Blog: Definition and Features

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A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.

In the beginning, a blog was more of a personal diary that people shared online, and it goes back to 1994. In this online journal, you could talk about your daily life or share things you do. But, people saw an opportunity to communicate any information in a new way. Today, there are more 600 millions blogs on the web.

Whatever your reasons to start, personal use and/or for business, projects, or anything else that might bring you money has a very straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.

As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products and services. As a new business, you rely on blogging to help you get to these consumers and grab their attention, a blog makes you searchable and competitive. Which means, a blog is an effective lead generation tool. Add a great call to action (CTA), and it will convert your website traffic into high-quality leads. But a blog also allows you to showcase your authority and build a brand.

When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business looks more credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It ensures presence and authority at the same time.

This is the basic structure of the blog. Each item has its own importance and helps visitors to navigate through your blog. Here are common features that a typical blog will include:

  • Header with the menu or navigation bar
  • Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts
  • Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action
  • Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc

Characteristics:

  • Archives
  • Comments
  • Blogs and websites

Monetize your Blog:

  • Selling ad space on your blog privately or via Google AdSense.
  • Becoming an affiliate partner privately or through ad networks.
  • Selling your own digital products such as eBooks and tutorials.
  • Selling memberships for access to exclusive content or advice.
  • Using your blog as a content marketing tool for your business.

How does it work:

Blogs require a content management system (CMS) to install and sync functions such as:

  • Database
  • Publishing
  • Templates

A blog incorporates a large amount of content and needs an integrated system to organize, categorize and tag it all. There are various technologies currently utilized to build blogs, including (but not limited to) HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, Python. The most popular CMS platform in use is WordPress as it offers some of the best interface and options as well as ease of use.

We hope this is helpful and can start you in the right path to blogging.

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