What is a blog? | Definition from TechTarget (2023)

What is a blog?

A blog, short for weblog, is a frequently updated oneHomepageused for personal comments or business content. Blogs are often interactive and include sections at the bottom of individual blog posts where readers can leave comments.

Most are written in a conversational style to reflect the blogger's voice and personal views. Some businesses use blogs to connect with target audiences and sell products.

Blogs were originally called weblogs, which were websites that consisted of a series of posts arranged in reverse chronological order, with the most recent posts appearing at the top. They were regularly updated with new information on various topics.

Today'sblogs are more likely to be a personal online diary or commentary related to a business that is frequently updated and intended for public consumption. Blogs are still often defined by their format, consisting of a series of posts posted on a single page in reverse chronological order.Many blogs are collaborative and include several authors who often write about a single theme such asEngadget, a tech blog with multiple authors.

A blog is usually devoted to a topic of interest to a target audience - such as fashion, politics orInformation technology. Blogs can be thought of as providing ongoing commentary on a theme. They are intended to engage with a community interested in a topic and the personality or products of the blogger or sponsoring company. Bloggers often choose unique domain names that reflect the current topic, such asNot another cooking show, a food blog.

Bloggers control their content and don't need to rely on other outlets to publish their views and connect with an audience. Monetization strategies let bloggers monetize their writing and sometimes build entire careers.

What is a blog used for?

The first blog sites were essentially online personal journals or diaries. They became popular for their regular content updates, personal views,amalgamationinteresting links and the opportunity to engage in the comments section with the blogger and their audience.

Blogs have come a long way from their early days as online journals, although it's still a popular reason people start a blog. They have also become an important way for buyers to gather information about the products and services they are investigating.

According to Gartner, most customers do much of their purchase research online,Spendingonly 5% of their time with salespeople. In response to this trend, blogging has become an effective way for organizations to create authoritative content that is attractive to buyers doing their own research. Most business blogs end up promoting their product in hopes that readers will be ready to buy after reading and learning from the blog.

Some other reasons people start blogs include the following:

• Share views and connect with an audience.Blogs provide many writers andthought leaderswith an outlet to share information and their views with a wide audience. Instead of relying on publications to publish their content or write about their business, individuals and businesses communicate directly with their audience. Blogging is an effective way to raise awareness of a topic or product and to build an online community around it.
• Build a business and sell products.Blogging is a popular practice for businesses trying to gain credibility in their industries, build high search engine rankings, connect with a target audience, and identify sales leads. Using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, blog content can turn a business blog into an authority on a technology or market. In this way, a company can reach a wide audience that regularly visits or links to its website and buys its products.
• Create awareness.Blogs are an effective way to raise awareness of issues and causes and to influence public and government opinion. Many nonprofits use blogs to build social and political campaigns that inform audiences about an issue and keep them engaged in the development of the issue.

What is a blog post?

A blog post is the content of a blog. Posts are frequently updated and often organized in reverse chronological order, with the most recent blog post appearing at the top.

Each post covers a subtopic of the blog and links back to the blog itself. For example, blog site Engadget focuses primarily on technology news and consumer electronics reviews. Each blog post covers a specific piece of electronic or technology news. But posts on the site also cover topics adjacent to electronics, such as movies and other forms of entertainment that overlap with the technology field. For example, a post looks at afilm dramatizationof the popular video game chain GameStop.

Bloggers use their posts to attract audiences and rank high on search engine results. Business blog posts are often used at the beginning of the sales funnel, describing a product buyer's journey. They serve as the audience's introduction to a company and its products. Bloggers can use these posts to build content around more keywords and current trends that their audience is searching for and turn those visitors into customers.

What is an example of a blog?

Computer Weekly Editors Blogis an example of a tech blog that follows the basic blogging format. The homepage is in reverse chronological order, with the most recent posts at the top. The blog is continuously updated with new blog entries.

This blog is typical of blogs that are extensions of organizations. It includes a side menu that lists all the blogs Computer Weekly offers, as well as a menu at the top that links back to Computer Weekly's non-blog content.

What is a blogger?

A blogger is a person or company that blogs. Anyone can be a blogger, such as experts in certain fields, laymen who simply like to write, writers trying to build careers, and companies looking to attract an audience and become thought leaders in their industry.

Some bloggers are independent operators, while others are employed by companies as contractors or full-time employees. Often working in marketing or customer service departments, these bloggers create marketing-driven content about their company's industry and products.

How do bloggers get paid?

