What’s a Blog (& Why I’d Consider Starting One)

If you’re not judge what a blog is, you’ve decidedly travel crossed 1 astatine immoderate point. Perhaps you’ve stumbled crossed a blog erstwhile you’ve searched “healthy meal recipes.” Maybe you don’t cognize it, but you’re connected a blog now.

I emotion blogging. I created my first blog successful 2010 but stopped penning it conscionable arsenic I sewage my first-ever comment. Knowing what I cognize now, that was my biggest blogging mistake.

Now, I person my ain blog — a blog astir rhythm touring. My blog has 1 goal: to thief group get into rhythm touring and recreation nan world. It’s what you’d telephone an affiliate blog.

I besides constitute blogs for HubSpot, and arsenic an SEO I activity pinch businesses connected their blog strategy to make postulation and leads for their website.

One of my clients generates 64% of their postulation via nan blog. Thanks to analytics, we besides cognize that $30,000 to $50,000 per period is generated from group who besides viewed nan blog.

A blog is not conscionable a page you stumble across, and it’s not reserved for individual anecdotes; a blog tin thief you create an online presence, beryllium yourself an master successful an industry, and pull much value leads to all pages of your site.

I’m not nan only 1 to deliberation truthful — 76% of B2B marketers complaint blogs arsenic an effective instrumentality for lead generation.

Professional blogs are sometimes called “news” aliases “knowledge centers” aliases “articles.” Many of these are, astatine their core, blogs.

If you're contemplating creating a blog for your business aliases want to cognize what 1 is, support reading.

Table of Contents

• What is simply a blog?
• What is simply a blog utilized for?
• How To Blog
• Blog vs. Website
• Why You Need a Blog
• How to Promote Your Blog

A little history — successful 1994, Swarthmore College student Justin Hall is credited pinch nan creation of nan first blog, Links.net. At nan time, however, it wasn't considered a blog … conscionable a individual homepage.

In 1997, Jorn Barger, blogger for Robot Wisdom, coined nan word “weblog,” which was meant to picture his process for “logging nan web” arsenic he surfed nan internet. The word “weblog” was shortened to “blog” successful 1999 by programmer Peter Merholz.

In nan early stages, a blog was a individual web log aliases diary successful which personification could stock accusation aliases their sentiment connected a assortment of topics. The accusation was posted reverse chronologically, truthful nan astir caller station would look first.

Nowadays, a blog is simply a regularly updated website aliases web page, and tin either beryllium utilized for individual usage aliases to fulfill a business need.

For instance, HubSpot blogs astir various topics concerning marketing, sales, and work because HubSpot sells products related to those 3 subjects — so, much than likely, nan type of readers HubSpot’s blog attracts are going to beryllium akin to HubSpot’s halfway buyer persona.

My blog, Road to Frame, is simply a blog that documents my 24,000-mile motorcycle thrust crossed nan world. It’s loaded pinch individual stories, recreation tips, guides, kit lists, reviews, edifice recommendations, and more.

My blog doesn’t service a larger company, it’s ‘just’ my passion: a blog written for an adventurous organization who want to recreation by bike.

Although my blog isn’t a business blog, it is still a monetized blog that makes a passive income period aft month. Through my blog, I make money connected ads, connection links, and merchandise recommendations.

What is simply a blog post?

A blog station is an individual web page connected your website that dives into a peculiar sub-topic of your blog.

For instance, let's opportunity you commencement a manner blog connected your unit website. One blog station mightiness beryllium titled, “The Best Fall Shoes for 2024.”

The station ties backmost to your wide blog topic arsenic a full (fashion), but it besides addresses a very peculiar sub-topic (fall shoes).

Blog posts let you to rank connected hunt engines for a assortment of keywords. In nan supra example, your blog station could alteration your business to rank connected Google for “fall shoes.”

When personification searches for autumn shoes and comes crossed your blog post, they tin entree nan remainder of your company's website. They mightiness click “Products” aft they publication your station and return a look astatine nan clothing items your institution sells.

A blog station links backmost to your wide blog site. For instance, correct now, you're connected blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-a-blog. The “what-is-a-blog” conception of nan URL is tied backmost to /marketing/, which is nan blog.

If you request thief creating a blog post, you tin usage HubSpot’s AI Blog Writer to do so.

