Find Out what means Blog , Blogging and what Do the Bloggers Do
A blog is an unpopular or popular website in which content is published from time to time in articles (also called posts) ordered by publication date, so the most recent articles will appear first.
An example is precisely this Blog that you are reading right now, and in this specific article, I will clearly explain what a blog is and what it is for.
Then, if you like it and think it can help you, you can read this other article on how to create a blog step by step.
But, let us start at the very beginning.
A Definition of Blog
To be very clear about the broad concept of what a blog is, first of all, I am going to explain to you where this word comes from because perhaps you did not know.
In 1997 Jorn Barger used the term weblog or weblog ( plural weblogs ) for the first time to describe the fact of “logging the web” ( logging the Web). And in 1999, Peter Merholz spreads the word in “weblog. From then on, it ends up being abbreviated in Blog, as we know it now.
In other words, the word Blog comes from the abbreviation of a weblog. That is why the basic meaning of the Blog is that of a blog or digital diary where content is “recorded” chronologically.
What is blogging?
Blogging is a term used in many ways to refer, for example, to have, write, or manage a blog in general.
Blogging is also used to refer to everything related to “the blogging world,” “the blogging market,” and so on. The latter is also known as the “blogosphere.”
What is a Blogger?
Blogger refers to the person who writes, has or is dedicated to the world of Blogging (or Blogging).
The term blogger also refers to the platform’s name for creating blogs — Blogger, owned by Google or a blog created on it, for example, when it says, “have you visited my blogger?”.
Other blogging platforms similar to Blogger are Tumblr, Medium, WordPress.com,WordPress.org and many more.
So now you know, if you read the words Blog, weblog, digital Blog, web blog, digital newspaper, etc., you should know that they are all synonymous with a blog.
What Is a blog and what is Not?
As I said initially, a blog is a website.
Still, the difference with the rest of “normal” web pages is that it focuses on displaying publications (called posts or articles) as if they were a personal diary.
There is also an essential part in these publications that is very characteristic of blogs: the comments.
Generally, at the end of each publication or blog post, you will see a comments section where readers can leave opinions, ideas, answer the questions that the author asks in the post, contribute more to what they have read, generate debate, etc., and the author can respond to the comments too, of course.
The latter makes the Blog a two-way communication channel between the author and the readers.
Comments are the essence of the Blog.
And, of course, not all web pages are blogs.
Many web pages don’t have a blog section: online shops, tourist information sites, company pages that show who they are and how to contact them, etc.
But I better explain all this to you on video, do you think?
The Parts of a Blog
Although each Blog is a separate world and can be designed in a thousand various ways, there are at least five essential parts that exist in most blogs:
The header
The header is generally at the top, and it is where you usually put the logo, the title and the main menu with the sections that the Blog has.
Some also put the Blog’s description, links to social networks, advertisements, etc.
The header serves above all to highlight the Blog’s identity and so that the reader can navigate through the main sections or categories that it has.
Main column
The central column is undoubtedly the most visible part of every Blog and is one of the main parts of the entire Blog and is usually on the left side.
The central column could also be occupying the whole width when there is no sidebar.
The Main column is where the content of the articles or posts goes, with the title.
The same place goes a central image, the date, the author of the report, the text, announcements, subscription forms, comments, etcetera.
Sidebar
The sidebar is a narrower column compared to the central column and is usually on the right side.
Bear in mind that some blogs have this element on the left side or don’t have it at all.
In the sidebar, there are usually “boxes”.These are widgets or sets of gadgets that have different functionalities.
These are links to social networks, subscription forms, a search box, advertising, special menus, the most popular posts, and so on.
The Footer
This vital part of the Blog is placed at the bottom of the whole and usually occupies the entire width of the Blog. It can also be of the same width as the central column.
If you check the footer of most blogs, you will see that their people (blog owners) usually put information and various links.
Such links typically lead to legal notices, privacy policy, information about cookies, copyright, etc.
The footer is also often used to add links to social networks or contact information such as an address, email, telephone, etc.
The Background
The background is the part that occupies the entire back area of the Blog. The location is the first visible layer, and the rest of the pieces are placed above it as the following layers.
Imagine a painting.
In many cases, only one colour is used for the background of the Blog. The reason is simple — reading to be convenient.
Of course, many options for the background and different colours, gradients, images, videos, patterns, etc., can also be used.
Blog types
There are blogs of all kinds. You can find blogs to teach something, to tell stories, show what you know how to do, disseminate information on a topic, sell products, offer services and more.
For this reason, a valuable and exciting way to classify all the types of blogs that exist is this:
- Personal Blog
- Professional Blog
- Corporate Blog
- Niche (or thematic) blog
A Personal blog
Personal blogs are certainly is the most common types of Blogs, and this makes sense. You already know that the historically Blog was born initially as a personal notebook where people share subjective opinion, experience, ideas, thoughts, art, etc.
