What is a blog and what you need to know about it?

There are many people who use the word ‘blog’ intimately every day, but they are not absolutely clear about the idea and the concept. They will also come across it for the first time, as you are doing just now…

Don’t worry now, after reading this piece of text, you will definitely be clear about these three words….

A Blog is a short form of web log, is an informal website promulgated on WWW, which is the World Wide Web. It includes distinct entries called posts, which are arranged in a chronological order where the first one that appears is the most recent one.

Let me summarize the blogging related terms:

Blog

• A Blog is basically a short form of a ‘Web log’.

• A blog is a website where posts or entries appear in reverse chronological order.

• A blog is a website which is regularly and frequently updated over time, and its updates appear on a first come first appear basis. It means the first post at the end and the last post at the beginning of the article page.

• A blog is not a formal website. It is purely dynamic in nature. Nothing is static in it, including the content, its design, layout, and format.

• Blogs have an area for people or audience to comment on the blog post.

• Blogs can also have links to other websites or blogs.

• It is very participatory in nature. Visitors can give their feedback and interact with the administrative (admin) team of the blog.

• Blogs can be of various types, which you can read in detail further in this article.

• Blogs can have rich media besides text, like audio, video, etc.

• A blog generally focuses on a particular niche.

• It has a personal tone and face. It works like one-on-one communication.

• If you blog consistently, you can enjoy a lot because you have full liberty to do it whatever way you want. You can run your blog even in complete offline isolation.

Blogger

• The one who is the owner of a blog is called a blogger.

• A Blogger is the one who writes for a blog.

• A blogger is the one who is an expert in some field and shares it with all through his blog.

• There can be more than one blogger for a particular blog.

• A good blog is all due to the blogger.

Blogging

Blogging is an online activity used for personal expression. A blog usually features commentary and links to website articles. It is a common means of expressing one’s thoughts in the online media. Blogs are now used for advertising brands, services, and products. For this reason, bloggers are enhancing their online presence by using unique blogger templates.

• The act of writing or editing a post on a blog is called blogging.

• There are various types of blogging, like Microblogging (like Twitter etc.) or Vblogging (video blogging), which have their focus on only one type of content.

• Reading a post on a blog is even called blogging.

All the activities you do to start, run, and promote a blog are collectively called blogging. Right?

You may wonder to read this simplest answer to the question; what is blogging? Practically, blogging is still simpler. It includes:

• Planning to start a blog includes keyword research, selection of a niche, buying of blog hosting and domain name.

• Starting a blog. It means making it ready to publish your content for your target audience.

• Writing content to publish on it. It is called blog posting.

• Optimizing your blog. It is called search engine optimization.

• Promoting your blog. We call it social media optimization.

• Achieving your blogging objectives with your blog. They may be several, like earning money, promoting your business, establishing a network or just having fun.

I hope you are clear about the understanding of these three words which will last till the internet lasts. They are’ Blog ’,’ Blogging ’and’ Blogger’.

What are the different types of blogs?

You will be amazed that the word “blog” is much wider than what you have thought of.

They are of different levels, covering a different number of the public and an audience of different interests due to the content being delivered.

Depending on the type and delivery style of the content, the blogs are divided into 7 categories.

These are stated below:-

Personal Blogs:

As the name suggests, this type of blog consists of information about any specific person who, de facto, is the owner in most cases. The blog has become a way to demonstrate life, mostly in order to gain fame. Nowadays, micro blogging has taken its place because it’s easier to share thoughts and feelings on the sites offering micro blogging like Twitter etc.

Money Blogging:

Its chief aim is to earn money from the blog. Money is earned on a blog by selling products and services on it.

Products and services are personal products of the blog or someone else which a blogger sells on commission.

The display of ad banners and text ads is also another source of earning money with a blog.

Business Blogging:

It means promoting a business. It indirectly acts as a marketing tool to increase sales of a business.

It also works as an image builder for the business. Whatever type of business you have, you can support it by starting a blog.

People will read your blog and have a better understanding of your products and your business. It is the smartest online way to grow your business because you do not need to spend much while doing this.