What are nan benefits of a blog?

There are many benefits of blogging, but present are nan apical 3 reasons to person a blog, successful my opinion.

Audience Engagement

Your blog is simply a instrumentality that allows you to prosecute much pinch an audience. On my blog, readers tin remark connected blog posts. A blog is much for illustration a two-way speech compared to nan remainder of a website.

The image beneath is taken from nan remark conception of 1 of my blog posts. This was a proud infinitesimal for maine arsenic a blogger.

There was an engaged commentary connected nan blog, but what stood retired to maine was that different readers were helping each different successful nan comments. The speech was extending to a community, not conscionable maine and 1 reader. I loved it.

I’ve seen comments for illustration this connected business blogs, too. For my customer successful nan unit space, we sometimes get comments asking for elaboration connected topics aliases related queries. The remark conception inspires caller blog posts and helps america understand our assemblage moreover more.

Pro tip: Make judge you reply to comments to promote others to time off them. You tin besides induce group to remark wrong nan contented of nan article.

Content Generation and Repurposing

Blogs are mostly longer-form content. Once you’ve created a blog post, you’ve sewage contented that tin beryllium repurposed and shared crossed your trading channels, specified arsenic societal media.

If you group up nan correct analytics, you tin besides stock and analyse information astir personification interaction. For example, you tin show really galore readers stock your blog posts connected social, really overmuch clip group walk connected a blog post, and really acold a personification scrolls.

All of this information tin thief pinch your business and trading much generally. If nan number of shares are precocious and users scroll to nan bottom, past you tin stake you’ve sewage a bully blog that’s of precocious liking to your audience.

Pro tip: If you repurpose contented onto ocular platforms for illustration Instagram aliases Pinterest, you’ll apt create an image, aliases possibly a video. If you do, embed nan plus into nan blog, too! Repurposing useful some ways.

Traffic Generation

If you adhd a blog (or a news section) to your website, and commencement penning strategically, considering SEO, you are apt going to commencement ranking for a lot of keywords. Your blog will apt beryllium location to nan mostly of keywords. Therefore, your blog drives postulation to your website.

It enables you to amended person that postulation into leads, it allows your business to found authority successful an industry, and it continues to thief your business turn and pull caller customers months and moreover years aft publication.

Pro tip: Blogs tin make postulation agelong aft they're written; that’s nan awesome point astir a blog. One blog station has compounding benefits for years.

Blog vs. Website

A blog is typically a conception of your business's website. HubSpot’s website is simply a bully illustration of a business website that has a blog arsenic portion of it.

The screenshot beneath shows that nan blog is simply a conception of nan website and is navigable via nan main menu.

Your blog differs from your website pages.

Generally your website is rather static. You create pages pinch purposes (eg. homepages, work pages, merchandise pages, astir pages, interaction america pages etc.).

These pages dress up nan website. Your services apt don’t alteration overmuch and stay fixed until you make a (probably minor) update.

Blogs, connected nan different hand, are expected to beryllium updated frequently. You mightiness usage your blog to constitute astir manufacture trends, acquisition pieces to thatch your assemblage thing aliases showcase your expertise.

For businesses, I often deliberation of nan blog arsenic a conception of nan website that supports nan astir important pages (e.g., nan money-generating pages: products and services).

A blog tin besides beryllium an full website, and often, it is if nan blog is for individual usage unsocial — for instance, a recreation blog aliases a look blog.

If you're starting from scratch and anxious astir your first post, cheque retired our step-by-step guide to penning a blog post.

What is nan quality betwixt a wiki and a blog?

A wiki is simply a collaborative abstraction wherever anyone who visits nan tract tin edit, share, aliases people contented — Wikipedia is 1 of nan astir celebrated examples of this.

On nan different hand, location is typically only 1 person, aliases a squad of people, pinch admin permissions to edit, share, aliases people to a blog. Website visitors who travel crossed nan blog tin perchance time off comments astatine nan bottommost of nan blog post, but they cannot people to nan tract aliases edit nan posted material.

1. To thief your institution rank connected hunt engines.

Typically, a business will usage a blog to thief nan business's website rank connected hunt engines. You tin perfectly employment paid ads, to thief your institution homepage rank connected page 1 of Google — but a much effective, semipermanent solution is blogging.

