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Web 2.0: Blogs - What are they and how do they work?

This week we will dive in-depth into one of my favorite areas of Web 2.0: Blogs.

Blogs have revolutionized the business world as well as the communications of individual businesses. Blogs are becoming essential on the local and national level. They also benefit the everyday individual looking to further their career, share their personal life, network with others in the same field, or just learn more about the web community.

As the third installment of a five article series, you are well on your way to becoming an expert in Web 2.0. For the purposes of this series, Web 2.0 is defined as websites that build on community or offer a service. Web 2.0 allows for interactive viewing of the net. (Refer to the last two weeks for more information.)

To continue to move you forward as an expert in Web 2.0, we will look at what blogs are, how blogs began, and the advantages of blogs for businesses and individuals.

What Are Blogs?

According to Wikipedia, the term “blog” is a contraction of “Web log.” A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.

How did Blogs begin?

Blogs could be found in their earliest forms when individuals began keeping online personal diaries in the 1990s. Early weblogs were simple, manually updated components of common websites. Corporations and businesses jumped on the bandwagon by creating sections such as “In the News” and “What’s New.” With the creation of software that even the most non-techie individual could understand, blogs became increasingly popular and morphed into what we see today on the web.

What Are The Advantages Of A Blog?

The advantages of blogs are numerous, so I encourage you to do your own research as well. As someone who has a blog and spends 90 percent of online time reading on blogs, I am a big proponent of how essential a blog can be. Here are just five of the advantages of a blog – there simply is not enough space to list them all.

1. Networking: Blogs provide a forum to network with other people in an area of shared interest. Most small business owners rely on blogs to exchange ideas with others in their field. Large businesses use blogs as a way for employees to communicate with one another.
2. Self-Promotion: Blogs are a great way to market yourself as an employer, employee, writer, cartoonist, photographer, etc. They allow people to see your work as well as get to know you on a more personal level.
3. Marketing: Blogs are a fabulous tool to market your business. A blog allows consumers to see the personal side of your company and/or employees. People are more likely to buy a product from someone they know than someone they never met. A blog allows consumers to know that person.
4. Increase Traffic: Blogs can bring in a ton of local Internet traffic for sites. Search Engines love blogs and just incorporating a blog into your website can send you skyrocketing in the rankings, which could turn into many new customers. On a local level, people are beginning to use web searches instead of the yellow pages, so a blog can bring them to your service or product faster.
5. Repeat Visitors: Blogs are updated frequently (most likely the reason search engines are fond of them). People will come back daily to read reviews, see what is new, etc. Reading the latest post becomes an addiction. Add to that the capability to sign up for RSS feeds (which alerts readers of new postings) and repeat traffic climbs in numbers. All this repeat traffic can translate to more sales.

Next week, we will continue with our series with a discussion on Squidoo—what is it and how it can benefit your business.

Fionn Downhill is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Elixir Systems. She is responsible for corporate direction, corporate branding, and business development.

For more information on search engine optimization contact Elixir Systems at 602.494.6326 or at http://www.elixirsystems.com.Blogs have revolutionized the business world as well as the communications of individual businesses. Blogs are becoming essential on the local and national level. They also benefit the everyday individual looking to further their career, share their personal life, network with others in the same field, or just learn more about the web community.