Blog and Website

We have seen readers confuse between a blog and a website quite often. So what is the difference between these two? If you have thought about starting a blog or a website then understanding these terminologies and its difference matters a lot.  You can also reach your goals with this.

In this blog, we will explain what is a blog and how is it different from a traditional website. We will also talk about usage scenarios and their benefits.

In the current times, there are plenty of corporate blogs that produce a lot of informational and thought-leadership style content.

Related: HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL BLOG STRATEGY

HISTORY OF BLOGS

Let us look into a brief history of blogs to understand the origin of blogs. Blogs, basically are the evolution of online diaries and journals in the mid-90s. During that time, internet users were already operating personal web pages where regular updates were published about their personal lives, thoughts, and social commentary.

The term ‘weblog’ was initially used in the late 1990s, which later became ‘weblog’, which again evolved into  ‘weblog’ and finally became what we know now as a blog. With the growth of web pages, several tools began to spring up which made easier for users to create online journals and blogs. These tools helped popularize blogging and made the technology accessible to non-technical users as well.

It was in 1999, Blogger.com, the popular blogging website got launched. It was later acquired by Google in February 2003. WordPress, an unknown entity until then released its first version as a blogging platform in May 2003. WordPress has had an extremely successful growth and is the world’s most popular blogging platform powering over 30% of all websites on the internet.

Difference between blog and website

Ash Mufareh Website

As mentioned earlier, blogs are a type of website. The only real difference between a blog and other types of websites is that blogs are regularly updated with new content, which is displayed in reverse chronological order (newer posts first).

Websites are static where content is organized in pages, and they are not updated frequently. Blogs, on the other hand, are dynamic and are usually updated quite often. Bloggers publish multiple articles daily. Blogs have articles that are organized using categories and tags. While websites use pages to organize and display content.

Blogs can be part of the larger website. We have seen businesses having a blog section where they regularly create content to inform and educate their customers. But not all websites can be called blogs. WPBeginner is a blog and a website. Our website has other content that is published in a non-blog format like a glossary, about us and contact pages.

WordPress can be used to create both a blog and a website. This is the reason a lot of small business owners use WordPress to build their small businesses.

Blog or Website – Which one is better?

If you wondering whether you should start a blog or a website and are confused to which is better? The answer to this depends on what your goals are.

Many small businesses across the world have traditional websites featuring just pages and no blog. Such small websites are often made to create an informational web presence for a business, organization, or individual. Businesses are realizing the potential of a blog in their marketing strategy and are adding a separate blog section to their traditional websites and using it to get more traffic from search engines.

Even if you are a business, a non-profit organization, or a professional, adding a blog to your website can help you achieve your goals.

Difference between blog posts and pages

As stated above, WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and a powerful content management system. It comes with two content types: posts and pages.

Blog posts are displayed in reverse chronological order on your blog page because they are timely content which means your users will have to dig deeper to view older posts. Pages are static ‘one-off’ type content such as your about page, contact page, products or services pages, the home page, and more. Pages are usually used to create a website structure and layout. Even blogs can have pages alongside them.

Benefits of blogging and why people blog?

For the above-stated question, each blogger has their motivation for blogging. Many of them use it as an alternative to keeping a diary or journal. Blogging provides them with a venue to share their creativity and ideas to a wider audience.

When it comes to businesses, firms, and top brands, they create blogs to educate their customers, share news, and reach a wider audience. Blogging is an essential part of the online marketing strategy for many businesses. We have mentioned some of the benefits of blogging.

  • Provides an avenue to organize your thoughts and ideas
  • Allows you to showcase your skills, creativity, and talents
  • Help individuals become an authority in their industry
  • Helps you socialize with interesting like-minded people online
  • Businesses use blogging to bring more potential customers to their websites
  • Non-profits can use blogs to raise awareness, run social media campaigns, and influence public opinion
  • Bloggers make money from their blogs using various monetization methods

How does a blogger make money?

That last benefit of blogging did catch your fancy right? Usually, people think of bloggers as hobbyists. Though some are, a large number of bloggers make money from their blogs. This enables them to focus more on their blog, quit their day jobs, and build successful online businesses. The more successful bloggers can make six-figure, seven-figure, and even eight-figure incomes from their blogs.

Here are a few ways that most bloggers use to make money from their blogs. The easiest way to make money online is by displaying ads. But as a new blogger, you will not be able to contact advertisers directly or manage them. You would have to enroll in Google AdSense and it takes care of finding ads, displaying them, collecting payments from advertisers, and sending you those payments for a small cut.

Many bloggers also make money through Affiliate marketing. They recommend products on their websites and earn a commission when users buy those products. Other common monetization methods include memberships, selling online courses, or adding an online store to the blog.

Can anyone start a blog?

Yes, anyone can easily start a blog. There are a plethora of tools that allow you to easily create a blog without ever writing code. If you can point-and-click, then you can build a blog within minutes. The most common mistake that beginners make is choosing the wrong blogging platform. We did mention earlier that WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and website builder and we too recommend it. Over 30% of all websites on the internet are built using WordPress.

But then there is another smart unicorn coming into the picture called ONPASSIVE. ONPASSIVE’s  AI-powered smart business solutions ecosystem is a plug-n-play setup helpful or all small business owners to help their business grow.

ONPASSIVE’s Plug-n-play tools, integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), help to achieve at most productivity by removing manual efforts for each marketing activity and set your business to the auto-pilot mode. ONPASSIVE offers digital marketing tools and services, such as –Domain name registration, Web hosting, Video email, VPN, Email marketing, IP tracker, Targeted and Mass marketing campaigns, Website Builder, Video marketing, etc. what’s more you ask? It also activates product promotions to generate guaranteed free traffic to your websites.

Once you have the necessary materials, you can head over to our guide on how to start a blog for the complete step by step instructions. We hope this blog post helped answer your questions about what is a blog and what’s the difference between a blog and a website.

Related: Do You Know Reading ONPASSIVE Blogs Could Help You Get More Business Ideas?