Blogging 101: Who, What, When, Where, &… Why

I’m a writer.

Even though I’ve written and published several books, I’m still trying to understand what an author does. Just when I think I’ve got it figured out… BAM, I feel like I get hit with a ton of bricks—I realize I haven’t a clue. I still have much to learn. The thing is, I know it, yet I keep on writing because I love it!

Like many writers (and authors), I begin with an idea and start writing. In my case, I’m primarily a plotter and outline what I want in the book/chapter/scene. That’s probably because I’m an electronics engineer—my “design methodology.” But when I sit down to create, I become a pantser. My plot may change as I write, the characters certainly do, but I try to hold true to the story, even through my editing process.

What does this have to do with blogging? Read on…

History of Blogging

Most experts believe the first blog was Links.net, published by then-student Justin Hall (Swarthmore College), a freelance journalist almost 30 years ago, in 1994.

The term “weblog” was coined in 1997 and attributed to Jorn Barger (Robot Wisdom). It was created to reflect the process of “logging the web.”

Weblog was shortened to “blog” in May 1999 by programmer Peter Merholz. He posted a note on Peterme.com: “I’ve decided to pronounce the word ‘weblog’ as wee’-blog or blog for short.” His intent was a joke, and he posted it on the sidebar of his home page. Yet, it took off.

The first blogging platform was OpenDiary, launched in 1998. It not only provided a home for users to blog, but also a space for members to comment on one another’s posts.

Blogger was started in 1999 by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan at Pyra Labs. It is largely responsible for the initial upswing in blogging.

In 1999, there were 23 blogs on the Internet (Jesse James Garrett). By mid-2006, there were 50 million blogs.

Blogging Statistics

Before we dig into the meat of blogging, I thought it might be useful to answer a few questions regarding blogging and provide some interesting statistics from various resources:

• How many blogs are there? For starters, you might want to know there are over 1.9 billion websites worldwide. Of those, over 600 million are blogs on the Internet (WebTribunal).
• How many blogs are published per day? Over two billion blogs are published each year… six million per day (Zippia).
• How many of those are in the US? As of 2020, America was home to 7 million bloggers who post at least once per month (Optinmonster). The number of US-based bloggers grew by 10 million in just six years (Semrush).
• Nearly 8 in 10 Internet users read blogs (Impact). American readers spend more time reading blogs than their email (Zippia).
• Users spend less than a minute reading blog posts (Klipfolio). Only 20% of readers will actually read your post (Moz).

  

  Think of the 80/20 principle: 80% of people will read your blog headline, but only 20% will read your blog.

You will NOT be alone.

Here’s a few more blogging statistics, because I know you want to know.

• Over half of bloggers are between the ages of 21 and 35 (Zippia).
• Men and women are almost equally likely to be bloggers (Zippia).
• * The most effective blog posts are 1,700 words or more (Hook Agency).
• * Readers prefer articles under 1,000 words (Semrush).
• * Blog posts that feature photos see as much as 94% more traffic (Optinmonster).
• * Over half of blog readers use their phones to read a post (Statista).
• * It takes just over 4 hours to write a blog (Orbit Media).
• How-to blogs are the most popular type to write among bloggers (Semrush).
• 80% of blogs will fail within 18 months (Blogging Guide).
• * 75% of bloggers feel successful (Orbit Media).

* – important to me.

To Blog or Not to Blog, that is THE Question

Given the above information, the next question to ask yourself is whether blogging is for you. And that, my dear friends, boils down to your own individual taste and what you hope to accomplish with your blog.

Don’t get me wrong—it takes a bit of up-front work to set up a blog platform. But once you have the base set up, the hard part then becomes creating the content. Believe me when I tell you, it’s a lot easier now to set up a blog than when I began four years ago.

Most people read blogs to get a perspective on the subject (or the blogger). You don’t need to be a professional writer (or even published). Most people who blog write informally and in a conversational style. It becomes your “voice.”

