Becoming active in social communities and on blogs is an important element of social media marketing. One way to do this is to read blogs by others in your sector and in your target market’s sector, then subscribe to the leaders. Select a handful of bloggers with whom to build relationships. Comment regularly on their articles, plus, write and publish your own response articles.

Who are the market leaders? I use four metrics to evaluate blogs:

1. Recency– When was the last post made?If a blog is not active, it has left the conversation. Blogs come and blogs go, even the best ones. Just because a blog author stops publishing new stories does not mean that search engines and blog directories will remove it from their listings.
2. Frequency– How often does the author publish?Frequent postings keep blogs fresh in readers minds and provide more opportunities for comments and conversations. It also separates the good writers from the bad. If a writer publishes daily and people subscribe and stay subscribed, they like what they are reading.
3. Popularity– Does the blog have readers?If there are no readers then there is no community, only a lone voice in the desert. Check more than one metric. Look at their Technorati authority or, if available, FeedBurner stats. Research their Alexa, Compete and Quantcast rankings.
4. Community– Do readers frequently comment on the author’s posts?When numerous people comment often on a blog you can bet that the blog author engages readers and draws them into conversations. Also, if you are only one of a small number of people who comment regularly, it will appear conspicuous and unnatural.

How do you evaluate blogs?