It’s what seems to be a popular question these days. Not surprisingly blogging is just as popular as it ever was these days. With more and more people discovering blogging, more tools becoming available and more platforms being offered online to help these newcomers it’s no wonder why blogging is still booming. 

So what is a blog? Well, the term, “blog” actually came from the words: Web Logging. 

The definition of a blog according to google is “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.”

If you use the internet at all, without a doubt you have come across a blog at some point. The modern “blog” came from or evolved from online diaries where people recorded events or shared stories that happened in their everyday lives. Personal blogging originated from a man named Justin Hall, who began blogging while attending Swarthmore College. Overtime blogging began to rise in popularity and around 1999 and the years following its popularity began to increase. Around that time you saw the launch of sites like Open Diary, LiveJournal, and Blogger (Which was purchased by Google in 2003. 

Now if you aren’t still wet behind the ears then you probably recognize many of those sites I just mentioned. In fact, many of you may have even had your own blogs or diaries on those websites. 

Essentially, over time blogging has become to resemble more and more what resembles blogging these days. This is largely a way for people to not only share their thoughts and ideas around topics or passions but also as a way to create an online income through content marketing. It has also become a way for businesses to grow through search engine optimization in which case they are able to attract organic traffic (free traffic from search engines). 

What is the difference between a blog and a website?

The difference is that a blog is stored on a website or domain and can be just a section of the website or it can encompass the entire site itself. So website.com/blog or it can just be website.com which is just a place where all of the content on the website is stored into different silos. So for instance a traveling blog called traveling.com might have sections also known as categories or silos or hierarchies (whichever makes more sense to you in this example) in which information is arranged.

So for instance on this traveling.com example, one silo could say Resort Reviews and another tab could say Traveling Advice. Under each could be tons of articles or content around these topics. The flip side is that traveling.com/blog could be an actual business and all of these articles could be found under this section or this part of the website. 

Essentially there isn’t much of a difference between a website and a blog. It really depends on the purpose of the website. For instance, on this very same traveling.com site you could be selling luggage. The primary purpose of your website is to sell luggage. The blog on the other hand will just be a part of the website itself. They will be separate but live on the same website. The website would be an online store.

On the other hand, if the ONLY thing on the website was articles and content around traveling and that’s it. Then the entire website can be referred to as a blog. 

What is the purpose of a blog?

Now another question that you should be asking yourself when it comes down to the purpose of a Blog, is what do you really mean by that question? What I find most often when asked this question is that, folks really want to know if they actually need a Blog. I want to know is it worth the time and effort creating a blog, and maintaining it. is this really going to help my business?

The purpose of a blog for a company or business would most likely be around improving their search engine rankings or selling products. Having a solid blog for your brand or business can do wonders for the traffic your website receives. In essence, your blog should drive more traffic to your website, which should lead to more leads, which then should lead to more sales/customers.

The purpose of a blog or an individual could be entirely different. Many times bloggers just want to share with the world their thoughts, ideas, Passions with like-minded individuals who were also interested in the same things. For instance, if you love traveling and if traveling is your passion, you may have a travel blog where you share information, tips, tricks, life events with your readers. That alone could be the entire purpose of your blog.

In addition to that purpose, this very same person who’s interested in traveling may want to Blog full time. They may want to be able to travel the world while sharing their experiences. In order to do that they may need funding, or an income. and so they may expand their blog a bit more and work with brands, companies, and other organizations to help them to continue to blog about what they are passionate about, and what they love.

But not only that they can form Partnerships and mutually beneficial agreements or arrangements with these companies to share information with their readers. These Partnerships can become lucrative for both the Blogger and the businesses involved depending on the readership of the blog itself. 

So the real answer to what is the purpose of a Blog is really what does the blog do for you for your business?  Once you know that then the purpose of the Blog is revealed.

Do blogs make money? If so, how?

Affiliate marketing 

For those same individuals, this could be an opportunity for this person to make money. So let’s say, you really love baking. This could be an opportunity for you to create online income from your blog and there are so many different ways that you can do this. One of the ways is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is essentially when you recommend a particular product or service and you refer your readers to that company. In turn for that new customer that you’ve provided them, they give you a small commission at no additional cost to the customer.

So let’s say you are recommending a really great baking pan or baking sheet. It’s just top-notch and you wrote a review about it on your website. So basically, you’re recommending this baking sheet to your readers and when your readers click on the link they purchase this baking sheet and receive a small commission. The customer doesn’t pay anything extra but you make a little bit of money from referring a customer to that business. In a nutshell, that is affiliate marketing.

One of the most common examples of this is through the Amazon Associates program. Often you’ll see links to products on blogs and even Youtube videos. Think about how many times you have heard the phrase “ I’ll leave the links in the description below”.

So basically this is a win-win for everybody and the equation. the new customer receives a product that they would not have otherwise known about from a company that is recommended by someone that they trust. The company has a new customer that they would not have otherwise had. The blogger, influencer, etc. receives a small commission for connecting the new customer to the new company via the product or service sold.

Ad Networks

Let’s say you have 50,000 people that come to your website every single month. They’re reading your articles and they are consuming your content. Another way that you can make money online through your blog is through an ad network.

An ad network is basically a network that you can apply to become part of that, once approved, will then serve ads on your website. In short, they sell/serve relevant ads to your readers. So, for instance, if you have a baking blog maybe they will push ads for top-selling recipe books or different products that you might use to bake, like high-quality baking sheets or mixers. The more people to see the ads, the more income you make each month. It’s as simple as that.

Promoting Your Own Products & Services 

The next way to make money on your blog is to create your own product or service. So this could be an e-book. Let’s say it’s a high-value e-book on baking that is jam-packed with recipes and other things that your readers love. Let’s say you’re offering this ebook for $19.99. The more traffic you have, the more readers you have come back to your site, the more people who will hopefully purchase your ebook. As a result, you’ll make a profit from each book sold. 

Or let’s say you have a resume focused blog and you offer a resume writing service where you offer one on one consulting. This could be another way to generate income.

Email Marketing

Finally, email marketing is another great way to generate income for your blog. So let’s say you come to my website you sign up for my newsletter. I’m capturing your email address in the process. This provides me the opportunity to stay in contact with you, and recommend or sell products and services to you down the line and over time. 

If you consume my newsletter and look forward to the information I share because it is of high value. Then the higher the likelihood you will purchase products and services I recommend later. Whether they are my products and services or companies that I partner with.  

Conclusion

Hopefully, by now you have a really good idea of what blogging is on the surface and a bit more about how complex blogging can become as well.