Have you ever SEARCHED for “How To Make Money Online” and ended up landing endless posts that say “Start a Blog!”, but you just don’t know the idea of “What is a blog and How does it work?”
Never mind! Because you’re going to be on good terms with a blog and completely understand what is a blog and how does it work.
And as you did, asking “what is a blog and how does it work” is going to be the initial STEPs to join the Blogosphere(blog community).
As well as…
A paramount to a blogging journey!
And this is so far the ideal place to get the objective of what a blog is and become familiar with it.
After all, before we go deep down to the details What Is A Blog and how does it work?
What is a BLOG and How does it work?
Let’s look at how collins dictionary defines it word by word;
“A blog is a website where someone regularly records their thoughts or experiences or talks about a subject.”
Did you get that?
Alright!
Let me explain it to you in a simple way. A Blog is just an online presence where you write and publish content(post) about a particular topic or niche in a reverse chronological way.
Or directly, now you’re on my blog reading my “What is a blog and How does it work [Complete Guide of 2022]” blog post.
Generally, a blog consists of;
- Header : a navigation bar/menu
- Content : Posts with Images and Infographics
- Sidebar : Which contains useful widgets
- Footer : Which has a privacy policy and copyrights
Note: a Blogger is used to say a person who manages a blog(the owner) and Blogging is its activity.
The word blog all started in 1994 when a Swarthmore College student Justin Hall created Links.net(the first blog) for the purpose of an online diary and the rest is history.
These days sometimes there is confusion between a website and a blog, and you once probably heard or will hear when people say my website when it is clearly their blog.
So knowing their difference is crucial for better clarity.
The difference between a Blog and a Website
A Blog ;
- It has regularly updated pages
- Anyone can start a blog from zero
- It focuses on readers engagement
- And it can be said a website
On the other hand,
A Website ;
- It has more or less Static pages
- Website needs already established corporation
- It focuses on Call-To-Actions
- And a Website cannot be said a blog
As you see, there are differences between a blog and a website. Likewise, even if most websites have static pages, there are websites that have Blog Pages that have often updated announcements about the firm.
And this leads us to types of blogs…
Different Types of What is a Blog and How does it work
1. A Personal Blog
This type of blog is where you share your personal thoughts and ideas. It’s all about sharing your day-to-day activities, passions, or lifestyles.
It is more like an online diary and it’s up to you to make it profitable or to keep it as a note.
For example, DAD dude
2. A Business Blog
A business blog is more likely described as a part of one page of a website that targets converting traffic to leads.
Beyond their static Homepage, About Page, and Contact Page some corporate websites have a blog page where they notify potential customers about the latest updated info of their products or services.
Example, HubSpot
3. A Niche Blog
This type of blog is an extreme end of a personal blog. When someone decides on a niche blog he/she is going to talk about a specific topic; instead of everything.
The best part about Niche blogs is that the owner can have the possibility to take it as a career and make 6 figures from it, rather than keeping it just as a diary.
Example. NOMADIC MATT
4. A Group Blog
On the other side, there is a Group or Collaborative blog, which is a blog that has many publishers/authors that contribute to the blog rather than being a one-man thing blog.
Example, epcc
The Popularity of a Blog and how does it work…
When a blog was first born as an online diary in 1994, it was rare at the time and it wasn’t that easy for everyone who wanted to start a blog.
At the time if someone wants to start a blog and get seen on Mosaic(the first browser), he/she needs to be familiar with TECHNICAL codes.
But thanks to blogging platforms that emerged in the late 1990s, which makes starting a blog so easy and where the panic of missing codes is said: “goodbye anymore!”.
Even more so in 2003, when WordPress was created, it was a game-changer at the time, it made a blog a simple chore for everyone who wants to build a professional blog.
Since then, blogging has grown faster and become more popular. Today, there are more than 570 million blogs on the internet, and around 7 million blog posts are published per day.
Thereupon, the benefits of blogging are becoming priceless.
From the freedom of talking about your favorite topics, building a worldwide recognition/brand/portfolio to making whopping millions of dollars from the comfort of your home.
So I think there isn’t a much better time to learn the head-to-toe mystery of a blog than right now.
The Basics of What is a Blog and How does it work…
You have been grasping the simple definition of a blog, its background history, its types, and its rise in popularity. This gives you a brief answer for What is a blog and how does it work? query.
But as a blog beginner, this isn’t enough.
If you want to succeed in a blog at the very beginning, not only do you ought to know the basics, but also to implement them as quickly as possible and scale up your blogging triumph as it has never been done before.
And now, I’m about to share with you the BASICS(Fundamentals) of a blog or in other words a fully elaborated definition of what a blog is.
Note; These basics are more significant in niche blogs. Of course, they are also applied in personal, business, or group blogs at some point like SEO basics, Targeted audiences, Posts’ attractiveness, and so on.
They are categorized into three sections…
Posts: where audiences get the most out of your content!
Visitors: where your blog is in charge of the internet web!
