Written on February 5th, 2005 at 02:02 am by David Shawver
What is a Blog?
So what is a Blog anyway? This is a question I am asked every week via emails, conversation and Instant Messaging chats. If you’re reading this you may well be asking the same question.
There are a number of ways I could answer this question ranging from the broad to the highly technical.
Before I share my answer to the ‘what is a blog’ question - here are a few definitions from other much wiser people to get us started:
‘A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’ Source
‘A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.’ Source
‘From “Web log.” A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”‘ Source
‘A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there’s also comraderie and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other, in all kinds of structures, graphs, loops, etc.’ Source
‘A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.’ Source
‘A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Individual articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries”. A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often blogs focus on a particular “area of interest”, such as Washington, D.C.’s political goings-on. Some blogs discuss personal experiences.’ Source.
So What is a Blog???
Confused yet? Don’t be - its really quite simple. To put it as simply as possible - a blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.
Have a look at the main page of my blog at here for an example. for a different example you might like to look at this one (another of mine).
Ok - now you are a seasoned blog reader - you’ve seen two already at least.
Blogs are usually (but not always) written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Blogs are often (but not always) written on a particular topic - there are blogs on virtually any topic you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies - blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine. Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world.
Blogs usually have a few features that are useful to know about if you want to get the most out of them as a reader. Lets examine a couple briefly.
Archives - You might look at the front page of a blog and think that there is not much to them. A few recent entries, some links to other sites and not much else. However its worth knowing that there is a lot more going on under the surface that might initially meet the eye. For example in addition to the main page of this blog - at the time of writing this post there are over 520 other pages or posts below the surface that I’ve written over the past few months.
When I write a post like this one it goes to the top of the front page. As it gets older and as I add more current posts it begins its journey down the page until it disappears from it. This is not the end of its life however, because it goes into the ‘Archives’ of my blog. It sounds like a dusty dark place but its really just like a filing cabinet that is easily accessible in a couple of ways. You can read my ‘archives’ simply by looking on the ’sidebar’ (over on the left of this blog) at the ‘archives’ or ‘categories’ section. There you will see links to all my old posts which you can access either by category. You’ll see a category for ‘Advertising’ - click that link and you’ll see all my old posts on the topic of Advertising with the most recent at the top and the oldest at the bottom.
Comments - Not all blogs use comments - but most do. This blog is not a monologue but a conversation. You can give me feedback on almost everything I write simply by clicking the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of each one of my posts. This will take you to a little form where you leave your name, email and a link to your own blog if you have one as well as your feedback, comment, critique, question, essay on why you love my blog, promise of money…. etc). Try it now. Scroll to the bottom of this page, click ‘comments’ and fill in the blanks with a little introduction to yourself.
A great way to learn about blogs is to read a few. Leave some comments, ask questions and bookmark your favourites. An even better way to learn about blogs is to start your own. Ok - you might be laughing at me now - you think you are not web savy enough to have your own site? You wouldn’t know where to start? You don’t know how?
My Secret
Let me share a secret with you - three years ago I knew nothing about blogs, I had never used the internet for anything more than email, surfing and chatting to friends and I could only barely do any of that! But one day I discovered a blog and after surfing from one to another (blogs tend to link up to other blogs a lot) for a few hours I was hooked and wanted to start my own. I found that there are free blog services that almost anyone could set up in a matter of minutes. Really it is that simple. Literally millions of people blog from around the world. Its not just something for young people, or geeks, or cool folk, or Westerners, or even for people with their own computers - instead its something virtually anyone with access to a computer and the internet once or twice a week can start up.
Are you still confused? Would you like more information? Below are a few helpful articles on the topic - there are many more on the web - just do a search on your favourite search engine. Otherwise shoot me an email using my ‘contact’ button with your question and I’ll do my best to get back to you.
- Rebecca Blood has written a helpful history of blogging for those who are interested in learning more about the blogging evolution over the past few years.
- Harvard Law has a helpful article titled What makes a Weblog a Weblog
- Trudy Schuett writes a good article title What is a blog and why do we need one?
- WordPress: Introduction to Blogging
If you are new to blogging and want some hints on how to get started - keep an eye on my Blogging for Beginners Page for more ways to explore blogging.
One more post you might be interested in - What Is RSS?
