BLOGGING - HOW TO SUCCEED

by PETER RADFORD
The word blog is a shortened version of the term "Web log". Essentially, it is a website, which itself is a collection of Web, or internet pages, images, videos or other digital forms that reside on one or more web servers, which control the images, and are accessible via the internet. A blog is normally set up and run by an individual, and often for his own personal satisfaction. Entries are added to the blog, on a regular basis, in the form of personal anecdotes, descriptions of particular events, together with other material, such as graphics or video, which will enhance the impact and appeal of his posts. The entries themselves are commonly displayed with the first entry being available at the end, and newer entries being added before it. Many blogs provide an ongoing discussion, or act as an update for news on a general or specialised subject. Others, however, function as more of a personal diary that is placed on the internet for possible broader interaction.

A blog’s characteristic structure combines mostly text, and sometimes has additional images. There are some that have links to blogs or other web sites whose content is on similar subjects. An important part of many blogs is the facility whereby readers of the blog are able to leave personal comments and views which can be read by others.

Although most blogs are composed solely of text, their format can be extremely diverse, such as:

Those that have a bias towards art are called artlogs, Those based on photographs are photoblog, Sketch biased ones are sletchblog, Videos are vlog, Music is MP3 blog, Audio is podcasting.

In fact, they are all part of a much wider network, defined as social media.

There is, indeed, yet another form of blogging, called micro blogging. This is very different since it consists of blogs with short or very short entries, another name for this entry being a post.

Technorati is probably the premier search engine associated with blogs.

Video blogging, the most recent innovation, involves the subject expressing his opinion or simply talks about something.

House Blog

A house blog is a particular type of blog that has been established simply to share and discuss, in an ongoing manner, a domestic event such as improving the home, or possibly a complete restoration process.

The idea for such a blog has materialised only within the last few years and has become popular through the interaction of various communities. Most such blogs are instigated and maintained by those who wish to share with the online community the does and dont’s, the pitfalls, the costs and the impact on their family of such home improvement adventures.

The intention of making money is not the driving force. However, some house blogs do sell advertising space, of various kinds, on their sites, or they may be part of an ad network.

Without doubt, the rise in the popularity of house blogs is that of the minimum cost that is involved in setting up and running the site. House bloggers can very quickly and easily create a blog for free. This can be done by using other free services, such as Blogger or Wordpress. In this way, anyone can determine whether their selected niche market could turn out to be a viable proposition.