Revenues: where you remain profitable as a full-time blogger!
and, let’s start with…
Posts
Posts are the heart of blogs. If you want to know what a particular blog is up to, reading a couple of its posts is more than enough.
That’s why every post on your blog has to be high-quality.
There is a fairy tale that long-form content ranks high, but the truth is whether it is 500 or 10,000+ words, that isn’t the thing. The thing is creating…
I. Top SERP Outranking Posts
Use your sharp knowledge to create specific, detailed, well-organized, engaging, and too good to SKIP blog posts with infographics.
Great posts make your blog incredible plus it ensures your online authority in that particular niche.
On top of that, take time to generate pure content that gets a high rank.
Plagiarism is a bad idea, the Author has the right to sue you which brings about unnecessary expenses and acquiring a bad reputation.
The SEARCH ENGINE web-crawling bots As well punish you by panda algorithm penalty for the post being detected as duplicate content(copied post).
II. REALLY Helpful Post
Let’s admit it, visitors come back and chase your posts if they are well-researched(not surface-level) and helpful to them unless otherwise, a one-time accident visit is adequate.
As a rule of thumb, no one wants to waste their limited time hearing a boring fabricated life story.
So be authentic. Don’t present yourself as a multi-millionaire magnate with 10+ expertise when you’re just an amateur.
If you are already successful and have LIFE HACKs to share, it will be great to disclose some. But if you don’t, get to the point right away.
Lastly, beyond crafting better posts increase a comment engagement discussion. Some visitors may have a sweet thing to say or ask a few questions after they finish an article.
So by replying and showing appreciation, you can easily build trust and credibility.
III. Super Attractive Blog Post
That’s right! How you design a post/page will directly affect the number of visitors as well as the conversion rate.
A post with
- High-quality crystal clear Multimedia(Image or Video)
- Easy to Scan/Navigate Formats and Bullet points
- Well-arranged Heading and SubheadingTags
- Responsive mode on all devices
- Inviting(not clickbait or ctr manipulation) Titles
- Stunning Words and Colors
- High performance and UX
- Unique writing styles
- Cool Typography and of course with problem-solving content is the icing on the cake in no time!
Visitors/Readers
Getting massive audiences and followers has never been easier today than it once was.
Even if you create a bunch of bombshell posts, if you are not going to use the right TRAFFIC KITs, your high-quality posts will remain as cool as cucumber just only on your pages.
That’s why you need ultimate marketing, search engines, and social media strategies to keep your blog wheels rolling.
I. Master Marketing
HERE, You don’t actually need an MBA degree, but get to know the basics of marketing and promotion. Because most of your success as a blogger is based on pre-planned Marketing.
Therefore, distinguish what works out and what doesn’t from your experience and perceptions.
Learn more from Google Analytics and segment your visitors according to demographics and then create a buyer persona.
Use Social Media Outlets, Search Engine Optimizations, and paid Ads in good order to refine potential customers from random visitors.
Have a SCHEDULED program to go after and stick to it.
Moreover, set the goal for where to get a visitor, when to start monetization and how to handle a customer in the long run.
II. TARGET Search Engines
SEO is the core of a blog.
Sooner or later the word SEO is what you’re going to hear and live with it forever as a blogger. It’s not something that you just set it and forget it as nothing happened. It doesn’t work that way.
In simple English, SEO is a way of optimizing your content for Search Engines so that if your content perfectly passes the requirements it effortlessly ranks on page1.
And with more than 1Billion active monthly users, Google is by far one of the top search engines that it is available. To be sure it has been a long time since BlogScope and Technorati have died(RIP).
Being on the top of google’s results page and getting thousands of organic visitors a day is like a dream. So, you have to work even harder to make your dream come true.
Create awesome Titles(make sure that it is not clickbait, though), write a short but attractive meta description, avoid thin content that adds no value to readers besides won’t be recognized by search engines(remember one Pillar content bets hundred junkie posts).
Know more about “links”, differentiate DoFollow and NoFollow links, learn how to research keywords, and most importantly understand the RULES and GUIDELINES of search engines.
Even if producing high-quality posts matters a lot, optimizing them is a new lease of life. So work on this one!
III. Do Social Media Campaigns
You have been using social media for fun, but now it’s time to use it for the better.
Use these sites to promote and lead huge traffic to your blog.
Leverage time specifically on 2 or 3 social media.
Facebook and Pinterest are worth trying as lead generators. Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram are also great depending on your blogging niche.
Also, encourage social sharing on your blog by hanging a floating share button on the side or displaying it at the extreme end of a post as a result you’ll easily get in the eye of new customers.
In addition, not only on social media but also answer questions on Quora, contribute on Tumblr, and comment on blog posts and youtube videos.
But in the end, do it only in the right and smart way to increase your visitors. Be careful, don’t ever SPAM the internet. It’s really offensive like no result at all plus you may get penalized for doing that.
Revenues
REVENUES! This is the most essential part to understand “what is a blog and how does it work”. Let’s hop on…
Call to mind that even if you make a living out of Blogging, it is not a get-rich-quick sort of SCHEME that will happen overnight.