Written on February 5th, 2005 at 01:02 am by David Shawver
Hopes of a Professional Blogger
When I asked readers at for questions for my upcoming interviews with Professional bloggers - Bobby Masteria asked:
‘Ask long time enternetuserss what have been their fears, hopes and expectations.’
I’ve written about my expectations and fears and now thought I’d turn to hopes.
1. Internet usage is booming. The statistics show that more and more people around the globe are going online and that it continues to be a medium with incredible potential to communicate with the masses quickly, cheaply and with little fuss. Similarly the statistics show that more and more people are becoming familiar with and readers of blogs. This has to give the average enternetusers some hope. The more who read blogs the less problem congestion of the blogosphere (see my fears post) becomes.
2. On a personal level I hope that my blogging will continue to provide me and my family with a source of income. I don’t expect and am not aiming to become a millionaire from blogging but would love to see it achieve a level (and sustain a level more importantly) where it would enable me to give a significant amount of my time to some of the causes that I feel passionately about (both inside and outside of blogging). The last year of blogging has seen me get to a point where this is a reality - and whilst I do other paid work from time to time I do so not because I need the money any more but rather that the work itself is something I’m passionate about and am energised by. My hope is that this will continue.
3. Blogging that Gives a Voice - I’ve written on numerous occasions that I believe that blogging has the ability to give a voice to the marginalized. Another hope that I have is to test this and see if it is more than just a lofty ideal. In the past few months I’ve noticed more and more bloggers testing this and proving it to be the case. Blogging can and does have a social concern edge which I’m very hopeful about.
Again - I have other blogging hopes - but I’m interested in yours. What are your hopes for blogging - both on a personal level and on a wider blogosphere level?
Written on February 4th, 2005 at 07:02 pm by David Shawver
SEO Techniques
Tanya at SEO and Affiliate marketing blog is writting a well thought out series of posts on Search engine Optimization which so far has four steps to it.
Step 1 - Picking a domain name
Step 2 - Research your niche or theme
Step 3 - Building your site template
Step 4 - Building a Product Page
It is not really written from a blogging point of view but rather from a pure SEO perspective - but none the less there are some good general points in there that should help bloggers.
Written on February 4th, 2005 at 12:02 pm by David Shawver
Fears of a Professional Blogger
When I asked readers for questions for my upcoming interviews with Professional bloggers - Bobby Masteria asked:
‘Ask long time enternetuserss what have been their fears, hopes and expectations.’
I previously answered the expectations part of this question - now I’ll turn to ‘fears’
Fears: I don’t really have too many extreme fears about my blogging. I’m trying to take the approach that everyday that I can earn a living from blogging is one day longer than what I ever thought I’d be able to achieve. Having said that there are a number of concerns that I have that have the potential to end or at least limit what I do….
1. To some extent I’m at the mercy of the Search Engines - particularly Google. Google’s December update left me with a third of the traffic that I was averaging which was a pretty confronting experience. It brought back to home for me how powerful an organization like Google is and how small individual bloggers are in the scheme of things. It also motivated me to find other ways of finding readers which will only make my blog stronger. I guess in the back of my mind is that the next update could similarly further decrease my position in Google’s results and could be a hit that I’m not sure I could absorb.
Of course yesterday saw the traffic (or most of it) return with another update from Google. I guess I’m learning that Blogging can be a bumpy ride.
2. Congestion of the Blogosphere (and the Web in general) - The past 6 months I’ve noticed many new blogs starting up with the express purpose of making a dollar from a niche topic. Competition is heating up as new bloggers and webmasters continue to enter the marketplace. I’m a firm believer that competition is good - it creates interest in your niche and it drives you to produce a better service - however in the back of my mind I wonder how many blogs and websites can be sustained on each niche topic? There are only 10 top 10 spots on Google for each search term so the more competition the smaller one’s chances of being seen there.
I’m sure there are other fears and concerns - I fear that my Adsense program could be taken away from me for reasons out of my control, I fear that the US dollar will continue to fall in comparison to the Aussie dollar and arode my earnings and I fear I’ll wake up one morning and my sites will have disappeared…. but in the scheme of things these are not things I worry about every waking moment of my day - they are just things in the back of my mind that I come back to in those quiet moments
What are your blogging fears?
