What is a Blog & What Does Blogging Mean (Full guide)
What is a blog? What is blogging? What does it mean to be a blogger?
There are over 500 million blogs online at the moment. And blogging is one of the biggest digital practices in the world. There are 32 million active bloggers in the US as of 2022. Blogs are marketers’ most popular content formats. 9 of 10 content marketers produce blog posts to assist with their promotional campaigns.
But they is way more to it. So let’s explore everything that defines blogging.
Today, we’ll teach everything you need to know about the blog.
What is a Blog? Blog Definition
A blog is a website regularly updated with posts or entries. A blog can be used for personal or commercial use.
Experts agree the first official blog was Links.net, founded in 1994. A student named Justin Hall built the site to promote and publish his writing. The term blog didn’t exist until later, in 1997, when it emerged as a shortened version of “weblog”.
Blog or Weblog was the word used to refer to an online journal or informational website. Typically, blogs displayed information or posts in reverse chronological order. The oldest posts appeared towards the bottom of the page, and the newest at the top.
Blogs began as a way of sharing information and insights online. Today these tools have become a valuable asset for marketing and brand awareness. Companies with blogs produce more leads than their competitors.
Is a blog different from a website?
While it is possible to build websites that are just blogs and nothing else, this isn’t common. Usually, blogs are a section of a larger business website. You update your blog regularly by adding new posts. Every new post expands your site and increases your brand reach.
Blogs also tend to generate more engagement than standard websites. Readers usually have a chance to share your blogs on social media. They might comment on blogs with their concerns or questions. Blogs can even generate engagement via social media.
What are Blogs For? What is the Purpose of a Blog?
While many people still blog for fun, the most common use of blogging is as a marketing tactic. Blogging is among the top 5 content marketing strategies today.
Blogs allow companies to share valuable information with their audience. They are also valuable for increasing visibility in search engines. Blogging for business will increase your indexed pages. The more indexed pages you have, the more visible your site becomes.
The internet is a huge place full of competing companies. As a business, you rely on consumers finding and buying your products. Without blogging, you’d struggle to stand out among many active companies. Today, blogs:
- Support SEO: Blog posts allow companies to target specific keywords and rank for these words with the search engines. For instance, your blog post could discuss social media marketing to help you rank as a resource for people looking for that topic. Blogs also help to attract backlinks, which improve your domain authority.
- Improve authority: Blogs are a way of sharing information. You can create educational and entertaining blogs about topics that matter to your audience. This is an excellent way to showcase your knowledge and cultivate a specific brand image.
- Attract visitors: People enjoy reading blogs. High-quality blogs help to attract visitors to your site. If your blogs are engaging, they can also convert visitors into shoppers. Most blogs will include conversion elements, like CTAs (Call-to-action).
- Cultivate community: A blog can attract fans and followers. People who love your blogs can share your website with friends and improve your reach. Blogs can also encourage customers to sign up for your newsletter subscription.
- Improve differentiation: Blogs set you apart from the competition. They allow you to showcase a specific voice and a certain degree of knowledge. The more you blog, the more you identify your company for your customers.
The Structure of a Blog
Great blogging makes your business look more credible and engages your audience. The right blog can even help you outshine your competition. But, you still need to structure your blog correctly to ensure success. The typical components and appearance of blogs have changed over time as websites have evolved. Some blogs now include videos, widgets, and various other items. Most standard blogs will feature the following:
- Header or title: To introduce the blog.
- Menu or navigation bar to find other content on the website.
- The main content area is a list of the latest blog posts or a post.
- Sidebar with social profiles, CTA, forms, and trending content.
- Footer with relevant links like privacy pages and disclaimers.
Each post on your blog will also have a specific structure. The exact structure of your blog depends on your business. But, most experts recommend using spread-out posts with plenty of white space and short sentences. Images and videos can add context to blog posts.