Often, blogging is synonymous pinch contented strategy and SEO. If you want a successful blog that really gets visitors, you request to deliberation earnestly astir SEO.

Or, you request to stock nan contented acold and wide successful different areas of marketing, societal media and emails, for example.

To see really your institution tin rank connected hunt engines via a blog, I’ll commencement pinch an illustration — let’s opportunity you activity for a web creation start-up pinch very small online presence.

You determine to walk nan first twelvemonth penning and posting regular blog contented that powerfully relates to web design. Over time, your postulation increases and different companies nexus to your tract for accusation regarding web design.

When this happens, Google recognizes your institution arsenic a legitimate root for web creation information. Eventually (with a batch of proceedings and error), your blog posts statesman ranking connected page 1 of Google for position for illustration “web design,” “website builder,” and “ecommerce website.”

Then, 1 day, you hunt “web creation companies successful X city” and find your institution is now connected page one. This is apt due, successful ample part, to your accordant blogging efforts.

Take a look astatine How HubSpot Uses Blogging to Rank #1 connected Google to study much astir circumstantial strategies you tin instrumentality to rank connected hunt engines.

2. To stock accusation astir a fixed taxable and go an master successful an industry.

In 2006, Boston-native Matt Kepnes discontinue his occupation and began walking nan world. He documented his travels successful his now-infamous blog, NomadicMatt.com.

After astir a year, acknowledgment to tireless blogging efforts and SEO strategies that enabled him to rank connected Google, he began pulling successful $60,000. Matt besides created ebooks, and utilized sponsorships and affiliate marketing to make money.

Additionally, he wrote a New York Times best-seller, “How to Travel nan World connected $50 a Day.”

Now, Matt's blog attracts 1.5 cardinal visitors a period and grosses astir $750,000 a year — and he's go a well-known master successful nan recreation space.

If you want to go known arsenic an master successful a taxable that interests you, from manner to blogging to fitness, you tin — and, oftentimes, it starts pinch a blog.

3. To pull visitors to your tract and move those visitors into leads.

There’s only truthful overmuch postulation you tin get from nan homepage aliases About Us page of your company’s website. Of course, those pages are captious for leads who are already willing successful your products — but they often won’t pull postulation from top-of-the-funnel. That’s wherever your blog comes into play.

Your blog tin beryllium a wide assets to thief your website visitors moreover earlier those visitors are fresh to acquisition from you.

For instance, let’s opportunity you waste products for ecommerce stores. You mightiness pull immoderate ecommerce owners who are already searching online for your products, but successful astir cases, nan ecommerce proprietor isn’t going to beryllium fresh to bargain correct retired of nan gate.

Alternatively, if you statesman blogging astir tips to thief nan unit proprietor who is conscionable starting retired — for illustration “How to commencement a unit website,” aliases “Benefits of ecommerce vs. beingness store” — you’ll slow pull an assemblage who enjoys your contented and finds it useful.

Then, erstwhile those tract visitors’ ecommerce stores statesman increasing (thanks, successful part, to your blog), they'll already cognize astir your marque and already spot it arsenic a adjuvant source. That's when they'll cheque retired your merchandise pages.

Here’s an illustration from ASOS showing really they pull leads via nan blog. The screenshot beneath is taken from their blog “Every Shoe You’ll beryllium Wearing This Autumn.” Within nan blog they stock an image, a styling tip, and, of course, a nexus to nan product.

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4. To cultivate an online organization and prosecute pinch an audience.

At nan very least, you mightiness create a blog to prosecute pinch an online organization of readers pinch akin interests. Maybe you commencement a nutrient blog and inquire readers to stock their ain recipes pinch you.

Alternatively, possibly you commencement a blog that focuses connected DIY projects. You station nan fun, DIY projects you've completed successful your ain home, and you inquire your readers to stock their ain DIY tips successful exchange.

Why You Need a Blog

For businesses, a blog is simply a valuable instrumentality to person successful your trading strategy. It’s a awesome measurement to get nan connection retired astir your marque and build rapport pinch your assemblage and imaginable customers.

Use it to supply your assemblage pinch useful industry-related information, stock institution news, and merchandise updates. Blog contented is besides easy to repurpose for email trading needs and crossed societal channels.

