What Is A Blog? | A Beginner’s Guide to Basic Blogging Concepts
Well, everybody has heard of the term ‘blog’ or ‘blogging‘. But not everyone is clear about what the term exactly means. What is a blog? Is it a diary or just a website? Why do people blog? What purpose does it serve? Why are blogs so popular? Should you be creating a blog?
If you are one of those people with a vague idea about blogs and blogging, you are at the right place. Read on to find out everything about blogging.
What Is a Blog? Everything You Need To Know
Let us begin with the definition and history of blogs and blogging.
What Is a Blog?
A blog, according to Wikipedia, is:
…a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (“posts”). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page.
Basically, the term ‘blog’ is the shortened form of ‘weblog’, i.e. a log (record of events) which is published on the web.
Blogging: A History
Although the term was derived far later, blogging started during the early 1990s.
Long before the advent of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even Orkut, blogging was the only way people used to share their ideas, opinions, photos, etc. on the Internet. It was and is still used by many as an online journal.
So, yes, a blog, in its original form, was kind of like a diary or journal, though, not necessarily a private one, rather intended to share ones thoughts with others, on the World Wide Web.
In a way, blogs democratised publishing like never before and has given a boost to freedom of speech and expression. With blogs and blogging gaining popularity, people with no access to traditional mass media or even technical knowledge like HTML which were previously needed if you wanted to publish anything on the web, got the opportunity to publish themselves and reach a wider audience.The emergence of several political blogs in the early 2000s is testimony to this. Apart from that, a wide variety of blogs of other kinds like how-to manuals, news blogs, etc. emerged.
Over the years, blogs have seen tremendous change. Initially, it was only individuals or a small group of people who used to maintain a particular blog and contribute to it. These blogs mostly published articles that were based on the same topic. Over the time, blogs that were authored by a large number of people covering a wide range of topics developed. News blogs is an example of such “Multi Author Blogs”.
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Are Blogs and Websites Same?
Many people are confused about this. To clarify this doubt in one sentence, it can be said that:
All blogs are websites but all websites are not blogs.
Amazon.com is definitely a e-commerce website, from where you can search for particular items and purchase them. But it is not a blog. Many websites, however, have a blog integrated to the site, which is maintained and updated on a regular basis by a group of people. It is to be noted that blogs are created with an intention to be read (although there might be photo blogs, video blogs the likes) and hence are updated regularly. New posts are added at intervals. The same is not the case with other static websites which are rarely updated.
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Blogging as a Marketing Tool
With individuals, groups, and organisations coming up with a wide variety of blogs, its potential as a marketing tool was realised in no time.
Let’s get a clearer view of blogging as a marketing tool.
Let’s say you are seeking information about “Top Blogging Platforms”. So, you search for it on Google. A bunch of articles show up on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). You click on the first article, read it and you come to know about Blogger or Blogspot. You get information about the platform, how to create a blog on Blogger, what are the features available, how you can monetise the blog, etc.
Likewise, many other people would have searched for the same topic and come across this article. This helps Blogger to get more exposure. Additionally, it helps in building people’s trust on the platform as a typical blog has a comment section where people discuss about the topic a particular article talks about, resulting in the possibility of more people signing up on the platform. This is exactly the goal of marketing – promoting, advertising and selling of products and services.
Basically, people may not know about a particular organisation providing a particular product or service. What people know is that they have a certain need and they search for it on Google. Then through the search engine optimised blogs on Google they come to know that their requirement can be met by a particular business organisation.
Why Are Blogs So Popular
Through blogs, business organisations market their products and services to prospective customers. They also keep their customers updated about their products and services through blogs.
Blogs also help in reaching out to a large audience having interest on a particular topic. It is used to create awareness, provide information, and share opinions and thoughts. And one can even monetise their blogs in the process and earn. This is one of the main reasons for blogging to be so popular as it provides an opportunity for an alternative career.
Should You Create A Blog?
If you like writing and want to reach out to a large audience, you should definitely blog.
Again, if you think you are knowledgeable about a certain topic that people want to know about or if you have a product or service that cater to the needs of a large number of people, blogging is something you must do.
You can also start blogging if you want to be your own boss. There are many millionaires who reached where they are today through blogging.
I hope you have got a clear idea about what is a blog. If you have no knowledge about blogging, you can start by creating a free blog on Blogger. It is easy and simple. Reach out to us if you have any query.
