Blogs are many things today whether part of a business, part of a marketing plan, or just a personal reflection. This article will go back to “blogging roots” so to speak and look at a blog and its basis: an online journal.
At its core, a blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, offer built in features such as hyperlink, straight texts, pictures etc. Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3′s on your blogs.
So what is in a blog? A blog consists of many blog posts. A blog post has these basic features:
title: this is the title of your article or blog post
body: this is the content of your blog entry, for example writing about the weather or writing about your day
trackback: this is when other sites link back to your blog entry
permanent link: this is the link directly to that specific blog entry
comments: this allow readers to post comments on your blog.
Blogging is especially easy today to jump right in and blog right away through the evolution of blogging software. WordPress and Blogger are the two most popular blogging platforms. Both are web based so you can blog from anywhere. Both also have the ability to change the look and feel and design of your blog at the push of a button. For example when the holidays come you can find a holiday design to put on your blog at the push of a button and then change it back later.
Though I have been focusing on blogging as a way of journaling, just remember also that blogging is at its core a way to distribute information effectively. So there can be many ways you can use blogging. I personally have a personal blog as well as many business blogs. Advertising, marketing, distributing photos and videos, and distributing paid content are all ways you can start a blog for. So just keep an open mind as you start a blog, becuase you will probably find you will see many uses for blogging and will end up starting quite a few yourself!