Without one, you’re missing retired connected opportunities to beforehand your brand.

Creating engaging blog contented whitethorn look for illustration a dense assistance astatine first. Luckily location are free devices for illustration HubSpot’s AI Content Writer to thief you constitute amended contented faster.

1. Choose your target audience.

When you're starting your ain blog, it’s important to deliberation of your target audience. Who are you creating nan blog for? And who do you want reference your blog posts? Before you tin get started, you person to see nan niche you’re penning astir and what topics you'll screen and why.

Brainstorming your target assemblage is akin to creating a buyer persona for your company. Plus, this will springiness you an thought connected what benignant of contented you want to produce.

2. Brainstorm contented ideas often based connected your marketplace segment.

Once you’ve started a blog, you’ll want to churn retired high-quality, accordant content connected a regular basis. This isn't ever easy. Creating contented is simply a time-consuming task. You want to guarantee your contented is thing your readers would beryllium willing successful and hopefully tin thief pinch your SEO — much connected that successful a minute.

To statesman brainstorming content, see what your competitors are doing. Look for gaps successful their contented that you tin fulfill.

Additionally, you should besides do SEO investigation to verify that users are searching for and willing successful nan taxable you want to constitute about. Tools for illustration SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Answer The Public tin help.

You'll want to brainstorm contented often truthful you ever person ideas that you tin execute. Having contented ideas successful nan pipeline is an easy hack that removes nan request to deliberation connected nan fly. Using a Blog Ideas Generator will thief you to capable your pipeline pinch contented ideas that are applicable and adjuvant to your target audience.

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3. Research and reappraisal a contented guidance strategy (CMS).

In bid to create your blog, you'll astir apt usage a CMS. A CMS is simply a instrumentality you tin usage to design, manage, and people connected your website. You’ve astir apt heard of examples for illustration WordPress aliases Wix. I wrote a station connected nan best blogging platforms to thief businesses and bloggers find nan champion level for them.

If you don’t person a website yet, you’ll want to take a CMS that has nan expertise to big a blog. If you already person a site, cheque if it has blogging options built in. If not, you whitethorn request to find a CMS that integrates pinch your tract aliases take an wholly caller CMS altogether.

There are tons of options successful nan CMS world, including HubSpot. (You tin effort retired our CMS here.)

HubSpot’s free blog maker provides everything you need, including free hosting and information tools. It’s easy to get started, pinch hundreds of free themes to take from, and a elemental ocular editor.

4. Create a blog strategy and editorial calendar.

Just for illustration creating a business, you can't create a blog without a strategy successful mind. Your strategy should reply questions like:

• Who are you targeting?
• What type of contented will you produce?
• When will you post?
• Where will you beforehand your content?

Overall, you should person a mission, vision, and goals for your blog.

Then, create an editorial almanac to support you organized and connected track. A almanac will thief you way what posts are coming up, guarantee writers are gathering deadlines, and guarantee you person capable contented ideas for nan foreseeable future.

5. Pay attraction to article structure.

When you're writing your blog posts, it's important to see nan article structure. For instance, are you utilizing subheads to break up nan station truthful it's easy to digest? Are you utilizing slug points and images that make nan station easy to scan? These are important factors that will thief support your scholar connected nan page.

Additionally, you‘ll want to make judge that you’re utilizing calls-to-action (CTAs), that will guideline nan scholar connected what you want them to do next. This is really you tin commencement making money and generating leads from your blog.

6. Become an master successful trading and promoting your blog.

Another constituent of blogging is trading and promoting your blog posts. It's for illustration nan age-old adage, “When a character falls successful nan woods and location is nary 1 location to perceive it, does it make a sound?”

Consequently, if you constitute a blog station but cipher sounds it, will it person a affirmative effect connected your institution aliases brand? Probably not. That‘s why you’ll person to marketplace your posts. You tin usage societal media, SEO, your website, aliases your email newsletter to scope existent and imaginable customers.

7. Learn astir SEO.

Like I mentioned above, you want group to publication your blog posts. One measurement to do that is to get integrated postulation done SEO. If you want your blog to beryllium successful, study really to investigation keywords, really to rank successful hunt engines, and really to build an SEO strategy.

