What is blogging and why should you start a blog?

Knowing what blogging is all about, and some of the reasons to start one, are the first things everyone needs to know before thinking about getting into blogging.

In this article, I’ve put together some basic information about blogging and why you should start a blog. This post is especially useful to newbie bloggers or people looking for a great option to earn money online through blogging.

On this blog, I’ve been teaching and sharing about the different topics in blogging, but I’ve never really explained what exactly blogging is. I’ve touched on its benefits and why you should start one but for those who are completely new and want to know what blogging is exactly then this post is for you.

Now, let’s get to know about blogging.

What is Blogging?

There is no fixed definition for blogging but in essence, blogging is simply a creative way to engage yourself online.

It exists in many different forms including writing as well as sharing pictures, audios, and videos.

The word ‘blogging’ was formed from the word ‘blog’.

The act of handling or managing a blog for different purposes is called blogging. It relates to different skills which could turn out to be professionalism in different aspects, including; content creation, publishing blog posts, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Web design & development, information sharing, and much more.

Someone who’s into the act of blogging is called a blogger, and to be a successful blogger, you need to be familiar with the above-mentioned skills, in addition to many others.

Although, a team of individuals that do master different aspects of what it takes to develop and manage a blog could effectively run a blog together.

However, there are many qualities that a blogger needs to have, and those qualities were derived from the skills which happen to be the part and parcel of the day to day blogging pursuits.

Here are some of those qualities:

1. To become a successful blogger, you need to be a good writer (within your niche). Your writings have to also be standardized by being unique, engaging and qualitative content.

However, neither your style of writing nor your fluency in the language of communication needs to be perfect and can be improved as you go along.

• You need to be a good marketer, with the ability to promote your blog content to a large audience through SEO, or social media marketing, etc.

Without getting your blog to your potential readers you will not have any views or an audience to appreciate your work.

• You need to also be a good researcher.

While you may have some know-how of your particular niche, your current knowledge can only take you so far as a few posts and you will need to do more research to gain more knowledge, refine and update your knowledge to keep with your industry.

As a newbie, being good at all these might seem like a nightmare, right?

Well, you can seek the services of good freelancers to help you with whatever services you may need, relating to blogging (I mean any). You can also couple that with watching videos, reading posts or listening to podcasts from more experienced and more knowledgeable bloggers in your field.

Why you should start a blog?

Now that we’re familiar with what blogging is, let’s get to know why you should start a blog.

Before we get into that, I’ll love to mention that there are some things you need to acquire, before starting a blog.

Make sure that you have a passion for what you’re blogging about, as this is what will keep you motivated when things get tougher.

Make sure to also seek knowledge about blogging consistently.

Now, let’s get to the reasons why you should start blogging.

1. As a business (monetary benefit): blogging on its own can be treated as a business, and can be monetized using different methods such as advertisements, affiliate marketing, selling of products and services, etc.

2. As a passion: Many people take blogging as a passion, and they’re proud to be contributing immensely to humanity through this medium. This is why you’ll find doctors having a blog from which they share helpful health tips or teachers that teach others through their blogs, without actually earning from it.

3. For other purposes: as many people derive benefits that are not really monetary through blogging, so do others blog for many other reasons. This is why you’ll find public-figure individuals like politicians, celebrities, activists, NGOs, government agencies and others, running a blog.

These are just a few of the reasons. You can find a more comprehensive post of why you should start a blog from here.

I hope you now have a more general idea of what blogging is if you are completely new to the idea.

What has been the biggest barrier stopping you from starting a blog? I’d love to hear from you, so share your comment below.