Blog posts are also differentiated from static web pages like landing pages with specific features, like an author name or publishing date. Most are also organized based on specific tags and categories.
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Experts recommend writing blog posts between 1500 and 2000 words. But, the ideal length of your post will depend on the target audience, industry, and topic.
What is Blogging? Blogging Definition
Now you know the definition of a blog, we can move on to looking at blogging. As you might expect, blogging is the art of creating blogs. Blogging emerged as a popular activity during the early 2000s. Initially, it grew most in the political field, but blogging quickly began to earn attention in virtually all industries.
Put simply, blogging refers to all the various activities done to create a blog. This practice fundamentally focuses on writing. But blogging does require other creative skills too. Some bloggers are experts in photography, graphic design, video creation, and editing.
Bloggers also know the general technical processes required to publish content to a website. For instance, blogging might include researching keywords and implementing SEO. It usually involves loading a blog onto a website via WordPress.
Some companies also include the promotion of blogs in the definition of blogging. Bloggers promote blog posts through a host of activities today. After hitting the publish button on a post, they may also share links on social media to attract attention.
Blogging is exceptionally popular today, particularly among companies. On average, businesses with a blog receive 55% more visitors to their site.
What’s more, as the structure of the web changed, blogging became an essential part of standing out online. Most companies today wouldn’t be able to survive in the SERPs without a blog. Many companies spend at least four hours per day on each blog post.
What is a Blogger?
A blogger is essentially the expert responsible for creating blogs or blogging. There are a host of famous bloggers and blogging platforms on the web today. But many bloggers are behind-the-scenes employees in a marketing team.
Blogging can be a side gig or career for creative people who want to monetize their time online. You can build your blog and publish affiliate content to earn money. You could even use your blog to draw attention when bringing your brick and mortar store online. Other bloggers work for content marketing agencies.
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Even companies hire bloggers specifically to work on their content strategy. These bloggers are usually part of a content marketing team. They may be responsible for running the blog for the business or simply contributing to it.
Bloggers, like writers and marketers, can specialize in certain niches. There are food bloggers, travel bloggers, and beauty bloggers out there. Bloggers who don’t work for agencies or companies are also influencers in their niche. It’s common to find bloggers with highly active social profiles today.
How Much Do Bloggers Earn?
The exact amount you can earn blogging depends on several factors.
If you’re blogging as part of a content marketing team, you’ll be offered a specific salary for your work. If you’re a freelancer or you’re blogging as a solo career, you can make over $50,000 per year, according to Glassdoor.
While there are a lot of high-paid bloggers out there, this isn’t a get-rich-quick profession. Earning a decent income as a blogger requires a commitment to building your Google ranking and audience. You’ll need to commit to creating amazing content and mastering SEO optimization. As a top-ranked blogger, you can make money by:
- Selling ad space on your blogs with Google AdSense.
- Selling your digital products like courses, webinars, or eBooks.
- Using your blog for content marketing to boost your own business.
- Selling memberships for exclusive content access.
- Selling email solo ads if you have an email list
- Selling writing and marketing services on the best freelance marketing websites.
- Becoming an affiliate partner or influencer.
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What Do You Need to Become a Blogger?
To succeed as a blogger, you’ll need a few essential things. First, you need a passion for your chosen industry and a skill for writing. You’ll also benefit from developing your knowledge in SEO and reporting, link building, social and email marketing tools over time.
The best blogging platform for most beginners is WordPress, because it’s easy to use, affordable, and flexible. You’ll need to pair this platform with a web hosting service, like Bluehost, which comes with a free domain name. Once you have your website, you can begin building your blog and designing a specific brand to match your personality.
Remember, building your blog requires regular time and investment. This means regularly updating your content.
Understanding the World of Blogging
Hopefully, this article has given you a useful introduction to everything you need to know about blogs, blogging, and bloggers. Now it’s up to you to decide how you want to get into blogging. Do you want to become a blogger, start a blog, or invest in blogging for your website?