Blog Definition and example Blogs doing it well

Updated on July 9th, 2022

It’s become so much part of our modern life, but have you ever wondered where the word “blog” originated? Well you’re in the right place. In this article I’ll share with you a blog definition and example blog listings that have been super successful.

Today, there are more than 600 million blogs in existence. Of these, you can find blogs on just about any niche subject. Having said this, there are still plenty of opportunities for new blogs. Even if you think that your intended market is saturated, there’s always room for another voice.

Just like there will never be too many books, there’s always space for another view. You don’t even need to be an expert in your subject. All you need is to have more knowledge than others and have a willingness to share that knowledge.

History – How did Blogs Start?

The first Blog is thought to have started in 1994. That was when Justin Hall started a personal homepage called links.net to share his personal ideas. Incredibly, his site is still running today. Looking at it now, it’s refreshing how he’s retained the early “pioneering days of the web” design with his site and it’s a joy to read.

Links.net looks virtually unchanged from how it looked when Justin started it. Having said this, I admire his choice to focus on depth of content in his blog and retain its retro look.

Links.net today –>

After links.net, a period of slow growth in the blogosphere continued for the next few years. Then in 1999, Peter Merholz jokingly coined the phrase “blog” and the name stuck.

He refers to it in this post from his current blog called peter.me. – “Sometime in April or May of 1999 (I can’t say for sure when I exactly did it), I posted, in the sidebar of my homepage: “For What It’s Worth I’ve decided to pronounce the word “weblog” as wee’- blog. Or “blog” for short.””

His readers latched onto the word and it became “sticky”. However, what really cemented the word in the modern lexicon was the rise of Blogger (formerly Blogspot) which started the same year.

Since 1997, the number of blogs has exploded. It’s gone on to be a juggernaut where more than two million posts are published every day. Of these posts, WordPress (self-hosted) continues to be the number one blogging platform.

Blog Definition and Example Blogs

So what is a blog exactly? My blog definition and example would be that it is simply an online magazine where ideas in writing can be shared. They often serve a specialised niche filled with readers who are passionate on a subject. A fan website would be particular example of serving a passionate niche.

People blog about anything and everything from finance to art. It’s usually organised with a chronological history of posts. Favourite and recent posts might be promoted in the sidebar or homepage. Furthermore, images and video will often be used to bring the writing to life. Links to other websites will be included that are interesting and relevant.

They’ve evolved into becoming a two-way form of communication as most blogs include a comments section. This is where discussion happens and is the place where some really useful content can be found:

I’ve often thought about the best ways to organise and curate a blog. From what I have found, it all comes down to providing useful relevant content. This is what will bring readers back. Considering this, I’ve listed below some of my favourite blogs and the reasons that I admire them:

Personal Organisation Blogs

digitaldecluttered – Synonymous with it’s name, Digital Decluttered is a beautifully designed informational blog helping people and organisations with content creation tips. It’s helpful for owners of websites, blogs and social media accounts who wish to grow their business. Their instagram profile is similarly styled and offers daily tips on the same subject.

Konmari – Marie Kondo’s method of organising things has become really well known in recent years with her book and Netflix series. Her blog is a phenomenal place to experience more of her philosophy. It’s enhanced by beautiful photography and a clean design.

A Bowl Full of Lemons – offers helpful ways to declutter your life. I love the motivating posts such as taking 5 minutes to purge as many emails as you can.

Unclutterer – Daily tips on how to organise your life. It would be really difficult to find a category that this site hasn’t covered. From organising the baby’s room to the computer to paperwork, this site has it covered.

Creative & Travel Blog definition and example

lostcollective – Lost Collective’s niche blog showcases the author’s passion for urban architecture, exploring lost places, nostalgic design that has been preserved, photography and artefacts of recent history.

seths.blog – Seth Godin’s blog is simple, clean and full of super-inspirational short posts. The acclaimed author succinctly encourages the reader to find their inner creative, and execute on that creativity.

johnnyfd – Great informative blog in the niche of online entrepreneurship, travel and passive income. Johnny does SEO so well by selective use of his own photography and Youtube videos. He also over-delivers on helpful information for digital nomads and travellers.

Tim Ferris’ Blog – This blog could fit any category. Tim blogs on hacks to organise your life, how to start a passive income business and a plethora of other well-researched topics. His number one bestseller, The 4 Hour Work Week is necessary reading for anyone wishing to pursue a life on their own terms.

Web Development & Finance Blog definition and example

The Elementor Blog. This blog covers a whole range of website building topics. It’s hosted by the WordPress plugin called Elementor. This plugin allows you to easily build custom pages and posts within WordPress using drag and drop functionality.

Yoast Blog. Another website development blog is presented by Yoast. Yoast have a stellar reputation in the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) industry and use their blog to promote current trends and industry relevant news.

MrMoneyMustache promotes the virtues of retiring young with financial independence. There are all sorts of simple tips and hacks on how to save money. You can also learn about how to make money passively.

MatthewWoodward – This is one of the greatest sources of information and inspiration on search engine optimisation that you can find. Matthew experiments with SEO and shares an incredible amount of valuable information for free.

Summary of why I shared this blog definition and example list

The growth of blogging has been phenomenal and is showing no signs of slowing down. It remains one of the easiest ways to share your thoughts and creativity with a worldwide audience. In 1990, the idea that this was possible would have been beyond the imagination of most people.

With these possibilities available to anyone, we should consider ourselves lucky to live in this era. For this reason, I would encourage anyone to start a blog today.

We’ve written a guide to help you with the process of starting your website step-by-step. I’m sure you’ll find it helpful. The guide can be found at this link.

Frequently Asked Questions – blog definition and example

What types of blogs make the most money?

Whilst any blog can make money, those websites in the technology, finance and health industries do particularly well. This is because people are looking to make buying decisions in these niches. So they come to these blogs to help them make those choices.

Tech, finance and health are also well suited to affiliate monetisation as there are plenty of software products involved with these industries.

Is the tech niche over-saturated with blogs?

Although there are a large number of websites, it’s still not very saturated. There’s always room for new blogs as the technology market is massive and growing. You can choose a micro-niche and still do incredibly well as technology is becoming more and more part of our everyday lives.

Are blogs still relevant?

Yes, blogs are important and it doesn’t look like that situation is going to change any time soon. This is because Google is still the number one search engine and the place that people go to when looking to make decisions.

People search out information on Google and will go to your website to get information they need to make choices. Some of the biggest websites in the world today are blogs. For example, Wirecutter, Gizmodo and Techcrunch.

What’s the best length of a blog name / URL?

Any domain name 15 characters or less is considered an optimal length for a domain name.

This doesn’t mean that sites with longer domain names can’t also do well. Two examples of successful blogs with longer names are mywifequitherjob.com and mrmoneymustache.com.

Does my domain name need to contain keywords from my niche?

It’s preferable but not absolutely necessary. By including keywords related to your website, your domain name is more likely to appear in search results. For example, the blog with the domain name websitesetup.org Is perfectly matched to keywords that it’s users are searching for.

What’s the best domain extension for a blog?

If it’s a worldwide focussed website, the best domain extension is normally .com. There may be exceptions to this of course. For example, the website tim.blog is hugely successful and clearly bucks this trend.

What’s the best alternative to the .com domain extension?

Many websites in technology and B2B are doing really well with .io . Also .co is a good proxy for .com, but it’s not as well recognised.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Blog Definition and example Blogs doing it well

History – How did Blogs Start?