Written on February 4th, 2005 at 11:02 am by David Shawver
Could AdSense direct deposits be around the corner? - JenSense.com
Jen at JenSense observes that the new referal program from Adsense seems to be set up to pay out using direct deposit. She hypothesizes that perhaps this is an indication that direct deposit payments might be coming. This would be a massive relief to many publishers using the system who have to do a lot of messing around to cash their cheques.
Read Jen’s column at Could AdSense direct deposits be around the corner?
Written on February 4th, 2005 at 12:02 am by David Shawver
Do you start blogs for Passion or Money?
When I asked readers over at enternetusers what they’d like to ask professional bloggers Hashim asked:
‘Ask them do they choose topics they personally enjoy or just what will make the most money’
Good question - I’ll ask those I interview but will answer for myself here.
To answer it bluntly - Yes.
Yes I do choose topics I personally enjoy (or perhaps for some its more of a ‘interest’ than enjoyment) and yes in some cases I choose topics that have the potential to be good income earners. When I find one that I both ‘enjoy’ and is an ‘earner’ I tend to do a little dance around my office!
I’ve attempted to do a blog or two on a topic that was purely about earning me an income but I found it very difficult to keep up my enthusiasm for it. I suspect my readers could tell this and so ended up leaving that blog alone to die a lonely death. I find that the blogs that I am drawn to and read the most are written by bloggers who are passionate about or have expertise in their topic. Makes sense really - who wants to talk to someone who doesn’t enjoy the topic of conversation in real life!?
It is possible to run a successful blog on a topic you’re not interested in - but it will be a lot harder task than one that you do enjoy. My advice - stick to something you’ve got a passion for (or could get passionate about) and you’ll sustain your blogging habits for a lot longer.
Tell us what you think? Do you start blogs for Passion, Money or Both?
Written on February 3rd, 2005 at 11:02 pm by David Shawver
2005 Business Blogging Awards are Back
After some big problems with their voting system the Business Blogging Awards are back up and running. This time around it seems that the voting is working nicely. You can place a vote for my little site here in the Best Overall Blog category if you so desire - although the competition is pretty good from some of my favorite blogs.
Written on February 3rd, 2005 at 02:02 pm by David Shawver
Open Mike on Blog Design
I’m going to open up the comments on this post for anyone to say anything they like on the topic of blog design.
I spent half an hour or so today looking through the blogs nominated for this year’s Bloggies awards. I was particularly looking through them with an eye for the way that these blogs were designed. By no means am I a blog designer (as you can no doubt tell from this blog - which is about to receive a facelift) but I do appreciate good design. There were some beautifully designed blogs in the collection - especially some of the photoblogs which I love surf through.
I was particularly surprised when going through the nominated blogs by the number of them that used very basic template designed blogs - particularly of the blogger variety. They were by no means the majority of blogs - (there was around 10) but for some reason it left me a little surprised. Whilst I have nothing against templated blogs I am someone who is drawn to sites which people have made look a little different.
I was left wondering if perhaps I’m a snob - whilst I always talk about how content is the number one thing a person should work on my reaction to templated blogs perhaps exposes a bias. Of course the bias doesn’t stop me reading templated blogs - there are quite a few on my daily RSS feed list (althouth RSS does tend to cut out the design issues).
I was wondering if I’m alone in my blog snobbery? How important is blog design to you in finding quality blogs? Are aesthetics and design something you look at when you go to a new blog or are you someone who is drawn in by content…or something else? Am I a snob? What is good blog design? What is your favorite blog in terms of design? The floor is yours.
Written on February 3rd, 2005 at 10:02 am by David Shawver
Blog Consulting - What’s that?
Jeremy has a good post over at InsideBlogging answering the question - ‘what does a Blog Consulting Company do?‘ which is well worth the read if you’re thinking about engaging a blog consultant or if you’re interested in becoming one.
Written on February 3rd, 2005 at 09:02 am by David Shawver
Google Backlink Update: Feb 05
It seems that Google is doing a back link update. I noticed it last night with a rise in my SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and a corresponding rise in traffic on a couple of my sites. The increased traffic was coming from Google which is usually an indication that an update is underway. Its not back up to the levels of traffic that I had after the pre Christmas update (which knocked off two thirds of my traffic overnight) but its a step in the right direction and something of a relief for me.
Read more of what people are saying about the update at Digital Point: Google is updating and Webmaster World: Major changes in Google Update Starting.
Have you noticed any difference in your google referrals in the last 24 hours?
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