Do you know how many websites are there? There are about 2 billion websites on the internet. Out of these, over 600 million are blogs. Which has set a spark in this virtual world of innovation. If we talk about the US bloggers only, the number is rising high to 31.7 million, who prefer blogging as a hobby or career by 2020.
What is a blog?
Blog definition
The full form of the word “blog” is “weblog.” A blog publishes new posts and updates content regularly. Readers can browse published articles are in reverse chronological order. In a blog, the latest blog posts always stick to the first position, and old blog posts go down and down, and you can browse them using navigation or blog archive. What does the blog mean? Blog meaning – A blog helps to share and exchange views on a particular niche or subject. It is written in a conversational style to reach the hearts of the readers.
What is the purpose of a blog?
The most important purpose of a blog is to connect with the audience by creating blogs in such a way that it touches the heart of readers and audiences. There might be various reasons to start a blog, be it for personal gratification or businesses’ recognition and growth. Blogging can offer you monetary rewards or financial incentives. It is our very primary motive. Keep trying to rank your website higher than your competitors and to increase business exposure. For business, consumers play a very important role as you have to depend on them directly or indirectly for the continuous sale of products and services. For a successful business, blogging plays an important part as you have to keep on blogging to attract consumers and to catch their attention towards your services. Therefore, blogging plays an active role in your business’s growth, recognition, and brand visibility through a website. When you attain the habit of running a blog, you will become more determined, and the feeling of being competitive would arise. If you constantly attain the habit of blogging, you would surely boost up the traffic for your website by increasing the number of target audiences. A blog also helps in creating your niche authority, brand loyalty, and awareness. When you look for lead generation tools, then don’t forget to enlist the blog. A call to action (CTA) button in your great content will help you get more leads and conversions. The better you use your niche knowledge for generating creative, knowledgeable, and informative posts, the stronger connection you build with your target audience. Apprehensive blogging will help your business. You can gain brand recognition and become incredible in the eyes of the audience.
Blog structure
Since 1994, we have seen many changes in blog layouts. Different blog themes provide you different blog layouts that can help to represent your business online. You can hire a designer to develop your custom blog theme or buy a readymade theme from different online marketplaces. The basic elements of a blog remain the same. These are given below: Header It is the top part of a blog that consists of your brand logo, main menu, navigation bar, search icon, etc. Some modern themes offer options like a top menu (optional). Main content In this part of your blog, you see the published blog posts in reverse chronological orders. Sidebar It is a normal part of the blog where you get the option to add social media widgets, latest content, popular content, lastest user comments, call-to-action-buttons, advertisements, etc. The sidebar was very useful on desktop computers. Nowadays, most people are browsing on mobile; thus, the sidebar is not a mandatory part of a blog. Footer It is the lowest part of your part, where you can add necessary links, contact page, privacy policy page, disclaimer, copyright notice, etc.
Difference between blog and website
What is the difference between a blog and a website? Are they two different terms with the same meaning and purpose? The answer to it is No. Wanna know what is a blog, and what is a website? A blog and website are the terms used differently with different meanings. Nowadays, people get easily confused between these two different things. It may sometimes be challenging to differentiate, whether it is a blog or a website. Businesses and companies are creating blogs and incorporating them into their website. You can check a few business websites, and in their menu bar, you will find a word, phrase, or button to their blog.
What is the difference between a blog and a website?
You need to publish blog posts on a blog, whether it is a personal blog or a business blog. It means a blog needs to be updated regularly, e.g., a food blog involves sharing new recipes for promoting a particular food brand or restaurant, cafe, etc. Blogs can engage the audience in the published posts, i.e., readers/visitors can give their views, comments, ratings and share their thoughts. That’s why bloggers update their blogs regularly with many new blog posts. When it comes to a website, the content can be on a static or a dynamic web page, but the owner does not regularly update their page. It has no option to write comments, reviews, ratings, etc. You can see a publishing date, author profile, categories, and tags on a blog, and a website does not have these elements. Bloggers try to publish or update their content regularly to give the latest information to their readers. Nobody wants to read outdated content. The frequency of publishing or updating content may be daily, weekly, or monthly. It will depend upon the publishing schedule of the blogger. The readers may a new post every time you look into it. For the readers, a static website’s content may remain the same from one visit to another. It may or may not have the latest information. After knowing the difference between blog and website, you should take brief information about the blog post format.
