Seems an obvious question but a question that crops up time and time again! There are many definitions of a blog and many different reasons for writing one. Some people write them just for pleasure others write to provide a service or to earn a living. Many top blog writers are earning six figure incomes from writing their blogs full time! Now that’s an interesting concept.
So before I go into exactly what a blog is, have a little look at some definitions of ‘blog’ that you can find from reputable sources around the internet. “A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.”Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.”
(source - wikipedia)
“Blog is short for "web log." Basically, a blog is an online journal. You can write or post about whatever you like: updates of your life, political opinions, a great trip, favorite recipes, what music you're listening to -- anything that strikes your fancy.
Blogs are usually composed of one or more blog entries. Each entry can have its own title and always says the date and time you published it. Blogs show the last entry first, and you can scroll down to read earlier entries. So it's like a reverse diary.”
(source yahoo.com)
“A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.
People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.
Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.”
(source marketingterms.com)
So, there you have a few quotes from authoritive sources from around the internet. For me, in simplified, no nonsense terms, a blog in basically a diary of events than run in chronological order.
So, for instance, if you look at my blog at Web Mums – you will see that the last blog entry I wrote will appear at the top. You will also notice the most popular ones by how many views or comments they have received. When I blog from another site, I have categories. It’s like a mini, information website. Every time I write another blog, the rest of the blogs get pushed further down and filed into the categories in the archives. This means that they can be accessed at any time and people surfing for different things on the internet will still stumble across old posts they may be of use or value to them at that time.
Most blogs are written by one person but that isn’t always the case. You will quite often find companies releasing their own blog to keep their customers updated with important information. Also, groups of friends may decide to write and maintain a blog together – perhaps a book group blog! Also the majority of blogs tend to focus on a particular subject. Again, this isn’t always strictly true but it is the general rule.
I tend to blog about business for women – focusing on bringing a lot of the jargon that is out there to regular folks like you and me. Why do you want to be wading through pages of info to get a straight forward answer when I blog to do it for you!
Many people have a personal blog, rather like a diary, and they share this with friends and family as it’s a great way to keep in touch and let everyone know what you are up to.
I would highly recommend starting a blog to anyone. Sometimes, just writing your thoughts down to share with others will keep you focused on your end goal. I have a wonderful lady in my Web Mums group who is embarking on a life changing journey by starting a business. She has decided to keep a blog of her progress to let us all know how she is getting on. This is great because it gives her something to focus on and the readers enjoy hearing all of the updates and will comment back with encouragement! It also promotes her business.
Ah yes! Comment back! Finally – we get to what I think is the crux of what a blog is all about! The interaction you get with your reader. If you read a book and you love it – don’t you just want to tell the author how you felt about it? What about if you read a news piece that you totally disagree with? Aren’t you itching to share your views?
Well that’s the beauty of a blog – you can!
In the next blog instalment, I’ll touch on why a blog can be important for your business and search engine results!
If you want to get yourself a blog – check out:-
www.wordpress.com
www.wordpress.org
www.blogger.com