Professional Blog
Even if it offers information and objective data, a professional blog should have a personal footprint and appearance because that is what will differentiate it from other blogs.
Many people have discovered the significant advantages of professional Blogging, so these types of blogs have multiplied nowadays.
A Corporate Blog
Corporate blogs would be something like the professional blogs that I explained before but oriented to brands, companies, corporations, etc. the corporate blogs often are used to “humanise” the image of these companies.
Another purpose of corporate blogs is for companies and brands to build trust and thus attract potential customers in a much less intrusive way than classic advertising.
A Niche or Thematic blog
When the objective of a blog is to be oriented about a specific topic, then these blogs are usually called niche blogs.
A niche blog is every type of Blog that focuses on a specific topic.
That specialises in fashion, cinema, music, sports, a particular author, a current problem, a product or service, etc.
You can imagine that this type would encompass countless blogs.
What are the different types of blogs?
What is a valuable Blog for?
You can find a different type of Blog for almost any objective that comes to mind. That is because the benefits of a blog are enormous.
Yes, there are also videos, podcasts, social networks, etc., but today the Blog is still one of the channels that generate the most trust, which is key to achieving those goals you set for yourself.
But the best thing is that you see for yourself what a blog can be best used for, and for that, I leave you here these seven different options.
1) Make money with a blog
Many still do not believe it, but a blog can be used to earn money ideally. What’s more, the Blog can be your own business.
It takes a lot of work and many hours to think and type, but in the end, it worths it.
2)Promote a product or service with a blog
It is clear that the usual classic advertising no longer convinces the people in the same way. However, a brand that gives you valuable and valuable information without asking you anything in return will be able to generate a trust that will last longer and will be much more effective than anything else.
3)Promote an event with a blog
Many organisers of events of all kinds have realised the importance and power of attraction that a blog can have when promoting them.
4)Find a job with a blog
The good old CV (Curriculum Vitae) is not as popular as it was in the past. I am sure that you have seen the Portfolio or Showcase sections on many of the websites.
Nowadays, it is scarce not to find a professional who offers online services and does not already have his Blog. And the reason is straightforward; it is the same as having a blog to find a job, demonstrating what you can do.
Can you see what I mean?
Thanks to the Blog, it is not that you “look” for work, but that work finds you.
This is the magic of developing your brand with a blog.
You would be surprised how effective a blog is in this regard.
5)Disseminate information with a blog
Of course, a blog also serves to disseminate any information that may be of interest (or not) to anyone who reads it.
You can find many types of Blog on numerous topics, whether professional or more “personal” types.
Such examples are:
- A Science blog
- A Fashion blog
- A Technology Blog
- A Health Blog
- A Games blog
- A Literature blog
- An Economy blog
- A History blog
- An Educational Blog
- A Philosophy blog
- A Movies blog
- A Travel Blog
- A Cooking blog
- A Sports blog
- A Computers blog
- Etcetera
Many “digital professionals” have realised that the Blog can be an excellent way to attract clients, whatever business they have, even locally.
Indeed, a blog can help attract customers even to a small neighbourhood store.
Now you will see one more idea for blogs that are precisely accurate customer magnets for their owners.
I’m going to tell you a secret that is not so secret at this point:
Online training is booming.
There are many examples of blogs that are actual “machines” for attracting students, so if you are good at something, then share it with others and, in return — get some money.
The history of the Blog
Now let me tell you a summary of the Blog’s history because I think it is essential to understand everything much better.
It is fair enough to say that the first-ever Blog was created in 1994 by Justin Hall.
The student at that time, Justin Hall, started a web page ( http://www.links.net ) as a personal diary where he talked about family “secrets”, his sexual relations, his flirtations with drugs, etc.
Imagine what it would be like to tell all these intimacies at that time, through the Internet.
I want to remind you that at that time, neither the people nor the network of networks” were so open-mined as it is now.
Here is the Overshare documentary (in English): the history of links.net, where he talks about the desire of people to share their privacy on the Internet to attract attention.
With the birth of the Blogger.com platform of the Pyra Labs company in 1999, it was possible that any user could create their Blog in a much easier way, which made the Blog quickly popularise.
With that popularity gained in 2002, the blogging phenomenon was already studied and considered more technical aspects.
In 2003, what we now know as WordPress was launched, although at first, it was called the b2 / catalogue project. The project was opened to the public in 2005, thus improving many aspects where other platforms failed.
It is essential to differentiate between 2 versions of WordPress that are two different ways of using the same platform:
- The open-source version of WordPress.org that anyone can install on a host.
- The WordPress blog of the Automattic company also uses the accessible version of WordPress, but it offers on its servers for free at WordPress.com.
Seeing the importance of blogs, also in 2003, Google took over Blogger.
At the same time, Google also launched Google AdSense (maybe for a reason), a platform for users to earn advertising revenue with their Blog.
