It’s a good question to ask after my little rant on Friday about unprofessional bloggers who are selling themselves as top bloggers without knowing the basics.
There are a lot of definitions on what a blog is including:
‘A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’
‘A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.’
‘From “Web log.” A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”
‘A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently.
‘A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Individual articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries”. A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often blogs focus on a particular “area of interest”, such as Washington, D.C.’s political goings-on. Some blogs discuss personal experiences.’
Confusing or what??? Simply put, a blog is a type of website that is arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom. Equate it to a diary with the newest entry at the top. Have a look at the main page of my blog for an example. For a different example you might like to look at this one (another of mine).
So now you’ve seen two which is more than most people have seen!
Blogs are usually (but not always) written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Blogs are often (but not always) written on a particular topic – there are blogs on virtually any topic you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies – blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine. Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world.
Blogs usually have a few features that are useful to know about if you want to get the most out of them as a reader. Let’s examine a couple briefly.
Archives – The archive is like a big filing cabinet where all the past posts/entries of a blog are stored and is easily accessed by looking in the sidebar at the archives or categories section. Just click on the linkes you feel like reading and you’ll see all my old posts on that topic with the most recent at the top. When you first look at the front page of a blog it may seem like there’s not much content on it but I can assure you that there’s alot more going on that meets the eye. For example in addition to the main page of this blog – at the time of writing this post there are over 130 other pages or posts below the surface that I’ve written over the past few months.
Comments – Blogs are platforms for conversations with readers and therefore with potential clients or customers. Those conversations are held through the comments places on the blog. Readers give you feedback on everything you writer by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of each post. You are taken to a form where you leave your name, email and link to your blog if you have one and then you write in your comment be it good bad or indifferent. Not all blogs use comments – but most Try it now. Scroll to the bottom of this page, click ‘comments’ and fill in the blanks with a little introduction to yourself.
A great way to learn about blogs is to read a few. Leave some comments, ask questions and bookmark your favourites. An even better way to learn about blogs is to start your own.
Most of us have only started blogging in the past 3 – 4 years and most of us didn’t know a thing about blogging until we started our own blogs. I started off using mine to share recipes and as a diary for my sister! I then discovered a lot of other people’s blogs and was totally hooked. I explored things like blog surfer and found out a lot just be looking at other people’s blogs. I discovered WordPress and the rest is history. I now blog for clients who pay me.
There are free blog services that almost anyone could set up in a matter of minutes. Really it is that simple. Literally millions of people blog from around the world. It’s not just something for young people, it’s something virtually anyone with access to a computer and the internet once or twice a week can start up. I know people who blog from internet cafe’s every morning before work.
Rebecca Blood has written a helpful history and perspective of blogging for those who are interested in learning more about the blogging evolution over the past few years.
Who better to define it than the master of blogs themselves at WordPress: Introduction to Blogging
My next post will about some of the intracacies of blogging and how to drive your blog with social media so keep reading! If you’d rather get the weekly edited version then just subscribe. My newsletter is distributed every Tuesday direct to your Inbox if you want it!