Blog post format
Nowadays, blogs include varied features, and it consists of a diverse list of items. But, there are some standardized set of features that almost all blogs have. Given below are some standard features that a blog include: Title Title or Header is an eye-catcher that grabs attention and makes a promise to be fulfilled by the end of your post. Introduction It provokes the reader’s mind and draws attention to the post. Main Body It includes the main content or the points arranged logically, holding the reader’s attention. The main body of content should have proper headings, sub-headings, bullet points, some statistic data to prove your information is correct and updated. Conclusion It is the summary or closure of endpoints that calls the reader to take measures in the form of action or feedback. These were the key elements of a blog structure. Each element is essential in its way.
What is blogging?
Initially, blogging was used for personal use, like documenting one’s own experience, but now it became a popular tool to grow and expand the business, especially online. It has become an effective way to earn money online.
Blogging definition
In simple words, running and managing a blog that includes content writing, publishing, SEO, and social media management of blog posts on a blogging platform is known as blogging. You can pick a blogging platform of your choice to create a blog, e.g., WordPress, Blogspot, Weebly, Wix, Ghost, etc. Blogging is an act of putting together content regularly on a content management platform. It is the most effective tool in the present times to develop a business of any nature or scale. Blogging can be considered as the art and science of content marketing. Through the process of blogging, it becomes easier to post anything or share any content online. It involves updating content regularly.
Why is blogging so popular?
Now, you know “what is blogging,” and be more familiar with “why is blogging so popular.” In the world of technology, blogging is growing at a steady rate. All kinds of businesses use it to get recognition and online promotion. It is one of the tools for forming views and generating thought processes worldwide. With the help of blogging, the business started keeping the information up-to-date by thereby increasing customer satisfaction. Blogging paved the way for businesses to increase brand loyalty and form connections by building trust with large audiences. Regularly publishing new updates about products and services on their blogs helps businesses to keep connected with the audience. Personal and niche bloggers found a way to outsource more and more people interested in particular topics according to their tastes and preferences. With the help of a blog, readers can comment by which you can interact with them, which helps your business know-how to work on the areas you need to improve. This way, you can create trustworthy followers. You can do make money blogging if everyone likes your blog and if it becomes an attention seeker. Blogging is a good source of earning income. You can make money with Google AdSense, different ad networks, affiliate marketing, or by selling products and services in which your customers are interested. Are you interested in blogging? Here are blogging ideas to start a blog.
Who is a blogger?
What does a blogger mean? Eventually, blogging has become a passion for people. People have started opting for blogging as it generates a good source of monetary rewards or passive income. For this reason, bloggers have started becoming famous through their well-known blogs or posts. What does a blogger do? A blogger is someone who loves to document their life experiences with you. Bloggers post on their various interest areas like food, art, designs, creativity, apparel, business, finance, and much more. They love to share their thoughts, views, and ideas and post them in the form of a blog on the internet. Bloggers are in thirst for putting their thoughts out on the virtual platform. Bloggers may live a life digital nomad because they can do blogging from anywhere, anytime.
Blogger definition
Coming to blogger definition, I would like to say that blogger is a person who has a blog, does blogging, or posts a blog online for his readers. He is a person who likes to share his thoughts, ideas, and views on a particular topic of their interest area and putting it forward to the target audience. A blogger has the talent to win the hearts of readers by his or her enchanting blogs. He can inculcate positivity and thoughtfulness in readers’ minds by engaging them and communicating with them online.
Why do people blog today?
