What is a blog?

April 22, 2006 at 12:31 am · Filed under Blogging

This is a common question I get asked, so I figured I would write a post about it. In fact, I will probably write somewhat of a series on the basics of blogging, SEO, and Affiliate Marketing. Feel free to comment and let me know if there is anything missing!

Purpose of Blogs…
Blog is short for web log. A journal (either personal or business) of chronological posts that center around a topic (or many topics). Think of a blog as an easy-to-update website that is constantly posting new articles and interesting items for their readers. They can be used for a variety of reasons, but here are some basics…

• A family could use a blog for keeping people up-to-date as to what they have been up to.
• A freelance journalist could use their blog to communicate the news
• A politician could use a blog to keep their constituants up to date with what they are doing (transparent government)
• A business owner could blog about their products, services, and news in their industry. Blogging may elevate them to a position of authority on their focused topic, which could bring them more business

There can be many reasons for blogging, but I believe that many bloggers just want to share their ideas / views and learn some new ones in the process.

Here are few examples of blogs that I frequent…

Problogger.net - great site for learning about blogging and how to make money through writing blogs. The site owner, Darren Rowse, has a great course on becoming a “six figure blogger”

SEO Book - Site owner Aaron Wall a well respected SEO (search engine optimization) expert who has written a great guide to search engine optimization. You can learn more about his SEO book here.

How do they work?
They work pretty much like a basic web content management system. If you are new to blogs and blogging, you may want to check out WordPress or another blogging system that is easy to use. You can either start a blog on your own web server by uploading and configuring the software, or use a free blogging service.

One of the unique features of a blog site is the ability to interact with other bloggers. This comes in the form of posting comments on other blogs, or referencing other blogs on your site. This can work in two ways…

1. Go to a blog and read a post. At the bottom of the article/ post the blogger typically allows an area where visitors can post comments about what has been written. On popular blogs, you will see many comments on posts. In fact, these blogs typically have their own “community” of people that interact on the site.

2. Reference (through hyperlinking) a post on another blog. This may send a signal (automatically) to the other blog letting the author know that someone has written something in response to their post. Typically, this brings them to your site to see what you have said. The technical term for this is trackback or link back.

So, is it difficult to set up a blog?
Not at all, it is actually really easy. I would recommend two strategies for starting your first blog, depending on your technical and computer knowledge.

1. Little or no knowledge - use a free blogging site such as wordpress.com or blogger.com. It takes about 20-30 minutes to set up and start blogging.

2. Medium + technical knowledge - You could use one of the free services above, or you could try setting up your own blog under your own domain and web hosting account own domain and hosting account. Two of the most popular blog software platforms are wordpress.org (free) or TypePad (paid).

Hope that helps a bit. Feel free to ask any further questions or post a comment

Comments (222)

Small Business Blogging

April 11, 2006 at 8:45 am · Filed under Business, Blogging

Any Wibbles, an expert on using blogs to promote businesses, as just released a book called GO Blog Wild!. I will get the book and write a review over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned…

Comments (2)

Making a living at this blogging stuff

April 9, 2006 at 12:13 am · Filed under General, Blogging

While Darren Rowse (owner of ProBlogger.net) is away, he has several guest bloggers who are writing articles about their experiences with blogging. One recent post by Jill Manty talks about her experiences with blogging and making money with her blogs. She writes…

I consider the site a success for a number of reasons. One, it made money. Not enough to retire on, but enough to buy a used car, which we desperately needed. Two, I was interviewed by several media sources and was even quoted for a front page story in The Washington Post. That was pretty exciting, as that sort of thing doesn’t usually happen to a stay-at-home wife and mom to five children. Finally, I consider it a success because it has finally gotten me to see what my husband has said along– you can make a living from blogging. We’re in the process of trying out several new blogging ideas. Some of them have been more successful than others. I have no doubt we will drop some of them in time, or convert them to something different.

 Darren Rowse has a great course called six figure blogging that teaches how to make money with blogging. If you are interested in building a blog empire (or just making some extra cash), I would recommend checking it out.

Comments