Types of Blog

You may already know that there is not only one type of blog out there. Blogs come in a wide variety of types and are made distinct and personal by the blogger himself. You will become well-known to others by the voice you use on your blog regardless of what type of blog you choose to use. The type of blog that represents the original blog the best is where the blogger sorts through different topics provided by internet sites. They then take the important and most interesting facts from these sites and post them to a blog to be viewed by others.

By doing this you are presenting the reader of the blog with an easy and simple way of keeping up with what’s going on in the world without doing all the research themselves. This is great for people that are short on free time. You can choose to stick to one main interest or change around and talk about different subjects, as the blogger it’s your choice.

The most popular blog today would be where the blogger posts their personal journal of their day’s event. If you want to share the events of your life with others this would be a great way to do so. Many people have used their hobbies to post on blogs, giving others who enjoy the same thing good information about the subject. If there is something going on in the world that you strongly protest or support many people have found that these types of blogs work well for them.

Blogging in the 21st century

The turn of the 21st century brought about a lot of changes, including changes in blogging. Technology has given internet users a whole new way to write and present their blogs. Instead of all text with a few images thrown in to make it a little more interesting you can now add audio to your blogs. To make it even more interesting put in a short video to intrigue your visitors.

Did you know that you can even update your blog when you are on the go if you like? All you have to do is use a PDA or a mobile phone and you can connect and update anytime, anywhere you please, this is called mobile blogs. Technology has certainly changed the way blogging works. There are no longer very many limitations holding the blogger back.

So what are some of these different types of blogs that are now available today and what do they mean? Basically, there are two common types of blogs and each has different sub-genres included within it. Most blogs are either basic blogs or expository blogs.

Basic blogs include links to something interesting and a comment or two. Expository blogs focus mainly on writing. There are several other types of blogs that fall under these two main broad categories.

Some of these include:
· Group – A variant of the same basic blog but with multiple authors
· Topic- blog writing based on a specific set of topics (such as politics, news, religion, education, etc.)
· Journals – Diaries; usually expository and of interest to the writer, family and friends
· Photo- As the name suggests, this is a graphic heavy blog with photos, etc.
· Linkblog- Similar to the regular basic blog but with only links and without commentary
· Public relations- blogs geared towards public relations, advertising, etc
· Other- There are many other types and categories of blogs that can fall in this line as well. There are so many different things that blogs are used for these days.

Corporate blogging

As the popularity of blogging has increased, we now also have corporate blogging. Many companies both large and small see this as a great way to connect with their target audience in a more direct way. You can use blogs to find out about your target market’s interests, hobbies and concerns.

We live in a time where people want information – tons of information. The more information you can provide, the more confidence there will be in you and your company and your knowledge and abilities. Companies are literally earning millions off of being able to provide others with information. The blog gives you a great platform to be able to achieve this.

There are even many major companies that are starting to advertise in blogs such as Coca-Cola for one. Advertisers are really taking notice to the popularity of blogs and how they can make money from the information super-highway. You can jump on board and get your share of the profits as well. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be making money through a blog as well.


Features of Blogging

When it comes to actually writing and setting up your blog, you need to understand the features of a blog. Knowing and understanding these features can help you understand both what the blog is and how it works. This will help you to understand how people make a lot of money off of it and how you can do the same.

Below is an explanation of different parts of a standard blog and the features therein.

Posting Structure

Do you understand the posting structure of the blog and how it works? Each entry is referred to as a “post”. Posts may also be called entries or articles. They may be made on a daily basis or weekly, bimonthly, monthly, etc. The way you enter your blog post varies according to what type of blog service you are using. Many have a direct entry text box where you simply type in what you want to say. You don’t have to know any special coding information. Some blogs have what is called WYSIWYG editors. This stands for “what you see is what you get” and it means easy text entry no matter who you are.

Most blog sites and interfaces have HTML input as well for those of you who enjoy working with code and would like to enter your blogs this way. There are also different formats for listing links, photos, etc. Most work the same way as text. You have the option to either enter as HTML or enter in the WYSIWYG editors.

Interactivity

Another great thing about blogs is that they are interactive. This is one thing that made them so popular. People have the opportunity to respond to what they read. You can post comments to the blog when you read it which are often shown instantly. There are some cases where the blog owner may use a spam filter or blocker and your comment will have to be reviewed first. The comments are usually found at the end of the post. People feel great about the fact that they can add their own thoughts and opinions and communicate with other people that are reading the blog. This is also a great way for advertisers to find out how the readers feel about something.

The archive feature

Archiving is another great feature of blogging. Most blogs have this option so that you can archive your posts by categories and date. If you find a blog that you like, you can look back on past entries. In fact, most blogs have an archive that is searchable for you to easily bring up certain topics or dates and read the entries.

The regular blog will have features set up so that after a certain number of days or certain number of blog entries posted, the older entries will roll off the main page and become archived. There are also other features that are usually built into the blog itself such as the ability to subscribe to the content of that blog or excerpts of the blog content. You can also use RSS feeds or Atom feeds to let people know you have updated content or to let them put your content on their sites.

Blogs also have links to other blogs so they all link together, or at least the ones with similar content do. So you can see how great it is for a company or business that wants to get their name out there or make themselves known. It can be very useful to make yourself known with the popular blogs in your topic or category so that you will get advertising to your own as well.

