If you have never heard of the term blog or are asking yourself ‘what is a blog’ and ‘how does blogging work’, then you have come to the right place.
What is a Blog?
A blog is a website on which the information is updated regularly in the form of news, opinion or an entertainment piece.
It normally has a picture, a catchy headline and links to other websites as well.
A blog can also be defined as an online journal where a person shares their experience with other people by sharing writing pieces, images, and videos.
Unlike websites, blogs are updated regularly and their content is written informally. Some blogs have only one author, while others have a group of authors.
When blogs first started, it was just a platform for people to save their data, images and videos, but now it is only used to share and promote data with the others.
What is The Purpose of a Blog?
Different people start blogs for different purposes.
Some people are in it just to share their thoughts and personal opinions with others. Some start a blog so they can boost their business on it or can earn via the blog by selling ads.
A lot of people these days also start a blog to improve the SERP rank of their website.
Businesses have shifted their focus on blogs lately. For established businesses, it helps them improve their brand image and improve their SERP rankings. And for new business, it is a great way of introducing your brand to your target audience.
To make it simpler, a blog is just a platform that lets you connect with your target audience.
Listen to the podcast episode: Your Burning Blogging Questions Answered
Can You Make Money with a Blog?
Now that you know the answer to the question ‘What is a Blog?’, it’s time to talk about earning money blogging.
You can read ‘How Much Money Can You Make Blogging‘ to see the average blogger salary as well as hear what new and full-time bloggers are making.
If you have high traffic on your blog and people visit it frequently, you can sell ads on your blog and can earn with Google AdSense.
If your blog is at a level where it has an extraordinary amount of readership, you can earn by promoting other businesses on your blog or by doing product reviews.
You can also put promotional content on your blog as it pays very nicely.
There are a lot of people who are working as full-time bloggers and they earn a decent amount as well. In fact, there are full-time bloggers who are making millions. As long as people are visiting your blog and you are sharing engaging content daily, you will earn well with your blog. You can also start your own product or service if you think your readers will be interested in buying.
For example, if you are running a fitness blog and you regularly share workout tips. You can consider selling customized gym workout plans to your readers. You can also sell your own merchandise.
Blog Writing
Another question people usually ask after ‘What is a blog?’ is about blog writing.
A well-written blog is the one that grabs the attention of a reader. In a time where the attention span of the human brain is constantly decreasing, the job is certainly not easy for the bloggers.
The attention span of an average brain is about 8 seconds (which used to be 12 seconds a couple of decades ago). According to Moz, only 20% of readers make it past the headlines of a blog.
So, it is important to write your blog in a way that will attract readers. You have to hook the reader with your headline. If it is intriguing enough, he or she will certainly read it.
You also have to write your content in a way that is easy for the reader to read. Write it in a way that does not bore your audience.
Divide it into paragraphs and keep jumping from one step to another without confusion.
If your blog is not structured properly and you are mixing things, then the reader will bounce away.
Blogging as a Business
A blog is a very effective tool to promote business. If it is used correctly, a blog can do wonders for you.
You are targeting a specific audience with your blog so you get an opportunity to attract potential customers.
You may have noticed as well that all good business websites have their own blogs. For example, a laptop selling website will write a blog about the best laptops they have available. When the user will stumble upon that blog and will also be able to buy it from there, he is more likely to make the purchase.
Having a blog means that you will have to put fresh content on it regularly to run it.
When you are adding fresh content all the time, you will get points from Google, and you will be able to climb up in the SERP rankings. If you want your website to reach on the top of the ladder, then you would not be able to do it without a blog.
But remember, getting the top rank on Google is a tough task. It does not only depend on your blogs but also depends on several other things like keyword quality, SEO, link building etc.
This is why it is so important to get the right SEO tools that are integral to any business in the modern-day, and there are so many out there to choose from. But two of the biggest are Moz and SEMrush, and in this Moz vs SEMrush article, they are pitted against each other.
But for all of the tools out there, you still need to ensure that your blog places content as a priority. Many companies continue to stuff keywords into their content to place high in the rankings, but this is predominately a temporary solution.
Read also: How to Get Paid for Blogging If You’re Just Starting Out
Getting Traffic on Your Blog
When it comes to getting traffic for a blog, it is rarely about paid advertising. The entire concept behind creating a blog is to build a platform on which quality content for a certain niche is available for the readers.
You can get traffic by either creating quality content and getting more organic traffic or using your content to attract traffic from other websites.
With the first option, you can get traffic by strategizing keyword research, building backlinks, on-page optimization, off-page optimization etc.
For attracting someone else’s website’s traffic, you can go for several strategies including guest posting, interview articles and webinars.
Also, make sure the traffic you are getting is not going to waste. You will need to be able to turn them into customers immediately. First, they will become subscribers and then they will step into the customer journey process.
Now that you know the answer to the questions ‘what is a blog’, ‘how does blogging work’ and ‘how do bloggers make money’, you can start your own blog and grow it.
