An Outline Of Blogging

The word “blog” is derived from the term “web log” which was used to describe websites that were more like online journals. “Blogosphere” is the bloggers term for the world of web logs or blogs. A blog is more often than not a personal web site, which focuses on a topic that is close to its owner’s heart, it could be their life or the latest technology. Blogs usually follow a chronological order i.e. the newest entry on top. The content of a blog is normally referred to as “posts” or “entries” which form the nucleus of the blog. A blog could also contain pictures and video. These could be “posted” by the owner or a number of visitors of the site. Some sites also allow visitors to leave comments which make the blog interactive. The unfortunate offshoot of this feature is comment spam. Thankfully, spam controls are now emerging. Most blogs feature an archive, which makes it easier to sort articles, as well as more presentable. Many blog software applications also allow categorization of posts according to topics. Plenty of blogs possess a special software for feeds i.e. a way for users to keep up with the latest information on various blogging sites. An example of this is RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

Majority of blogs experience the problems of insufficient traffic i.e. visitors and thus resort to certain techniques to increase the number of visitors to their site. SEO or search engine optimization is the most excellent way of generating traffic. That is why; almost all blogs use their title as a headline to attract interest. PPC or pay per click advertising is another method a lot of blogs use to attract visitors to their site. An example of this is SpeedPPC. Nearly all blogs include links in their menu. This serves as a way of increasing traffic as well as useful information to readers. A list of links of other related sites is sometimes called a “blogroll”. Blog forums exist where bloggers can participate in discussions and leave their link, to increase popularity. At times bloggers include permalinks i.e. permanent URL’s in their individual weblog posts or categories so that interested visitors can use them to refer to an article.

For the most part bloggers adhere to a schedule and make postings regularly. A number of bloggers also post comments on other similar sites, linking back to their own site. These are called trackbacks. Some bloggers post comments on their own site, linking to another related site. These are normally called pingbacks. Nowadays, there are blogging tools that offer the ability to email posts straight to a blog without direct interaction through the blogging tool interface. In addition to this, there are also software’s that offer a built-in search for a blog so finding articles is a whole lot easier. Also, all major blogging tools offer an export/import facility so moving between blogging systems is fairly easy. A large amount of blogs are now listed in “blog directories”.