There is a plethora of reasons to blog. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself. There are more, but these are some of my reasons for blogging.

1. Do you want to share your passion and inspire readers? Yes!
2. Do you want to improve your writing ability and learn new skills? Yes!
3. Do you want to build your online brand? Yes!
4. Do you want to write and publish another book? Yes!
5. Do you want to meet new people? Yes!
6. Do you want to make money? It’s not that important to me.

What’s the difference between an article and a blog post? Good question. IMHO, a blog post is written from your own personal perspective based on opinion. It could include facts or information, but usually includes more of your own personality. An article, on the other hand, is typically written to convey facts and information and, most times, from an unbiased perspective.

Types of Blogs

Similar to book genres, there are dozens of types of blogs with many variations. It would be next to impossible to categorize them all. Here are several examples of different types of blogs. Yours may fall within this group, but my suggestion is to not focus on any one type of genre. Instead, just write, blog, repeat!

• Life’s experiences (your “journey” through life, both good and bad)
• Human interests (good stories, bad stories)
• Hobbies & passions (Cooking, Travel, Fashion, Sports, Cars, Books, UFOs, etc.)
• Writing a book? Experiment with your blog about style, descriptions (scenes, characters, emotions)

What You Should Include in Every Blog Post

• Headline / Title – Draws the reader’s attention. It becomes your “brand.”
• Sections – Breaks the blog post up into manageable pieces. For better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) choose “sections” of 300 words or fewer.
• Content – The meat of the matter.
• Photos – Helps break up the blog post, but also draws the reader’s attention.
• Callouts – ditto.
• Your Bio – Tells the reader who you are, but also gives you the opportunity to market yourself, your books, your blog.
• Comment Section – a great way to interact with readers.

What Info Should Be on Your Blog Site

• About You – Your Bio and mission statement (if you have one).
• Contact Info – How readers can find you. Links to your social media sites.
• Books – Of course, a list of your books (with images) with links to Amazon (or other).
• Links to all your published blogs (Blog list), easy to find (Search Engine).
• Footer:
  • Disclaimers – You’ll need to disclose any financial relationship with vendors, if you have them.
  • Privacy Policy – You’ll need to disclose any visitor data you collect (or your host collects).
  • Terms of Service – Reduces your potential liability.
  • Hint: “Borrow” someone else’s and modify for your own use.

Ready, Set, Go: Steps to Start Your Blog

1. Choose a blog platform. I use WordPress. Others include Blogger, Tumblr, Wix, Weebly, Drupal, Typepad, and Substack. They all offer basically the same features, but there are subtle differences; some features are free, others cost a few dollars.
2. Choose a domain name and web host. Mine is azadkinsiii.com; my host is HostMonster.com. Note that if you choose a “free” blogging platform, you most likely will not have your own domain name. However, you could splurge and purchase your own domain name from the hosting platform.
3. Name your blog. Mine is A Veteran’s Journey.
4. Design the blog “layout.” WordPress offers dozens of pre-formatted layouts.
5. Write the blog content. I write mine in Microsoft Word (usually a few days before posting), then copy and paste it into the blog, add the sections, photos, callouts, and whatever else I choose for that specific blog.
6. Publish your blog. WordPress allows me to publish immediately or schedule a date/time. It sends it automatically to subscribers as an email. WordPress will also publish automatically to several social media platforms. However, I chose to share to social media “manually.” That gives me the ability to “customize” the lead text for the platforms and individual Facebook groups.
7. Promote your blog. WordPress allows me to share my blog directly to several social media platforms. For me, I share to Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Why I Blog

When I began blogging, my initial goals were to 1) market my books, 2) build my online author “platform,” and 3) learn and understand the blogging process. It’s been an awesome experience from the get-go. Believe it or not, after 160+ blog posts over four years, I’m still learning.

Blogging “forces” me to write regularly. I use the term “force” loosely. In reality, I can walk away at any time. The truth is, I believe blogging helps me become a better writer. I get to experiment with different styles (first person, third person), and different descriptions (my writing “weakness.”)