They added many more functionalities in the following years. They allowed the user to use their own domain blogspot.com of the type <anything-you-want> .blogspot.
Blogger is a free publishing platform, while BlogSpot is a free domain service provider. Both services are owned by Google and are used together on the Blogger platform.Blogspot is usually referred to as Blogger.
In the following years, different media have been integrating blogs as an information channel. They are essential, such as the Huffington Post blogs where experts and professionals from other specialities write.
In 2010 it was said that there were already 160 million blogs and 180 million the following year. This boom has undoubtedly been thanks to the use that began to be given to blogs as a communication and advertising channel, so get an idea of what there will be today ten years later.
As of today, WordPress (.org) has established itself as one of the best known and most recognised platforms in the world of Blogging.
Also, in 2019 they released a new version of their editor and layout designer called Gutenberg, which seems to make the task of writing and designing the blog pages and articles much more accessible.
Make A Living Blogging On Your Blog
Perhaps I could have commented on this option within the Making money with a blog option (if you earn enough, of course), but I wanted to separate it for a straightforward reason: you don’t manage a blog in the same way.
I will explain.
When you start with the idea of making money with a blog, you usually think in the short or medium term.
But when you want to make a living from a blog, you do it (or you should) in the long run.
It is indeed true that you can start a blog with the idea of making money and end up living off it (in fact, it is usually “the way”), but surely there will be a moment when you would like to change the chip and begin to make decisions so that your Blog is forever.
Some of the bloggers live on their Blog, and you can be one of them.
You have already seen that there are many ways to generate income.
Some of the ways are affiliation, advertising, info about products, training, etcetera.
Still, what allows you to live off a blog is to plan a long-term strategy to consolidate your Blog and its business model.
By the way, if you want to plan a strategy for your Blog, it will be great for you to have an editorial calendar for it that will assist you with your planning about writing articles.
Why does your Blog work so well?
Why does a particular Blog work so well?
This a great question.
You have already seen that blogs work very well for the different options you could have. Of course, it is also interesting to know how to promote a blog but, why does it work so well?
Well, from what I have learned through the years, I would say that the answer lies precisely in the characteristics of a blog, which for me are mainly these two:
1. The “humanisation” of the Web
I believe that the Blog is precisely the most human part of any web because it is where the author expresses himself directly with the reader and has more possibilities to empathise with him.
As I said earlier, for example, advertising no longer hits us as it did years ago.
And it is because now we are more critical; we pay more attention to the people behind them, their experience and the knowledge they contribute.
2. The power of comments
Without a doubt, it is another critical point of the success of blogs. Comments are the means for readers to communicate directly with the Blog’s author, and in turn, with the rest of the readers.
In this way, we not only have the Blogger’s attention and testimony, but we also have the testimony of other people who will be able to respond with their own opinion.
And believe me that today the testimonies feed many businesses;
You have to take a look at websites such as Yelp or any other business directory like Foursquare (now Swarm) or TripAdvisor, for example.
Ultimately it is about people meeting other people, about developing a community among everyone.
I have verified this on my Blog when the articles that receive the most comments are those I talk about myself or my most personal experience.
The reason is as you empathise with the reader, he sympathises with you, and that strengthens that feeling of community even more.
And that is why it is used so much today as an inbound marketing tool because its power is impressive.
The near and the far future of Blogging
Before finishing, I want to take out the crystal ball that I have here.
In addition, I will give my opinion on the future of Blogging, which is something that newbies in Blogging ask usually.
I don’t know what your thoughts on it are, but I think that with the technological and scientific changes coming in the coming years, the tricky thing will be to have something secure to hold on to.
You may have already heard that we will work in trades that still do not exist in the next decade.
If you told me a few years ago that I would make a living from my blog, then I would have laughed.
And you may have also heard that almost all mechanical work will end up being done by robots or machines within not long.
As you can see, there are already several cars that drive themselves or the so-called “autonomous cars”.
So let me tell you one thing.
In my opinion, the only safe thing in the world of future Blogging is you.
I can bet you have no clue what I mean by this, so that I will explain.
The best thing you can do to face the future is to invest in yourself and your skills, which are precisely the ones that will help you adapt to everything that comes along, whatever it may be.
In a future where machines can replace the most “mechanical” abilities, it is clear that the most “human” capabilities will be the best valued.
Because a blog does not teach you to assemble a piece in a factory, it may help you express yourself better, meet other people, try harder, ask yourself about things, be more critical, and empathise, dialogue, investigate.
To be more you.
And I am sure that many bloggers could confirm this.
Notice that, for example, those of us who are lucky enough to make a living from our blogs have one thing in common, and that is that none of us imagined for a second that we would end up doing it when we started it.
A Blog can be the beginning of a change for the better without knowing it.
At the End
I hope you will like the tips which I shared with you on the very long topic known as Blogging.
If you liked this blog post, you might want to check the next one, which will be dedicated to Creating a Blog.
Check my next post, How to create a blog, here.