conclusion that blogging has become a “mudpit” and no longer worth the effort.

If you are considering investing considerable time and effort in developing and running a company blog, you may like to ponder on the following pros and cons.

Pros

- Dialogue with consumers
- Regular turnover of content to give consumers reason to return
- Seen to be embracing Web 2.0
- Search engine visibility
- Requires little budget input

Cons

- Time consuming activity, keeping content fresh and updated
- Legal minefield, privacy concerns
- Lack of control vs. over-moderation
- Sourcing relevant “voice”/blogger
- Hard to measure ROI