Many early blogssyndicated their content to subscribers using RSS feeds. RSS is a popular type of content distribution tool that is good for generating awareness, but it does not generate direct income. Bloggers have found other ways to share their work and generate income.

Here are five ways bloggers can make money:

1. Salaried or collective bargaining position.Businesses hire bloggers as full-time employees and freelance contractors. In these positions, they often work as part of content marketing or public relations departments and create content about the organization's products or services.
2. Placing ads on a blog is one of the simplest ways to make money. Like any other website owner, bloggers can join ad networks to place ads on their site or use themprogrammatic advertising. The blogger is paid by impressions, which is every time a visitor sees the ad. They also get paid every time a viewer clicks on the ad. In the case of successful blogs like HuffPost, the ad networks reach out directly to bloggers with a request to run ads.
3. Affiliate marketing.Bloggers partner with companies that pay them to promote their products. Often a company will give the blogger a uniqueURLto the company's product website that, when a visitor clicks and makes a purchase through it, pays the blogger a commission.
4. Sponsored posts.Companies pay bloggers to create content about theirsfeelor product. A blog must have a large enough target audience so that the promotion reaches many viewers. Bloggers also reach out directly to companies that offer products they would like to sponsor.
5. Sale of products, services and subscriptions.Many bloggers are companies or business-minded people who sell digital or physical products. Blogs are a great way to attract an audience to a blogger's products. Bloggers who have established authority as experts or thought leaders in their field often offer personalized services and exclusive content to their audience. Bloggers can become coaches and consultants and offer courses, memberships and subscriptions where audiences pay them directly for expert advice or exclusive content. For example, a blogger who writes about finance may offer services to become a client's financial coach or offer expert advice hidden behind a paywall.

Blog vs. website: What's the difference?

Blogs generally update regularly and offer engagement through the comments section. Websites often offer static information about a person, company or topic and do not always change frequently.

However, the conditions are not mutually exclusive. A blog can be part of a website. For example, a business blog is often the subsection of a business website that engages with an audience and frequently updates with new content about products and the industry.

On the other hand, blogs are often the website itself. This is especially true for personal blogs that do not offer services or products. In this case, there is limited content other than the blog. The only page that can exist outside of blog posts are contact pages.

Blog vs. wiki: What's the difference?

Blogs and wikis share some similarities, but they differ in several ways.

Wiki

INwikiis a server program that lets multiple people collaborate to create and update website content. They tend to have the following characteristics:

• focus on reporting and updating facts;
• the format is topical rather than chronological;
• use anonymous writers and editors; and
• do not include comment sections.

Blog

Blogs are websites or parts of websites. They can collaborate and usually take the following approaches:

• voice and personality driven;
• arranged chronologically;
• may be anonymous, but often are not; and
• include a comment or other section to interact with readers.

How to start a blog

There are four steps to follow when creating a successful blog:

1. Choose a blog and hosting service.There are many platforms - such as Blogger, Medium, Squarespace, Tumblr and WordPress - that help users build and design blogs and also provide templates to follow. Some services also offerweb hosting, where they store the page on a server with a unique address.
2. Choose a target group and topic.A defined audience and dedicated topics make it easier to attract visitors. This approach provides more opportunities to use targeted keywords that rank high on search engines. A targeted target group is also important in terms of building a personality and unique voice for the blog.
3. Update regularly with SEO in mind.Blogs generate the most traffic when they are updated frequently and usedeffective SEO strategies. SEO helps blog owners choose keywords and strategies that will make their blog rank high in search engine results, making it more likely that visitors will find their site. There ismany free SEO toolsbloggers can use to get started.
4. Some monetization, such as ad placements and offers for products and services, can begin in the early stages of a blog. Even if a blog is just starting out, monetization can generate earnings for page views or small product purchases.

The future of the blog

Blogging has seen many of its once defining features usurped by other web services and applications. The ability to interact with an audience through comments, live updates and avlogare now ubiquitous features on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media.

The growth ofpodcastshas also replaced the proliferation of vlogs. Services like Substack let authorsget paid for contentthrough subscriptions and attracts writers away from the blogging model.

But blogging remains a popular activity even after nearly 30 years. Tumblr, one of the most popular blogging sites, hosts more than 550 million blogs. Blogging is also a lucrative career choice, with blogs like HuffPost, Mashable and Gizmodo enjoying success as popular websites.

And for a business that sells products, blogs remain one of the most effective ways to generate web traffic, build authority in their field, and attract customers. Most modern businesses continue to seek competitive advantage through their blog posts.

Blogs are an effective way to build leads and customers for businesses. Learn8 reasons why blogs are important for businesses.