What is blogging anyway? 

At this point in time we’ve all heard of blogging or even had a blog of our own, but what does it really mean and who does it benefit? 

Well let’s start at the beginning, what is blogging and who started it?

The first blog was called Links.net created by Justin Hall back in 1994 who was just a student at the time, he created a site where he could publish his writings and share links to websites that he favoured. However, the term ‘weblog’ wasn’t coined until 1997 by Jorn Barger who wanted to log his favourite websites, therefore ‘weblog’ was created (get it?). This was further shortened to ‘blog’ in 1999 by Peter Merholz. 

These early ‘blogs’ were referred to as online diaries up until a reporter for the Charlotte Observer covered Hurricane Bonnie in 1998, it was a first that a news site covered breaking news on a blog format.

By the early 2000s blogging became really popular, especially when ‘bloggers’ began to make money from their blog posts. by this time the format of blogging had changed and blogs were being monetised with ‘BlogAds’, this was later replaced by Google’s ‘AdSense’. 

Many bloggers today are also called ‘influencers’ who earn money by reviewing products for big companies to encourage their readers to buy their products, usually enticing them with a discount code. Of course, depending on what kind of content the influencer produces these company products could vary from: makeup, skincare, gaming electronics, children’s care packages, pet food, vitamins and the list goes on.

Also blogs today tend to be linked to the bloggers social media platforms, almost like a subsidiary account for their main.

So why do people continue to blog today in the age of social media and video sharing platforms? 

The simple answer is that companies still use blogging as a way to garner natural attention to their site. It creates more opportunities for your site to show up in search engines (SEO) and build traffic.

They can help build their network and develop a relationship with their audience, especially when they receive instant feedback that they can use to implement changes. It’s a great marketing tool that doesn’t cost anything to run.

How do you feel about blogs in the present day? Do you believe they still have a place within the social media networks or have new techniques made them obsolete?

If you’re looking to bring new traffic to your company, build your personal brand or just find  a new hobby it might be time to start up your own blog.

Let us know your tips to starting a new blog and what content you intend to create. 

See you next time!