What is a Blog: Understanding the Basics of Blogging

Overview

A blog is a regularly updated website or web page that can be used for personal use or to fulfill a business need. It allows individuals or businesses to develop an online presence, establish authority in an industry, and attract more quality leads to all pages of their site. Blogs have been rated the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information and B2B marketers who use blogs receive 67% more leads than those who do not.

The first blog, Links.net, was created by Swarthmore College student Justin Hall in 1994. In 1997, Jorn Barger, blogger for Robot Wisdom, coined the term “weblog” to describe his process for “logging the web” as he surfed the internet. The term “weblog” was shortened to “blog” in 1999, by programmer Peter Merholz. In the early stages, a blog was a personal web log or journal in which someone could share information or their opinion on a variety of topics. Nowadays, a blog can be used for personal use or to fulfill a business need.

A blog post is an individual web page on a website that dives into a particular sub-topic of a blog. It allows businesses to rank on search engines for a variety of keywords and enables them to better convert traffic into leads. A blog post links back to the overall blog site.

A blog is typically a section of a business's website that needs to be updated frequently by adding new posts. It allows businesses to engage more with an audience and is more like a two-way conversation than the rest of a website. However, a blog can also be an entire website, and often is, if the blog is for personal use alone.

A blog is used to help a company rank on search engines, share information about a given topic and become an expert in an industry, attract visitors to a site, and cultivate an online community and engage with an audience. It can help a business establish authority in an industry and continue to grow and attract new customers months and even years after publication.

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