Comparing blogs to websites

You might have already noticed that blogs and websites have several similarities. There are, however, important features that make them different. The way that these sites function is very different. A regular website stays what is called “static”. While it may be updated, it is not updated as regularly as blogs. Most of the information and content that is on the website will stay the same. A blog however, may be constantly changing not only on a daily basis but from hour to hour, etc.

Blogs have the bonus of having a permanent web address just like a website but they are different because they are also interactive and very dynamic. The person keeping the blog maintains in conversation with the reader so they feel more in touch with the blogger and the blog. It’s more personal than simply reading words on a website.

Keeping your blog up to date

If you have a blog, you are also going to need to understand the importance of keeping your blog up to date. People want to see updated content on a regular basis. If you continue to have updated content, people will return. To keep your blog properly updated, you also have to keep a close eye on it and how things are changing. Since things can change rather quickly, it’s a great idea to stay on top of it. The more often you respond and remain in contact with your blog and the members that are reading it, the better sense of community you will create and the more comfortable people will feel on your site.

Another good thing about blogs and a good reason to keep your content updated is because the search engines regularly update them. You can raise your search engine ranking and bring more traffic to your site which means more profit to you.

Software

What do you need to know to build your blog? Do you need to be an expert in HTML and coding to complete this successfully? Back in the early days of blogging, programmers would have needed to know HTML to create their blogs. That isn’t true today now that we have software that converts what you type into what you want it to look like. This software makes blogging simple and easy even if you don’t know any HTML.

All blogs are either hosted on someone else’s server of self-hosed on your own server. Blogger is a popular example of a blog that is hosted and Wordpress is an example that is self-hosted. Read on to find out more about these two hosting types.

Hosted blogs

Hosted blogs are usually more affordable, or even free so this is a big plus for many people, especially those that have never blogged before. Hosted blogs are really easy to create and maintain.

There are some disadvantages to all this ease of use. You won’t have as many options for customization, etc when you use a hosted blog. You pretty much just have to work with what you are given.

Also, if you later want to move to a self-hosted site, you may have to start over with the search engine rankings and it can be difficult to move and keep all of your existing content.

Self-hosted blogs

Self hosted blogs are usually the way to go for professional bloggers. If you are looking to make money from your blog, you should probably save time and start out with a self-hosted option. You will have more control over the templates and the look and feel of your blog as well as the content therein. You can also choose your own domain name which is important to people being able to find you.

Just like everything else, there are some disadvantages although they are mild. The main disadvantages are that yu will have to pay for your domain name and hosting and your blog with come down if your host comes down due to problems.

Popular blogging programs/platforms

You may already know that within each type of blog hosting, there are several different popular blogging programs or platforms, you have probably heard of some of them already and may have even tried some of them already.

Blogger

Blogger is a free hosted blogging tool by Google that has been around for a long time and is very easy to use. Many people make personal blogs on this site and it only takes about 10 minutes to set up your first blog. They have a nice selection of templates but Blogger doesn’t allow for a lot of customization.

LiveJournal

LiveJournal allows you to set up online journals quickly and easily. It is a collaboration and networking tool that is great for individuals but makes customization difficult. Again, it depends on what you are trying to do with your blog but if you hope to make money, this might not be your best option.

Textpattern

Textpattern is a free self-hosted tool which works best for those that are good with technology. It is much more customizable that the aforementioned options and it has wizard based interface to make this easier for you. It also uses custom formatting.

Typepad (hosted)/ Moveable Type (self-hosted)

Typepad was created by SixApart and is the hosted version of their popular MoveableType platform. These are both options for you to consider depending on your specific needs. Typepad is a paid blogging platform but it is still relatively affordable. There are different levels of access that will affect the price ranging from Basic to Pro.

Wordpress

Wordpress is both hosted and self hosted, depending on what your needs are. Wordpress is free and is easy to setup and use. There are hundreds of plugins to extend functionality in different areas. This is by far one of the most popular options around today.

Here is a list of some popular blogging platforms which bloggers can install on their own servers:
* b2evolution
* bBlog
* blosxom
* ExpressionEngine
* Drupal
* Greymatter
* LifeType
* Movable Type
* Nucleus CMS
* Radio UserLand
* Roller Weblogger
* Serendipity
* Subtext
* Textpattern
* Windows Live Writer
* WordPress

Here is a list of some popular blogging services, which bloggers can use with no installation.
* Blog.com
* Blogger
* LiveJournal
* Open Diary
* TypePad
* Windows Live Spaces
* Wordpress.com
* Xanga

You have to decide for yourself which platform you think will meet all of your needs the best. So what should you look for while selecting a platform?

Choosing your blogging platform

When you are ready to begin choosing your blogging platform, there are some questions you can ask yourself to help you decide what you need from a blogging platform.

For example:
1. Do you need something that will be easy to set up and use?
2. Are you new to blogging and new to internet platforms?
3. What is your technical skill level?
4. Are you going to want to change the look of the templates and other customization?
5. Do you need to have little, moderate or a lot of control over the interface?
6. Will you require spam control features, such as captchas and comment moderation?
7. Does the platform you are considering offer support and assistance?
8. Do you need to be able to have more than one person able to post the blog?

These are just some of the questions you might ask. You have to consider your individual situation. Will you need pages on your site that are non-blog pages? What kind of features are important to you? These are all questions to help you choose the right blogging platform for your needs.