Micro Blogging

Micro blogging is the most common and widely used, which consists of sharing content or information by posting text, links, photos, videos, or any other form of media. These are used by friends, acquaintances, and business people to stay in touch and share anything whenever they want to. These are also used by politicians and celebrities for the purpose of their fame and publicity for different events.

By Subject

Some blogs are only made to focus on specific topics or genres, such as travel and tourism, health, politics, fashion, education, or any particular niche etc., and are named accordingly, like travel blogs (or travelogs), health blogs, political blogs, fashion blogs, education blogs, niche blogs etc. These are two types of blogs: literary genre blogs and musical genre blogs.

By device

Some blogs are, in particular, made for specific device information, like any mobile phone etc., known as a moblog. For example, iPhone blogs consist of information related to iPhones only.

Organizational Blogs

There are blogs corresponding to a particular organization which are used for better communication among the various employees of the organization. These are only for business purposes. The blogs for different clubs, societies, colleges etc. are named accordingly, like club blogs etc., but come in the same category.

By type of media

There are blogs specifically made for the purpose of related to different types of media. These are of many different types listed below.

1. Photologs – Blog composed of photos

2. Vlogs– Blog composed of videos

3. Linklogs– Blog composed of links

4. Sketchblogs– Blog composed of a portfolio of sketches

5. Tumblelogs– Blog composed of mixed media and short posts

Reverse Blogging

This is a type of blog which is usually administrated by a single blogger instead of many. This blog is opened up for writing by different authors or contributing them to a topic.

What’s the difference between a blog and a website anyway?

As I explained before, a blog is a type of website that is updated regularly, with posts listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). I will use the term “website” to refer to a type of site that is static, that is, not updated regularly. A static website would be used like a brochure, providing basic information about yourself, your company, or your organization. For example, if you want to start a virtual assistant business or you want a website for your existing business with basic info like services, pricing, and contact info, a static website would be the way to go.

What is blogging in present times?

Now the concept of blogging is wider than before. It has become so competitive. Now, quality is more important.

Quantity is not as valuable as it used to be a few years ago. Blogging needs quality. This change occurred after the mushrooming growth of blogs. Now, only those can succeed who focus on quality and give value to their readers.

So this is all about blogging. It is the only field that changes at the fastest possible pace. Every day, changes occur in it. So, to do blogging, one must be alert and resilient in nature. This is the basic spirit required to do blogging.

If you have the potential to deliver quality stuff, you must be happy because you can become a successful blogger quite easily.

How to blog effectively.

Although you will hear various things when learning how to blog, I was told the following and these things still hold true:

• Pick an interesting topic. Provide good content, particularly discussing or providing a solution to someone’s needs.

• Provide a good subject line to get the readers’ attention so they want to see what you’ve got to say about the topic.

• Keep it simple and straightforward. Keep them on the blog with easy solutions. Don’t try to be a rocket scientist. The more up front you are with your message, the more likely it is that readers will connect with it and relate to it. Why go around the houses when you can go directly?

• Put ‘yourself’ into your blog. Don’t just write about something you heard on the news or the Internet. When a person reads a blog, will the reader understand the article and also learn something about you?

• Be Fresh-Bring a fresh outlook to the table, and you’ll start to build a following of readers who want to hear your views on the latest things in your field.

• Write about various things: something personal, your niche, something funny, educational, etc. Help people know who you are through your blogging.

• Be Snappy-If you want people to jump in, read your posts, and stick with you right to the end, consider writing a short, snappy post. Don’t make it any longer than it needs to be. Don’t waffle.

My advice is to keep it interesting, put all of you on your blog so people, no matter what the topic, are interested in what you have to say.

Although the Internet world is huge, competition is fierce and these are the things I’ve found that have been the most important in my success.

Don’t get distracted by anything but the facts. Time, patience, and blogging well will help you get where you need to go.

With these things in place, I’ve come to love blogging. I know how to blog, I make time for it and I have the patience to persevere through the rough times, the newness and the growing and learning pains.

Just stay on quality, be consistent, and then enjoy the miracles of blogging, which I will share with you in later posts.