We partner with bada$$ companies that offer products that help our readers achieve their goals! If you purchase through our partner links, we get paid for the referral at no additional cost to you! Read our disclosure for more info.
If you’re confused about what is a blog, how it works, and if this is something YOU would want to do, you’ve come to the right place! This breakdown is going to explain everything.
I also didn’t truly understand what a blog was when I first started. In fact, I didn’t even call myself a “blogger” for the first several months. I just thought that I had a health and fitness website that I was trying to make money from.
It wasn’t until I got deeper down the rabbit hole of writing articles and trying to monetize them that I came across other information and websites on “blogging.”
Fast forward to today, and I’ve built multiple six-figure blogs and websites, with some of them earning over $100,000 in a single month.
What is a blog?
This is a blog — what you are reading right now. It’s just written content (generally meant to instruct or be informational in nature) on a website.
The blog itself is made up of a collection of articles, and this blog is a part of the entire website. It’s also the main purpose of this website, so that is also why we refer to the website as a blog.
What does “blog” stand for?
What does blog mean?
In computer terms, “blog” is the combination of two words – “web” and “log.”
Web + log = blog 🙂
What is blogging?
Dictionary.com would say, “to express or write about on a blog.“
The much more interesting truth is that blogging is a fun and mentally charging form of creative expression. It’s taking your unique thoughts and your unique writing style and mashing those two things together in the form of written expression.
Blog writing really can be introspective, fun, exciting, mind-numbing, emotional, relaxed, or whatever you decide for it to be.
There is also no requirement on how often you update your content. You can blog once a week or you can blog once a year. It’s completely up to you.
What is a blog used for?
It’s up to you! Blogs can be used for any or all of the following purposes:
- Personal journals (hobby blogs)
- Creative expression
- Teaching and coaching others
- Selling products
- Promoting brands
It can be whatever you want it to be. In the case at Create and Go, we use our blogs to teach others as well as to sell products to make a full-time income online.
What is the difference between a blog and a website?
I’m more of a visual learner myself so let’s show you some examples. The following are three types of websites and how they function with blogs:
- The website is a blog.
- The website has a blog.
- And the website is just a website.
Let’s dive into a little more detail on each one and explain what the differences are.
The website is a blog.
The best example of a blog I can give you is the website you are on right now, createandgo.com. The articles on this website comprise most of the content.
This is also how my first health blog was structured as well:
It is primarily a blog because it’s centered around updated content on the website.
Here are some other names you could classify these as:
- Blog
- Website (because even if it is a blog, it’s is still technically a website)
- Authority/Niche Website (Because the content is centered around a specific topic, this is also acceptable. You might not have ever heard of this term, but it’s common in internet marketing speak.)
Other examples of websites in which the primary content is articles are Huffington Post and Buzzfeed.
While these are much bigger websites publishing lots of content and may refer to themselves as a website or publisher, they are still technically a blog since blogging is their primary content.
In these cases, both terms are acceptable.
The website has a blog.
I think this is why so many people get confused.
In this example, the website has a blog it uses, but the primary content is not articles. This is the case for most websites as a blog is a good way to drive traffic to your blog and potential customers to a website.
The email marketing service, ConvertKit, is a good example. You can see on the top menu that they have a link to their blog:
The website has a blog with regularly updated posts and it’s an important part of their business, but the blog section is not the primary content or purpose of the website.
The primary purpose is to get people started with their email marketing software. They sell software.
In this case, the people at ConvertKit would likely refer to their site as…
- A website
- A software
- A business
They would not refer to what they do as “blogging” or being “bloggers” even though they have do have a blog on their website.
ConvertKit is mainly selling a service. They don’t consider themselves “bloggers.”
Remember, the primary purpose of the website is going to usually reflect what the creator calls the website. It is subjective in nature but is all about what the purpose of the website is.
The website is just a website.
In this case, the website exists without a blog as a standalone site.
An example would be Canva.com.
*Update: Canva does, in fact, have a blog section. But it’s still a good example because it’s used 99% of the time as a photo creation software service.
More examples include websites generally for:
- Apartment complexes
- Local real estate brokers
- Platforms like Youtube and Facebook
Any of the above websites could add a blog to their website, but right now they just have a website.
Alright, I hope that cleared some stuff up. Next, I want to go over some other important questions you probably have if you are interested in learning about what is a blog and more about the basics of blogging.
What should I blog about?
What to blog about is going to depend on your own goals for your blog.
Contrary to popular belief, blogs are not just an online diary about your thoughts. If you want to make a business out of it, you need to run it like a business. Remember that it can be whatever YOU want to make of it. You can blog about whatever your heart desires, including…
- Company updates
- A product you liked
- A workout you used or recommend to your friends
Or use it as…
- A creative outlet to practice writing
- A way to meet others and connect
Basically, anything you can think of. Be creative!
Here’s the rub though. Not all articles are created equal and there are certain blog post ideas that do better than others.
What makes a good blog?
It’s the connection you create with your readers. The closer you can connect with and bond with those visiting your blog, the more powerful the blog will be and likely the more money you will make.
A good blog is not necessarily a big blog with a large audience. It’s more about how many members of that audience truly connect with the writer and engage with the content.
Some small blogs make TONS of cash because of the deep connection with their audience, while some huge blogs make nothing because they don’t know how to connect with readers.
What kind of blogs are there?
There are many different kinds but they usually fall into 4 categories:
- Lifestyle/Personal Brand Blog
- Passion Subject Blog
- Broad Niche Blog
- Crash-Test-Dummy Blog
A lifestyle blog and a personal blog are generally the same thing. They leverage the personal brand of someone’s name and are usually more about that person’s lifestyle. Many bloggers take this path and people have even gotten very famous from blogging.
Another kind of blog is microblogging where someone blogs in short note-style posts.
This is usually done on a platform like Instagram where you write longer captions (not recommended if you want to make serious dollars though).
What kind of blog should I start?
Everyone’s personality and desires are different when it comes to blogging. We have a blogger personality quiz that you can use to help determine this.
It’s completely free and an awesome way to get started blogging!
How do you make an income from a blog?
You can make money in a variety of ways. Some methods will earn you much MORE money and some will earn you money much FASTER.
Some of the very basic ways to make money with a blog include:
- Putting ads on your blog (Google AdSense)
- Recommending products in your articles (like Amazon products)
- Selling other people’s products (called affiliate marketing)
- Selling your own digital products and services (higher return but more time investment)
So, you can get paid by companies whose products you are recommending or directly by people who purchase your products.
How do I get started?
You can get one started in 30 minutes or less!
If you’re ready to get rolling, make sure to check out our post on how to start a blog (a step-by-step beginner’s guide).
P.S. Did this post on what is a blog help you? What is your blog going to be about? We would love to hear about it in the comments section below!