Many people are blogging today for a variety of reasons. I want to enlist those reasons to you. Given below are the reasons for blogging: – The first and foremost reason for blogging is to reach and connect to millions of users through their blogs. – Blogging is a passion for those who wish to share their life experiences online with a broad audience. Blogging is both the science and art of content writing where people can share their feelings and views through blogs or posts and help create connections worldwide. – Many people do blogging to earn money and generating income by selling their products and offering services. – Blogging is also popular among businesses to gain popularity, recognition, and brand loyalty. These are a few reasons why do people blog nowadays. Why is blogging so popular? – Blogging helps people share their experiences, views, and opinions based on their real-life or interest areas. – From minor to major issues, bloggers love to document every resource online to reach the target audience. – People are enthusiastic enough to share their thoughts with the public on this online platform. Today, every blogger runs in the race to create one of the best blogs every day on the web and become a passionate and enthusiastic blogger. Do you also want to create your blog? Are you ready to run in the race of becoming a well-known blogger?
Monetizing a blog
Like every task or profession, blogging also requires patience. It is not a task that can make you a millionaire instantly. Bloggers earn money through blogging, but before they start earning or gaining benefits, they need to build Google SERPs ranking and have niche influence. It requires both time and patience, and it also needs valuable and resourceful content. You have to do some research and gain popularity in the business to make money through blogs.
How to make money off a blog?
Given below are some ways of making money with a blog after becoming a versatile blogger: – Use Google AdSense or sell ad space on your blog – Do affiliate marketing privately or through ad networks. – Create and Sell your own digital products, e.g., eBooks, tutorials, etc. – Create exclusive content or consultancy for paid members. – Utilize your business blog as a content marketing tool to promote your products or services. Business blogs do not sell ad space and paid membership materials. Then what to do. First, you create exclusive digital products like eBooks, tutorials, or online courses. Place a form on your blog where the reader will fill in their name and email address to get your ebooks, etc. After completing the signup process, they will get their ebook or free online course in exchange for their email address. This way, you will collect the email addresses of those people who may be interested in your products or service soon. It may be a way through which you can boost up sales and generate revenue with business blogging.
Want to start a blog on your own?
You can easily create a blog of your own by following some steps. Select a blog name The first step to creating a blog is to decide on a blog name. After that, purchase a resembling domain name. Think of an eye-catchy name that is best suitable for your blog. Buy a matching domain name. Most of the time, the blog name you choose, its domain name, may already book. In that case, you may need to choose a different blog name and search if the domain name is available. Choose a blogging platform. The next step is to choose the best blogging platform or medium that best suits your need and requirements. The best recommended is a self-hosted platform. There are a few choices related to it, but the most preferred is WordPress.org. Choose a hosting service. The next step is to choose web hosting. For the latest or new bloggers, it is recommended to choose Bluehost, a company that influences over 2 million websites worldwide. On signing up, they offer a free domain name, and if you are not satisfied with their services anytime, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is a delightful offer granted by the company. So, in this, you can easily create a blog on your own by simply following the steps mentioned above in no time. Here is a more detailed guide to starting a blog.
Conclusion
Coming to conclude, I hope that I have clearly explained the concepts of a blog, blogging, and a blogger. You can also start your blog with the help of the steps mentioned above. Creating your blog will help you to share your own experiences, views, and thoughts. You can also start your own large-scale or small-scale business by connecting with innumerable users worldwide. From making connections to sharing facts, blogging greatly influences the target audience’s lives, from building trust to generating funds and income. The bloggers’ task is well enriched with engaging the audiences with the views and comments and inculcating communication and connections worldwide with the users. Are you thinking of creating your blog? Hurry up! You can do so. Blogging generates a feeling of enthusiasm with the audience. All the foodies must try blogging by putting their recipes online and preparing blogs to win audiences’ hearts. If you are thinking of creating your blog by sharing it, you should not wait for more. My personal view regarding it would be “Once a Blogger, Always a Blogger.” Co-author: Ms. Manpreet Kaur
