A lot of people don’t realize how often we read blogs. If you’re reading this, you’re reading content from a blog.
If you’re curious about blogging, you may be wondering what is a blog, and how does blogging work. In this post, we’ll answer these questions so you can get more clarity and decide if blogging could benefit you.
While many people think blogging is a hobby, most of the time, it’s not.
There are major differences between a hobby blogger vs an established blogger. Let’s dive deeper to make sure you understand what blogging means.
What Is A Blog?
A blog can be a section of a website or a type of website. Let’s take a look at two examples.
Example #1
We all know Skyscanner. It’s a website that finds flights so you can compare prices and options. Skyscanner is not a blog, but they do have a blog section on their website.
They use their blog to capture more leads and traffic to their website. Once a reader land on their blog section, they’ll find options to book flights, hotels, or car rentals. Note that they call their blog section News, but essentially, there are blog posts.
Example #2
Nomad Life 101 (the website you’re currently reading) is a digital nomad blog. The website provides lots of blog posts (content) and you can easily navigate it because it’s divided into categories. A blog is basically a content website.
We visit and read blogs on a daily basis without realizing it.
When you search for a recipe, the best things to do this weekend, or the best movies to watch on Netflix, you’re probably reading a blog.
What Is Blogging?
Now that you know what a blog is, you may be wondering what is blogging.
Blogging is the action behind the blog. When I write content for my blog, I’m blogging.
Blogging can be a hobby or a full-time job. For example, if you love writing about things you love but don’t care so much if people read your content, you’re blogging as a hobby.
On the other hand, if you are blogging to help people and to, eventually, make money, blogging can be a side job or a full-time job.
We’ll dive deeper into blogging further, but let’s take a minute to discuss the purpose of having a blog.
What Is The Purpose Of A Blog?
Bloggers may have blogs for different reasons. Whether they want a platform to share their voice, help people or make money online, there are several reasons to blog.
As mentioned above, some bloggers are passionate about writing, and they blog as a hobby. That said, the goal is not to monetize the blog, but simply write for fun.
When people are serious about blogging, they can use blogging for two reasons.
- To make money
- To improve their business
Let’s go back to our previous examples.
Skyscanner provides content and blog posts to generate more traffic to their website, and to improve conversion. Capturing leads at different stages of the funnel helps with conversion.
For example, if someone is looking for information about a destination, they will likely need a flight at some point. Skyscanner provides the information to the reader, and the reader may start looking at flights after reading the content.
That said, a blog is a marketing tool for businesses.
Nomad Life 101 provides lots of free content (blog posts and videos). The blog is monetized via affiliate marketing. So, when a reader clicks on an affiliate link, I get a commission.
How Does Blogging Work?
Blogging means that you’re creating content (blog posts) and divide the content into categories. The website is easy to navigate – you can go to the menu and click on the different categories to filter the content.
A hobby blogger won’t care too much about what we call “user experience”. They use their blogs as a platform to share their writing.
A professional blogger will care about the user experience and will aim to provide the best experience on the website. To do so, the content will be divided into ways that make sense for the reader.
You can do that by creating a solid content strategy – a lot of content around one topic. For example, at Nomad Life 101, we aim to write content about working online and blogging for beginners.
How Can Blogging Help Your Business?
If you own a website, you should consider creating a blog section. As we saw earlier, even big brands like Skyscanner have a blog section to generate more traffic and leads.
For example, if you are a service provider, having a blog could help you too.
Let’s pretend you provide services as a copywriter. You could have a blog section on your website with blog posts like…
- Why hire a copywriter
- Benefits of using a copywriter
- How to find a copywriter that understands your brand voice
- Copywriting tips you’ve never heard of
- Etc.
These blog posts will generate traffic and target different stages of your sales funnel.
Now, let’s take a look at some blog examples.
Blog Examples
You can blog about everything – food, fitness, finance, travel, makeup, etc. Even software and online tools have blogs.
I personally own multiple blogs. You can take a look at my main blog: A Broken Backpack – a blog about long-term travel.
The blog posts are divided into categories (countries, continents, travel news).
My second biggest blog is this one – Nomad Life 101.
The blog posts are divided into categories (digital nomad jobs, blogging, destinations).
How To Start A Blog
If you’re thinking about giving blogging a go, you can learn more in our complete guide to blogging (step-by-step).
You’ll find lots of details on how to get started.
In short, you’ll…
- Find your niche
- Find a blog name
- Purchase a hosting plan and a domain
- Install a theme
- Create the menu and important pages
- Start blogging
The guide is long and detailed. Alternatively, you can sign up for our free mini-course to launch your blog in just 7 days. Every day, you’ll get an email with your daily tasks to help you get started.
Once your blog is launched, you’ll need to work on your blog content strategy and find ways to monetize your content. I’d recommend you read more about blog monetization for beginners.
If you want to generate blog traffic fast, you could also join our online course SEO from Scratch. This course is designed for bloggers who want to generate traffic from search engines like Google.
In simple words, Google is a source of traffic for blogs. Remember how I said we are reading blogs on a daily basis? Well, that’s it – when you search for something on Google, you often land on a blog. When your blog post is optimized for Google, you’ll get traffic.
Final Thoughts On Blogging
Blogging is a great way to generate views for your website. If your content is optimized for search engines like Google, you’ll be able to get views on autopilot long-term. This is the best way to go about blogging.
Blogging can help you make money online, and if you already have an online business, it could help you achieve better results.
As we saw earlier, brands are using blog posts to get more traffic and as a result, they improve their sales. Blogging is basically a marketing tool for businesses.
That said, many bloggers and entrepreneurs create blogs and sell them for profit.