What I’ve Learned

Discipline. I wrote 12 blogs before publishing the first. My reasoning was that if I was going to blog, I needed something to write about and didn’t want to run out of ideas. I actually only published a few of those original 12. As I began blogging, I also learned what readers wanted, who and how to target an audience.

I wasn’t sure if I had enough ideas to blog about. Prior to writing this article, I checked my list of “Blog Ideas”—I’m up to 324 ideas; I’ve only published about half. So, no, I don’t think I’ll run out of ideas.

When you write a weekly blog, it takes discipline. My first two years, I wrote two blogs a week: one was a “serious” blog post; the other, my “Navy Friday Funny.” A month or two after the first year (that spells almost 60 blog posts), I realized I had enough for a book.

I self-published A Veteran’s Journey, Volume 1: A Collection of Short Stories soon thereafter (KDP). After the second year, I published A Veteran’s Journey, Volume 2: A Collection of ‘More’ Short Stories. They’re part of my “ego shelf” of books. I don’t sell many, but that doesn’t matter to me. They cost less than $5 to print (author’s copies). I usually give them away at book shows, meetings, etc.

Since I “slowed down” to work on another novel, I took two years to write the next 50 “serious” blog posts for A Veteran’s Journey, Volume 3: A Collection of ‘Still More’ Short Stories.

The Blog Title is More Important Than You Think. With one of my earlier blog posts, I found out the hard way that I chose the wrong title: “Tattoo: The Mark of a True Veteran.”

Big Mistake. I mean BIG! I got hammered left and right from veterans who did NOT have a tattoo. The blog post was a short story about getting a tattoo from Pinky’s Tattoo Parlor in Hong Kong during my Navy cruise, Westpac ’75.

Wow. I learned something there… the hard way. A few hours later of “’splaining” what I meant to multiple veteran Facebook groups, I changed the blog title to “Tattoo: Yes or No,” but the damage had already been done. Since that time, I’ve been a little more cautious about the titles, the photos, and the content.

A Veteran’s Journey Blog

My blogging platform is WordPress.

I blog weekly: one blog every other week is usually about my time in the Navy, my dad or my father-in-law during WWII, or my time as a city firefighter.

Periodically, I’ll throw in an oddball post. My other type of blog post is my “Navy Friday Funny,” posted every other week. There are tons of Navy jokes & stories to share. I post that one on Fridays at 4:00 p.m., to help “launch” the weekend with a smile.

I post the “serious” blog on Tuesday mornings at 6:00 a.m. WordPress automatically emails it to my subscriber list (not that big), but I’ll also post/share it on social media—currently 10-15 Facebook Groups, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. I do this during morning coffee. I used to also share it on my Twitter feed, but I stopped using Twitter (or “X”) earlier this year.

I use HostMonster to host my website, www.azadkinsiii.com. WordPress is a HostMonster add-on, so I actually have two separate sites (website and blog), but both link to each other.

Wrapping Up

To determine if you’re up for blogging, my suggestion is to write 10-12 stories (blogs) before your first post. Make them anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 words. As you write them, you may develop additional ideas for more stories. Note that this is not that much different from writing a book—new ideas spring up all the time during the writing process.

During this initial writing phase, research blogging platforms. My suggestion is to compare at least three, such as WordPress, Blogger, and Wix. Also start thinking about a blog name (e.g., A Veteran’s Journey or Sean of the South (Sean Dietrich), or Wednesday Wisdom with Wyndham (Jeanie Shaw)…something that fits your style & personality.

Sign up to receive several blogs that are similar in style to what you have in mind. If you’re on Facebook, several of your social media friends may already have a blog. Read them—you’d be surprised at how many ideas you’ll come up with for your own blog.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Try new ideas, new formats, new techniques. That’s how you write now, isn’t it?

Say after me… “I’m a writer, I’m now a blogger.”