Here at the SMK blog it would be fair to say we're fans of the medium.

What may have begun as an alternative means for clever techheads to communicate has now firmly achieved mainstream status. In fact, it could be argued most brands with an online presence benefit from a blog.

So here's the latest facts and stats from the big, bold world of blogging.

Blog all about it

Blogging is popular across a wide variety of online platforms. The most popular is Blogger, which sees over 46 million unique monthly visitors.

While 7 million users blog via such platforms, even more (12 million) blog via social networks.

Hungry eyes

All those blogs are attracting lots of eyeballs. The average internet user spends close to a quarter of their online time browsing blogs and social media sites.

A further 77 per cent of internet users regularly read blogs.

Gender split

Bloggers tend to be a youngish bunch, with the average age falling between 21 – 35 years. They're also pretty well informed – 71 per cent of bloggers say they do it to share expertise.

For the record, most bloggers are female.

Blogging for business

Blogging can be very good for business. Interesting content is one of the top three reasons users follow brands on social media.

SMEs with blogs can generate up to 126 per cent more leads, while 81 per cent of US consumers trust advice and information from blogs.

Companies with blogs also see boosts in all sorts of stuff including inbound links, leads and indexed pages.

Top earners

While everyone has a personal favourite, here's a list of the top performing blogs in terms of monthly revenue. 

The Huffington Post (US$2.3 million), Mashable (US$560,000), Perez Hilton (US$450,000) and Tech Crunch (US$400,000).

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