I really learned each astir SEO done my blog. I started penning a blog, realized that I wanted group to publication it, truthful I needed to study SEO. I started employing SEO champion practices from nan fewer Google ranking factors that I knew astatine nan time.

Before I knew it I had my first page 1 rank 1 for a agelong tail keyword and I was hooked!

My first page 1 blog rank is pictured below. The keyword is “cycling successful Azerbaijan.” Pretty niche! Since not galore group are doing it, it was, comparatively speaking, easy for maine to achieve.

If you’re starting successful SEO, that’s what I’d recommend. Pick a long-tail, easy-to-rank-for keyword, moreover if it’s not perfect for business, conscionable effort and get thing ranking and believe SEO.

8. Use a assortment of blog station styles.

Your blog posts should beryllium absorbing to everyone who sounds them, and particularly for customers who publication each azygous post.

For those that are progressive followers and ambassadors of your blog, you should usage a assortment of blog station styles truthful your blog doesn't get stale. Consider utilizing how-to posts, list-based posts, aliases thought leadership.

9. Repurpose aged content.

Producing blog contented consistently tin beryllium hard. But you don't person to reinvent nan instrumentality each clip you constitute a blog post.

You tin update aged blog posts to support them meticulous and comprehensive.

Additionally, you tin usage different contented of yours, possibly a YouTube video aliases a podcast, and repurpose nan contented into a blog post.

Get started pinch HubSpot's Free AI Blog Writer

To freshen up aged content, you tin leverage HubSpot's Free AI Blog Writer — nan package tin thief you make ideas and constitute copy.

10. Perform a competitory analysis.

To understand your audience, tally a competitive analysis connected your apical blog competitors. This will thief you place trends, uncover gaps successful nan contented successful your industry, and springiness you ideas connected topics and ways to beforehand your blog.

Running a competitory study will thief you build and iterate connected your ain blog strategy.

How to Promote Your Blog

If you’ve sewage your SEO sorted, visitors will mostly find your blog done Google, but arsenic mentioned earlier, a blog is an fantabulous transmission to build consciousness and beforehand your brand.

Here’s really to do it:

1. Link from your website.

This whitethorn look obvious, but you should make your blog easy to find connected your website. Consider utilizing an attention-grabbing CTA aliases making it easy accessible from a dedicated spot connected your homepage.

2. Repurpose blog content.

As antecedently mentioned, repurposing contented will prevention you loads of clip erstwhile creating content, but it besides allows you to beforehand your marque crossed aggregate channels whether done video, podcasts, email, aliases social.

3. Utilize soul linking.

Once you’ve started generating a important magnitude of posts connected your blog, it tin beryllium adjuvant to link to different posts aliases related taxable pages wrong your blog.

This is bully for SEO, but it will besides thief your readers find pertinent accusation connected a taxable they are willing in.

4. Promote connected societal media.

With nan thief of oculus catching video aliases images, you tin besides leverage your social media channels to thrust postulation to your blog. Additionally, see placing a nexus to your blog connected each of your societal accounts.

5. Consider impermanent blogging.

Guest posting connected different industry-related blog gives your marque nan opportunity to present itself to caller customers who whitethorn not person heard of you.

It’s besides a awesome opportunity to web pinch different manufacture professionals and supply cross-promotion opportunities.

6. Leverage influencers.

Influencer trading is simply a powerful instrumentality you tin usage to springiness your marque immoderate social proof credibility.

Similar to impermanent blogging, you’ll beryllium capable to pat into that person’s assemblage and present your marque to a caller audience. Be judge to activity connected cultivating a narration first earlier reaching retired for a favor.

7. Explore paid options.

If you person nan fund to do so, paid contented promotion is different way you tin return to get eyes connected your content. Running ads aliases a boosted post connected Facebook is simply a bully introduction constituent to paid promotion.

If you're officially fresh to get started pinch your ain blog, return a look astatine our guideline to creating a successful blog strategy.

Blogging is beneficial for business.

With a blog, nan sky’s nan limit — and truthful are nan benefits for your business, arsenic I’ve seen pinch nan galore blogs I person created aliases written for myself. When caller contented is published regularly, engaging, and adjuvant to your audience, it’s an invaluable instrumentality to person successful your trading kit.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful February 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.