Imagine you’re a successful blogger, and your blog is one of the top blogs, making a ton of money. Oh, wait… You don’t know about blogging. (Or do you?)
“What is blogging?” “What is a blog?”
You would have heard the terms – blog, blogger and blogging… but aren’t able to grasp what this is all about. But, don’t worry… If you don’t know anything about these, you have come to the right place.
Every time I see people asking me “What’s blogging?”, “What is a blog?”, no matter how many times I explain to people what it is, they don’t seem to understand. That’s why I’m writing this…
Blogging is something more and more people should know about.
I see that it’s a common problem. Not many people know about blogging, you also would have the same questions in your mind. (Assuming because you’re reading this article and want to know the answer..)
There are a ton of ways in which I can answer your question – from easy to highly technical explanation.
In this blog post (ahem), I am going to explain you these terms in the easiest way possible. Let’s begin…
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What is a Blog?
A blog (in simple terms) refers to an online journal or a website which displays informational content with the latest posts appearing first.
It is a platform, which one can use to share their views with other like-minded people.
Anyone can use a blog to write about any topic they want to, a blog can be public or private. The blog owner has the right to make their blog public i.e, which anyone can read or private i.e, just for personal use.
There are many kinds of blogs like personal blogs, microblogs, cooperative blogs, etc. The kind of blog you want depends on what you need or want to achieve in the future with it.
What’s a Blog Post?
A blog usually consists of images, texts, gifs, videos or any other document included in many blog posts. “A blog post” is a piece of writing or any other content published on a blog.
It can also be called “an article”. (I use both words.)
Although, there’s a little difference. An article is a long piece of written work whereas, a blog post is usually in a short format.
Difference between Blog Posts & Pages
Usually, every site (or blog) has 2 kinds of content i.e, Posts and Pages. New bloggers are always confused between the two. But now, you will learn what makes them different than each other.
Blog Posts
Blog posts are displayed in a reverse order i.e, you will find new blog post before the old one on your blog page. All the blog post are on a blog page and are categorized.
As a reader, for finding old blog posts you will have to go through many old pages. Your readers can comment on all of your blog posts but the same can’t be done on pages.
Blog Pages
Blog Pages are static pages of content. Pages usually don’t have a date, author, etc. The structure of a page is completely different than a blog post, and they are not categorized, unlike blog posts.
There are some important pages that every blog should have. Not having pages can result in a mess. The examples of the blog pages are – the about page on your blog, privacy policy page, contact page, etc.
Blog Structure
The appearance of a blog depends on the owner, how he wants to design his blog. However, each blog has some features which are present everywhere. Our blog also has a structure. (If you haven’t noticed yet.)
Here is the blog structure that we have seen in most of the blogs. The features which all of the blogs have in common are –
➞ Header (Consists of blog’s logo, primary menu or navigation bar)
➞ Main Content (Consists of blog posts)
➞ Sidebars (Includes a call-to-action button, top posts, social profiles, etc. )
➞ Footer (includes relevant links, important pages, tags, etc.)
This is the blog structure we use and bet most of the blogs you see will be almost the same. It’s the universal blog structure.
Having a well-designed blog is an important task, a well-designed blog makes it easy for the visitor to navigate the site.
Blogs vs Websites
Many people still wonder what’s the difference between blog and websites. Is there even a difference between the two? It’s becoming more confusing for newbies as many sites are integrating blogs to get the advantages of blogging.
But there are some features by which you can easily differentiate between blogs and websites.
- Blogs are updated regularly with new blog posts. Whereas websites aren’t, they only have static pages.
- You can comment on the blog posts, blogs promote communication. While on websites you can’t comment. (Most of the time.)
- Blog posts have dates, author name, categories, tags, etc. Websites don’t have any of these elements.
And, much more… Blogs are a kind of website. That’s one reason I use both the words, sometimes.
As a visitor, you can easily see the difference between blogs and websites. How? The content of a website won’t change even after months, it will be the same. While a blog will be updated regularly, you will at least see a new blog post every month.
What is Blogging?
At the start, blogs were only meant to be used for personal use. In the 2000s, blogging became mainstream due to political blogs.
After that, many entrepreneurs and businesses recognized the potential of blogging.
“Blogging is the ART of writing about (something) in a blog.”
Blogging is not a single skill. It’s a cocktail of SEO, content writing, etc.
