The following is a guest post by Maria Rainier. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines.

Although it really depends on what you want to accomplish with your blog, chances are that you’re better off blogging with a team than solo.  Sure, you can do it alone, and plenty of people do—the blogosphere is the ultimate Athenian democracy.  If you’re looking mostly to rant and rave and have personal reflections, you may be better off keeping it a solo venture.  If, however, you’re looking to offer advice, guidance, or anecdotes, or in any way build a community, you and (your audience) might be missing out by playing this game alone.

Here are 6 reasons to have a blogging partner…

1. No Man is an Island

Think of your favorite singer or band.  Well, if you have a favorite band, there’s no need to ask yourself this question: does he or she do it alone?  (The correct answer is no, because someone’s on the drums, the guitar, the violin, break dancing in the background, etc.)  Even solo artists have crews and roadies.  The point is that even though you can manage a blog alone, your blog probably isn’t as big or effective as it could be if you had a team or at least a partner.  Lady Gaga wouldn’t be anywhere without her makeup artist.

2. Get More Done

With a partner, you can accomplish more.  For example, you can both look for post topics, guest post opportunities, marketing opportunities, commenting on others’ posts, keeping your blog up to date with technology and worldly goings-on, and the like.  You can even divvy up responsibilities 50/50.

3. Twice the Talent

More people means more talent.  If one of you has a better grasp on the English language and the other has a knack for computers and web design, you can have great content and a good-looking website.

4. Four Eyes are Better than Two

Another pair of eyes to proofread content before it’s posted never hurts.  A partner also means having someone to watch your back when it comes to copyright, old content, social media monitoring, and the like.

5. The Bert and Ernie Effect

If you don’t mind relinquishing half of the power and the attention, both of you can post content (as long as both of you read over what the other intends to publish; this avoids conflict).  It can have a sort of Bert and Ernie spin on a single blog which, as long as content is not repeated, conflicting, or in any way confusing, can work in your favor.  Varying opinions on one site can also catch the attention of that many more viewers.

6. Someone’s Always Driving

Don’t go on a cross-country venture alone; you get another driving partner to drive while you’re catching up on sleep.  If one of you is feeling down or uninspired, there’s always someone around to pick up the pieces and get you back on track.  That’s what friends are for, right?

Admittedly, some bloggers are lone wolves and that’s fine.  Partnering up isn’t for everyone.  If you’ve ever felt like you could use a helping hand or a fresh brain to pick, however, you may want to look into finding a co-blogger.

About the Author: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online schools. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Have you ever wondered what all websites are linking to you? Or maybe you would like to know who all is using your articles. Maybe you want to know who is mentioning your name on their blog or website.

Keeping tabs on your name and domain are a great way to see who all uses your content, is talking about you, etc.

Here are some tools to help you do just that:

URLFan.com – Enter your website and see every blog that is linking to your website. Results are in real time and the content is cultivated through the millions of RSS feeds. Your website is ranked and given a number based on every other website. Go see where your website ranks in the blogosphere! This will also provide the content in which bloggers are using to link to you. Very handy, little tool.

Google Alerts – You don’t need a Google Account for this, but I suggest you get one anyway if you don’t yet have one. It’s fast and easy and well worth it for many different reasons. Here’s how Google Alerts works. Enter a search term that you want to receive alerts for. Enter your email address where you want the alerts to be sent. If you’re signed in this will be the email account associated with your Google Account. Any time a reference is made to the search term you entered, you will be emailed alerts for every instance of the term.

Here’s an example: My search terms I use are “Alan Mater” and “http://www.replaceyoursalary.com.” So, every time my name or domain name is mentioned, I receive an alert with a link to the web page that those terms are on. This helps me find out who is talking about me or linking to my website.

These two resources are great if you write articles because you will be able to find out who is using them and posting them on their website or blog.

If you’re not yet keeping tabs on yourself, you should be. It’s quick and easy, and you may just be surprised at the results.