Companies looking to get the most out of their relationship with consumers should look to blogs to strengthen bonds, it has been stated.

Maggie Holland, the editor of online computing resource IT Pro, said that this phenomenon - generally associated with Web 2.0 - is able to offer the chance for both sides of the coin to become part of larger virtual communities.

Despite this, companies must be comfortable with their own ability to provide a quality service as negative press in the world of blogging levelled against their company can spell big trouble for many businesses.

Ms Holland added that "the old adage of telling one person when you're happy but ten when you're not can be multiplied by an almost infinite factor when it comes to the internet".

Online advertising has grown from the smallest market sector in 2003 to the third-largest in 2007, according to the most recent UK Internet Advertising Bureau annual report.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.