People with inquiring minds often ask what is a blog and how does it work?
Today I want to talk about the different types of blogs, how to become a good blogger, and everything else you need to know in order to start your own successful blog.
You’ve probably come here because you’re not familiar with blogs, so here’s a quick overview.
Most blogs are written by individuals who share their opinions and advice on various topics such as home improvement, fashion, food & recipes, sports, technology and even more.
There are also affiliate marketers who make money online by blogging about products they have used or are affiliated with and getting paid when people make a purchase using their links.
What Is A Blog?
So, what is a blog, anyway? It is a website that shares information about products or services in which the blogger is interested. They share their thoughts and opinions on these, write reviews and give guidance. While blogs began as personal diaries, and the term “blog” is actually a shortened version of “web log”, today’s blogs have transformed into money making concerns.

What Are The Types Of Blog?
There are three different types of blogs.
- Personal diary: Someone may set up this type of blog when going on vacation to keep in touch with friends, post photographs and information about the vacation.
- Make money online: This particular type of blog will share information about products and services that may be purchased online.
- Corporate: A corporate blog will be one part of a corporate website. The website shares branding and information about the company. The corporate blog will give readers additional information and details of products the company offers.
Each type of blog has a distinctly different focus and the blog posts will reflect this.
Do Bloggers Make Money?
Some of them do.
Obviously not with a personal diary because that is not the focus of this type of blog.
Generally not with a corporate blog, either. These are more focused on descriptive blog posts.
With the make money online type of blog the aim, of course, is to make money. Bloggers in this sphere will write two types of blog posts: informational and commercial.
The blog should begin with informational posts about the niche (segment of the market) and the products available.
The aim of this is to engage potential buyers with the website. If the initial blog posts are informational, readers will not be put off by the need to buy something.
As the blog grows, then the commercial blog posts can begin. This leads to purchases and making money online.
How Do Bloggers Get Paid?
There are a number of ways to monetize a website and we will discuss some of them here.
- Affiliate Marketing: This is where you will decide on a product or service that you wish to promote on your blog. Then you join an affiliate program that will provide you with a personally identifiable, trackable link to that product. When a customer purchases using your link, you get paid a commission.
- Hosting Classified Ads: You can join programs such as Google Adsense, Ezoic, Media.net and others. These will give you the ability to host ads on your blog and get paid for it.
- E-Books: Create, publish and sell your own e-books on Amazon. You can do it all in one place.
- Training Courses: If you have a particular skill that you can share, you can develop your own online training course. You can then promote and sell it on your blog.
- Freelance Writing: If writing is one of your skills, you can freelance and offer your services on your blog. Many online marketers need writers to help with writing content for their websites.
- YouTube: If you are more comfortable talking about your topic than writing about it you can become a Youtuber. Set up your own channel and drive people to your products in that way.
These are just a few of the many ways that bloggers get paid.
How Do I Write My First Blog Post?
In answering this question, we are presuming that you have already set up your website (blog) in the particular niche you have chosen.
Planning your post is crucial. Remember that you must capture the attention of your reader with the Headline and the first paragraph.
If they are not engaged by this time, they will simply click away and move on to something else.
Decide on your target audience and write for them.
For example, if you are in the “baby care” niche, your audience is young mothers (and sometimes Dads). So don’t write for teenagers or older folk. Hopefully, you get the idea.
Google is a great source for discovering what people are asking. When you do a Google Search and scroll down the page, you will find a heading “People Also Ask”. Pay attention to this because they are actual questions from searchers.
Another great tool is Quora. It has some really good discussions that’ll give you ideas for topics to write about.
These threads are good because they attract people who have asked questions and already want to read answers, rather than random visitors who stumbled across your page.
Once you finalize your topic choice, you should write your blog post in a conversational style. Write as if you are having a conversation with a friend.
If you have personal experience relating to the topic, write a story about that as part of your blog post. Stories, rather than a list of product benefits, tend to attract readers and customers.
What’s A Catchy Headline?
A catchy headline is a headline or title that captures the attention of the reader and encourages them to delve deeper.
We have written a blog post about this topic – “We Need To Talk About Catchy Headline Examples”.
In that article, we give examples of “How to”, “Listicle” and “Question” headlines. In addition, there is a link to a Free Headline Generator to assist you with ideas.
By just plugging in your keyword, it will generate around 700 headline examples. They won’t all work with your keyword, but you will find some that do and are great.
So, do try to always start with a catchy headline!
How Do You Keep A Reader Interested?
In addition to providing valuable information and entertainment, having a consistent schedule for your posts will help you keep readers coming back for more.
It can be helpful to start a blog post series that runs over several days or weeks. This way, if readers miss one post in your series, they can come back to it later and catch up.
Use the Categories feature on your website to help organize your content into series of posts.
For example, I have a category called “About Blogging” where I write about blogging tips and tricks on an ongoing basis.
And, of course, the email list. Most successful bloggers have an email list of readers who have provided their email address to keep in touch.
You should definitely consider adding a lead magnet to your blog that will encourage and capture email addresses.
In this way, you can notify your readers of new articles as you write them.
Final Thoughts.
I do hope you have a better idea now of what is a blog. It can be really fun to start a blog about something that you love, and have your own online business.
How cool is it to be able to make money doing something you love?
So, in this article, we have discussed and explained the following topics:
- What is a blog? And how does it work?
- What are the types of blog?
- Do bloggers make money?
- How do bloggers get paid?
- How do I write my first blog post?
- What’s a catchy headline?
- How do you keep a reader interested?
So, what are you waiting for? Get started and build your blog without delay! And if you need some training to learn about online marketing, check out our #1 Recommendation Right here.

Thanks for your very interesting article that explains what a blog is.
Those who only do YouTube, TikTok, and video formats aren’t really bloggers, but perhaps vlogger is still the right term? Does anyone still say that? Those video networks run their own ads and the content posters get paid by the number of views and the number of channel subscribers.
I still think all the same advice you share holds true for both blogs and vlogs. Catchy headlines and interesting content are key!
Hi Aly,
Thank you for your comment on my article about blogging. What you say about YouTube is very true. Whether you are writing a blog or presenting a vlog on YouTube you must still present interesting and compelling topics and also take care of SEO. Catchy headlines are a must! Cheers, Jenni.
You obviously have practiced here
Your Web site is very good, and your blog on blogging is very informative, and just what a newbie needs. Thank you for such an informative blog.
Your Webite does look far more colourful and interesting than the blog, Is that the way to go?
Kind regards,
Tim
Hi Tim,
Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my article about blogging. I am glad that you found it quite useful. The way you design and style your website is entirely up to you. Some bloggers do not use much color – others do. I just happen to believe that people like to look at attractive things. Best wishes, Jenni.
I have always been interested in blogging and making money with it, as I have seen people claiming that they can. I couldn’t believe though that people can make money online with a hobby, is this true? Can it be done with any niche? I see that you mention baby care, for example. It would be nice to make money with that! Thanks for the insights
Hello Lizzy,
Thanks so much for your comment on my article explaining blogging. Indeed, as I have said you can make money, and yes, it can be done with any niche In fact, there are so many products that you could promote in the “baby care” niche that it is likely to be quite profitable. Best wishes, Jenni.