You have to ensure first that your posts meet the required qualities and your targeted marketing strategies bring some good ROI.
Once you’re totally sure of that, now it’s time to earn ripe revenues…
I. Don’t be Salsy
So many bloggers out there trying to sell something as soon as someone lands on their page. They don’t first alleviate the pain points of a visitor.
All they think about is $$$!
I’m not saying that blogging sites have to be voluntary services. What I’m saying here is customers trust first, then $$$ follows.
Do you know? Thousands of blogging sites are created every day, but most of them don’t even make it to a half-year. The journey to becoming a SUCCESSFUL BLOGGER is way more tiring than someone thought it was in the first place.
That’s why bloggers have to be creative and evolve with the changes. This can be the way they create posts, how they get visitors and how they “sell to customers.” plus providing valuable FREE content every now and then.
After all, be imaginative to use call-to-actions the right way because your visitors are the first ones to stand for your blog Testimonials and provide a word-of-mouth referral.
This doesn’t have to take years. If you work harder but smarter, then it’s not far from the near future.
II. Build An Email List
You don’t know when social media & search engines ALGORITHMS change, that will result in a blog having many visitors some days ago to zero.
What happened to Myspace and Friendster? Top Social Media Networks back in the good old days.
But, having an email list is like the biggest asset; They are your actual customers. They first see your post, get value from it and now they want more(newsletters) so they subscribe.
Beyond that email, lists are easily accessed assets where you recommend relevant content, links, and short-lived discounts directly from your blog.
And it is a fact that “EMAIL subscribers” are three times more likely to buy a product or share the content that you mentioned than a random visitor who slips on your page by accident.
Therefore, start to build your email list using the available Email Marketing Services that turn leads into customers from day 1.
III. Use Display ADS, Affiliate Marketing, and Sponsored Posts Thoroughly…
Display ADS
Display ADS is the simplest way to make money off your blog.
By joining Google AdSense and copy-pasting the HTML code on your site, you can easily make a small amount of income every time a visitor clicks on an ad.
But if you want to master this one and make decent revenue, first increase your traffic and get recognized.
Once you get enough traffic, start to join premium ad sites like Mediavine and Adthrive.
Let’s see, for instance, the RPM of Mediavine is $14-24 for every CPM(1000 pageviews).
That means, if you have 60,000 pageviews a month(which is the initial requirement to join Mediavine), you’ll make $840-1440 only from Mediavine.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is the finest way to earn money from a blog, if you play it well, of course.
And that is undoubtedly the reason why so many Employees say goodbye to their 9-5 day jobs and join the online world to make ($)Thousands of dollars every month.
It’s a way of recommending other products and services to your readers and if they bought the product or done some services using your unique links, you’ll get your commission share right away.
To mention, Amazon associates, Cj Affiliates, and ShareAsale are some of the known affiliate networks.
There are no RULES or FORMULAS. But The ultimate way to become a successful affiliate marketer is to select The BEST from The good PRODUCTS and be smarter than ever before “to SELL that PRODUCT”.
To make this even better, use “affiliate program links” in the right place that will definitely comply with your post topic and ideas.
And, finally don’t forget to use NoFollow and Affiliate Disclaimer rules.
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored Post is another way to make revenues from your blog.
It’s making a partnership with brand companies and in the meantime creating posts, feedback, or reviews that specifically target their products and services for your audiences.
Since these posts are income-targeted 2 posts/month with total revenue of $800 is more than enough.
Don’t forget that your visitors are attracted by your posts, not others. So, they want to hear more from you as a blog admin.
As a tip, it’s really preferable if you write the post by yourself. So that you’ll never run out of your site content and originality.
Plus make sure to use Nofollow if you’re going to give them a backlink.
Summary on What is a blog and How does it work?
I hope you get the desired answers to “What is a Blog and how does it work.”
As you see, blogging is more than just a business thing!
The benefits of having a blog are priceless!
As a full-time blogger, you’ll…
- Set your own working hours
- Demonstrate your talents and inspire others
- Improve your writing skills
- Become a Digital Nomad
- Of course, you’ll make money while you sleep.
But some say that blogging is dead.
In fact, blogging is still alive and is evolving better than once it was. What is dead is a personal niche of blogs and just plain text posts with no Multimedia or Infographics.
Even so, you have to strategize the mission and goals of your blog. Because blogging is not an easy journey, it takes a lot more time and effort than you thought.
You have to learn new things every day.
You have to prepare for those just you and your computers till late at night hours.
On the condition that you consider the above tasks in your mission, then you will definitely dominate the online market in your niche.
Finally, if you’re really into blogging and want to start your own TAKE ACTION right now and figure out the reality of a blog on your journey.
Or
Wait for months to come spending time on discovering the fluffy fictions of the blogosphere.
The choice is yours!
if you’re interested in other Online Business Ideas check out What is a Podcast and How does it Work?, What is a Vlog and What are Freelance Jobs?
What’s stopping you from understanding what is a blog and how does it work and then starting a blog right away? Let me know in the comment section.