It’s something that everyone should try, there are a lot of benefits of blogging.
However, the biggest benefit of blogging is that provides people the opportunity to share their voices and at the same time, earn from it.
Not only that but big businesses also blog to take marketing to the next level. Now blogging is essential for any business that wants to thrive.
Who is a Blogger?
Nowadays, bloggers are becoming more and more famous. There are lots of reason for it.
But one reason I think they are becoming more famous is blogging is emerging as a career choice rather than doing something as a hobby. More and more people want to become a blogger for becoming the same as successful ones.
So, what the meaning of a blogger?
The person who owns and runs a blog is a blogger. On their blogs, bloggers share their views on a particular subject with their target audience. Their home is the internet, they don’t need to have a single place of living or working.
As a blogger I can say, we are online 24 hours, 7 days and 52 weeks (either working or chilling).
Anyone can be a blogger! It doesn’t matter if you’re male, female, introvert, extrovert or anything. There are no limitations to who can be a blogger, all you need is have an interest to blog.
Why is Blogging So Popular?
Blogging is popular for many reasons as there are a lot of blogging benefits.
But the main reasons we think blogging is becoming more and more popular are –
- Blogs are a great source of information. People read blogs to increase their knowledge.
- You can share your views, experience or knowledge with the help of blogs.
- Blogs can make money. There are literally thousands of bloggers who make a living with blogging.
- Blogging is good for SEO, therefore companies having websites integrate blogs to get more organic visitors.
- With a blog, you can interact with your readers, customers and build trust.
These were some benefits which come with blogging. With more bloggers promoting blogging, the industry is exploding.
How many people are blogging today?
Simple answer – a lot of people.
There are many blogs created daily for various reasons. There’s a lot of competition in blogging. So, should you even bother trying? Is blogging dead? Can you still make a successful blog?
You should definitely try blogging. Blogging isn’t dead and won’t ever be. Only the people who fail at blogging tell others that blogging is dead. Everyone who fails at something thinks that it won’t work of someone else.
Of course. there’s a lot of competition among new and old bloggers alike. But that doesn’t mean there’s no scope in it.
To make a blog successful and unique from the crowd you will have to work on it. (Blogging isn’t a get rich quick scheme.)
Want to Start a Blog?
Starting a blog isn’t rocket science. A blog can be started in just a few steps. It doesn’t take 20 minutes to get a blog ready.
First, you need to select your blogging niche. Then choose a blogging platform. Now, all you need to do is get a domain name and web hosting from a trustable company. (It’s important!)
We will go with SiteGround to launch your blog. There are a lot of hosting companies but they aren’t as beginner friendly as SiteGround.
Why SiteGround?
You will see a lot of bloggers promoting other web hosts like BlueHost. But we think SiteGround is a better option for newbies (or anyone else).
SiteGround, on the other hand, is a great host with a great reputation. We too have hosted many blogs on SiteGround.
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Here are the steps you need to follow to get your blog ready –
Visit SiteGround
Click on Get Started (For Shared Web Hosting). You can select the kind of web hosting you want. For starters Reliable (shared) hosting is good.
Choose A Plan (Depends On Your Budget)
Select the web hosting plan according to your needs. We recommend StartUp plan for new bloggers. (As it isn’t much costly.)
Register Domain
Fill the Necessary Details…
Check Out…
As you can see starting a blog won’t even cost you 64$ for a domain name and web hosting. The other extra costs are of themes and plugins but you can purchase them after you have started making money with your blog.
Login to Client Area
Auto-Install WordPress
Now, you just need to click a few more buttons and your blog will be ready.
Select the way you want to set up your site
Select the software you want to install…
Click on – Complete Setup
Congrats, your blog is ready. All you need to do now is to login to your WordPress dashboard. (Login details will be sent to your email.)
If you want to go with other hosts. You will have to follow the same instructions. (For hosting companies which don’t offer auto-installation of WordPress, you can install it with Cpanel.)
Conclusion
After learning about these terms you should definitely think of starting a blog, and work on it. I hope you learned what you were looking for, and welcome to the world of blogging.
You can start a blog for anything. Blogging is one of the best legit ways to make money online. There are many bloggers earning in thousands. What are you waiting for? What’s stopping you?
After you’ve started your blog, read our blog it includes all the resources you will need to become an exceptional blogger.
If you found our blog post useful, please share it with your friends. Every share counts and will help in our growth. (Thanks.)