Its almost 2013 and blogging has exploded. Five years ago I didn’t even know what a blog was. I was looking for ways to increase online traffic to my surf camp and somebody mentioned to me I should start a blog. I was like, huh? What’s a blog? It took me a couple of years to realize what a blog was and the value of them. Now I blog regularly and love it. Blogs have evolved into so many forms and uses that they have completely transformed the way we view, use and interact online.

My biggest online regret is I didn’t start one earlier. In this post I want to explore the many faces of blogging and create a definition of a blog combined with the way I view it.

 What is a Blog or Web-blog?

A blog is a type of website in which text, photos, videos and other digital media items are posted in chronological order. Blogs are often written by one person to act like an online diary but can also be focused on a particular subject. Blogs are usually frequently updated with posts that contain:

• Title – main title or headline
• Body – Main content of post
• Comments – opinions & statements added by readers
• Permalink – The url or address of the individual post
• Post date – Date and time stamp the post was created and published
• Categories – to organize posts into subjects that are discussed
• Trackbacks – links to other sites or blogs that refer to the entry

If you spend any time browsing the net you have seen a blog whether you knew it or not. Blogs are everywhere and there are blogs about virtually any topic you can imagine. Since their appearance in 1995 Blogs have emerged into a necessity for anyone, any business or any organization trying to grow an online presence.

 What is a blog today?

A blog is:

1. A WordPress website
2. A personal e-journal to record, and express oneself
3. A way to share information, tutorials, ideas, digital media, and news
4. A legit way to make money online
5. A work from home opportunity for stay at home moms
6. A business in itself
7. A way to make extra money online
8. A way to create passive income
9. A 6 & 7 figure income for some
10. A social media platform
11. A way to gain an audience
12. A way to influence public opinion and mass media around the world
13. International freedom of speech
14. A marketing vehicle for companies
15. A way to increase organic search traffic
16. A way to generate leads
17. A way to create SEO back-links to other websites
18. A part of a huge emerging online industry
19. A constant evolving platform
20. Something you should utilize if benefit from an online presence
21. easy to setup

A blog can be many things. According to Google, the key word “blog” is globally searched 151,000,000 times per month, even beating out the key word “website” which gets 124,000,000. That’s massive! And just proves blogs are set and here to stay. In case you’re still not convinced blogs are that big of a deal, lets take a look at some blogging statistics.

As of July 2011, there were an estimated 165 million blogs online (from 3 million in 2004)

The US has about 51% of the blogging population worldwide

5% of the blogs are business-focused and 14% are focused on technology or Internet marketing

Traffic sources: 41% Search Engines, 28% Social Media, 20% Referring Sites

The WordPress platform is now used by over 50% of blogs

The stats below were gathered from Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2011 study.

Who is Blogging Today?

• Hobbyists (Blogging for the sake of fun): 61%
• Professional Part-Timers (Blog to supplement their income): 13%
• Entrepreneurs (Blog for their own business or company): 13%
• Corporate (Blog for their employer): 8%
• Professional Full-Timers: 5% (Of the 5%, only 37% say their primary income is from blogging)

Bloggers Demographics

• 59% male
• 65% age18-44
• 79% possess college degrees
• 44% hold graduate degrees
• 1/3 have a household income of $75K+
• 1/4 have a household income of $100K+

Blogger habits, How Long & How Often?

• 80% have been blogging 2+ years
• 50% have been blogging 4+ years
• 44% blog 2 – 3 times a week or more, with professional bloggers blogging daily

Social Media Usage of Bloggers

• Twitter
  • Used by 93% of professional bloggers
  • Used by 78% of all other bloggers
  • 1,674: Average number of followers for professional bloggers
  • 847: Average number of followers for all other bloggers
• Facebook
  • Used by 92% of professional bloggers
  • Used by 89% of all other bloggers

Influence

• 68% of bloggers state they are influenced by other bloggers, up more than double from 30% in 2010

Blogging for money

• 4% of all bloggers say their blog is their main source of income
• 37% of fulltime bloggers state their blog is their primary source of their income
• 14% of bloggers receive a salary for blogging
  • Average salary: $24K
• Where the revenue comes from:
  • Self serve (Adsense): 60%
  • Direct (sell & market themselves): 30%
  • Blog networks: 14%
  • Dedicated sales team: 5%

How Bloggers Measure their Success

• Personal satisfaction: 61%
• Number of unique visitors: 55%
• Amount of comments: 46%
• Back-links from other blogs: 36%
• Social media shares: 36%

Why Consumers Say They Visit Blogs

• Reasons in order:
  1. For Ideas and inspiration
  2. For information and news
  3. For Entertainment
  4. For reviews of products
  5. For product info
  6. To hear opinions and follow controversy
  7. Other

If you haven’t got into blogging yet, you can download our completely Free zzzprofits course that teaches you A-Z how to start a profitable blog/website that makes passive income online.