With over 600 million blogs on the internet, you’ve likely encountered one or two blogs—you’re even on one right now. However, you might still be wondering what exactly a blog is. How does it differ from a website? Why does every business seem to have one? You may even ask yourself, how can I start my own blog?
In short, a lot of people and businesses start blogs to increase their online presence and share their thoughts and knowledge. This article will answer your most pressing blogging questions and help you understand how and why blogs succeed, plus show how you can utilize them.
Starting a blog should feel exciting, not overwhelming, right? You don’t need a technical degree to use the Wix Blog Maker to create, design, and grow your blog from scratch. Use Wix’s intuitive tools to share your ideas with the world.
What is a blog?
Blogs are a type of regularly updated websites that provide insight into a certain topic. The word blog is a combined version of the words “web” and “log.” At their inception, blogs were simply an online diary where people could keep a log about their daily lives on the web. They have since morphed into an essential forum for individuals and businesses alike to share information and updates. In fact, many people even make money blogging as professional full-time bloggers.
As the publishing world has evolved, and more of it has moved online, blogs have come to occupy a central position in this digital content world. Blogs are a source of knowledge, opinion and concrete advice. While not yet posed to replace journalism as an art form, people increasingly look to trusted blogs to find answers to their questions, or to learn how to do something.
Blogs are always evolving both in terms of how they’re created and what they are used for. They can be a vehicle for creativity and for marketing. They’re also increasingly created and read on mobile apps, as mobile blogging also comes into its own.
Who uses a blog?
A variety of people use blogs, including individuals, businesses and organizations — both commercial and nonprofit. Bloggers range from hobbyists and influencers to professionals and experts in specific fields. Most blog users have a blog to share their personal experiences, opinions or creative work. Businesses and companies use blogs for marketing, customer engagement and SEO traffic. Educational institutions and nonprofits may also start a blog to share their research, updates and resources.
Bloggers can be individuals starting a personal blog or they can be, usually, marketing employees of a business or organization. Bloggers can use a blog to write on anything, common types of blogs include fitness, travel, finance and business, technology and politics.
Ultimately, anyone with an interest in communicating with an audience or sharing knowledge benefit from using a blog.
What does a blog look like?
A blog consists of a series of articles or posts. While the appearance of your blog can vary depending on the platform and design choices made by you as the blogger, here are some common elements you may find in a typical blog and include in your own, keeping in mind the importance of user experience design and web design.
Header
The top section of a blog often contains your blog’s title or logo, along with a navigation menu that helps visitors explore different sections or categories of your blog. You might decide to categorize blogs from the same topic together, for repeat readers who are looking specifically from posts from that area of interest.
Content body
This is where the content of your blog posts is displayed. Each post usually includes a title, author name, date of publication, and the main content of the post, which can include text, images, videos, or other multimedia.
Sidebar
A blog may have a sidebar on one or both sides of the main content area. A search bar, recent posts, popular posts, categories, tags, social media links, an about section, and advertisements are all common additions to the sidebar. You can this part of your blog to help establish your blogs navigation, and site hierarchy to users and search engines.
Comments
Many blogs allow readers to leave comments on their posts. The comments section typically appears below the main content of each post and may include the ability for readers to reply to comments or upvote them. Before enabling comments on your blog, make sure you have the time and resources to manage comments effectively. You’ll need to monitor them for spammy messages which should be deleted, or for messages from genuine readers who you’ll need to connect with.
Footer
The bottom section of your blog usually contains copyright information, links to your privacy policy and terms of service, additional navigation links, and sometimes widgets like a subscription form, social media icons (social share buttons), or related posts.
The theme, customization options, and personal preferences you choose can greatly influence your blog’s design. These elements provide a general overview of what a blog looks like, but blogs may have unique layouts or additional features based on your chosen platform and your design choices.
Generally to create and manage a blog, you’ll need a blog platform or CMS. Within this you’ll also need a domain name and web hosting service like Wix hosting.
Types of blogs
Different types of blogs cover varying topics, from food and fashion to marketing. Blogs are composed of individual posts on more specific subjects within the blog’s field of expertise. To get started with blogs on social media, check out microblogging. Due to the fact that many blogs have active comment sections, these posts frequently function as a forum for discussions. A blog can be compared to a newspaper that continually updates its archive and adds new content. You’ve probably seen blog examples all over the internet, whether as standalone blogs or as sections of websites. Some of the most popular types of blogs in the blogosphere include:
- Food websites Travel blogs
- Health blogs
- Fitness blogs
- Lifestyle blogs
- Fashion websites Beauty blogs
- Mom blogs, parenting blogs Business blogs, Finance blogs, Tech blogs
- Sports websites Art blogs, Poetry blogs
- Music blogs
- Gaming blogs
- Coaching blogs
- Interior design blogs
- Website vs. blog
As you now know, a blog often deals with a given topic and is updated with regular posts, mostly in the form of articles. Websites, however, are often broken down into inner explanatory pages, each with varying purposes. This can mean anything from an FAQ page to a welcoming homepage design. A website has a more static appearance than a blog because these pages are occasionally updated. Oftentimes websites have internal blogs, while other websites are entirely blogs without any additional pages.
When blogs are a section of a larger website, the website provides the bulk of the information and uses a blog feature to keep users updated and engaged. For example, think of an online store that also offers a blog about their various products and how to use them.
Blogs that make up the entire website usually rely on the content itself rather than sell a product or market a service.