Last updated on October 21st, 2023
I started blogging on 7 December 2017 but I have never written a post about “What Is A Blog?”.
I just assume at that time everyone knew what is a blog but now I think there are still many that do not. If you do not know, this post is especially for you. Let’s get back to basics!
What Is A Blog?
Definition
The original term for “
A weblog is a website that is like an online personal journal or log that is updated very often and is meant for general public consumption. Blogs are displayed in reverse chronological order with the latest posts appearing first.
Most people create blogs to voice their own opinions, and thoughts, share their interests, and share information. When a person writes on a blog, it will be in the form of a post, which is a single piece of writing on the blog.
There can be more than one writer on blogs. If there is more than one writer, this will be called community blogs.
How Many Blogs Online Right Now?
According to www.softwarefindr.com, the estimated total number of blogs online in 2018 is around 505 million blogs and this number is growing year by year.
If you are interested to know more about blogs and how it all started, here is a link to A Brief History of Blogging
How Does Blogs Look Like
The basic format of a blog is as follows:
- Header area: for the menu and navigation bar
- Main content area: for your latest blog posts
- Sidebar area: for popular posts, opt-in box, social profiles
- Footer area: for links like privacy policy, disclaimer, contact page. etc.
Below is what a basic blog looks like.
Look at this post you are reading right now, it has the same format as above. Some blogs may have other elements inside their blog but it will not go far from this basic format.
Blogs And Websites What Are The Different?
This is how the Cambridge Dictionary defines “What is a website?”
a set of pages of information on the internet about a particular subject, that has been published by the same person, company, or organization, and often contains pictures, video, and sound.
Hence, based on the definition above this is what I understand of it.
There are many types of websites and blogs are one of the types.
Here is some example of the popular types of website:
- Business website
- E-Commerce website
- Entertainment website
- Portfolio website
- Media website
- Education website
- Nonprofit website
- Brochure website
- Infopreneur Website
- Personal Website (which blogs fall into this type)
- Web Portal
- Community Forum website
Therefore, you can say blogs are a type of website but websites may not be blogs.
What Is Blogging?
Definition Of Blogging:
Blogging is a verb. A verb is a word to describe an action.
Thus, blogging means maintaining or adding new entries to a blog or expressing or writing about on a blog.
This simply means that if you have a blog and you write and publish a post, this act is called blogging.
Do you know how many blog posts are posted every day? The total number of blog posts published every day is displayed on the worldometers website. 4 million and counting as I am writing this post.
Why Is Blogging Become So Popular?
In my opinion, the main reason why blogging has become so popular nowadays is that blogs are no longer viewed as just an online personal journal or log.
When people realized that one could make money from blogging, not just some money but more than enough to replace their full-time job income. The interest in starting a blog increases.
Blogs can even have the potential to be developed into a successful online business.
With the low investment cost of starting a blog, it becomes a popular way for aspiring entrepreneurs to build their dreams online.
In my posts: How much money can you make from blogging show you the potential amount of money blogs can make.
As more and more people read blogs online, big companies started to work with bloggers to promote their products and services too.
They even have a blog integrated into their company website so as to keep their client or customers up to date.
In the year 2000, there were only 23 blogs listed on the internet but now 19 years later, it has more than 505 million blogs and growing. In such a short year it has already grown into a huge blogging industry with great potential.
What Do Bloggers Do?
Definition Of Blogger
Blogger is defined as a person who writes material for a blog.
In recent years, some bloggers have developed into more than just writing blog posts. Some of them become very famous or I should say they grow into an influencer in their field.
What Is Influencer?
Definition
someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave, for example through their use of social media.
quoted from Cambridge Dictionary
In the year 2017, Fobes published an article on the Top influencers of 2017.
It consists of influencers from different blog niches. Such as Pets, Kids, Food, Travel, Gaming, Home, Fashion, Beauty, Parenting, Fitness, etc.
These bloggers or vbloggers(video bloggers) do not just have thousands of followers. In fact, they all have millions of followers following them on their social media networks.
Businesses saw the possibility of reaching out to their target audiences via influencers. Hence, influencer marketing become a very popular way for companies to promote their brands.
Here is an article published by Vogue Australia: You’ll never guess how much the highest-paid beauty influencers earn for a post.
Based on the article dated 23 August 2018, the top beauty influencer in the world was Huda Kattan. She has 26 million followers and her Cost per post is $45,000.
How It All Being?
It all begins with a simple blog.
You can start a blog for free if you only want to share your hobbies and interests.
But if you looking to build a business with your blog just like those I have shared above, then starting with a free blog may not be suitable.
My recommendation is to start a self-hosted blog. Having full control of your blog is very important to your business.
Definition Of Self-Hosted Blog?
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Let me emphasize it again, having full control of your website is super important if you are building an online business.
For a self-hosted website, I recommend Bluehost. They are my web hosting company. Besides that, Bluehost is the #1 recommended web hosting by WordPress.org and currently powering over 2 Million Websites Worldwide.
In Conclusion,
To start a blog, it is only a few clicks away. But to build a successful online business, you do need to be committed. Blogging is not a get-rich-fast business!
I hope after reading this post you have a better understanding
