440 Million Blogs

The number of blogs that are out there breathing and kicking our screens for our attention is breathtaking. Only today have been written more than 3 million blog posts. And this number is growing by the second…

Source: Wordmeters on 30 December 2017

Since January 1994 where the very first blog created up to today’s microblogging platforms, the art and craft of blogging are a major part of the internet’s growth and digital marketing evolution. We must admit that today’s blogs and bloggers are quite different from the blogs of yesteryears. But how much things may have changed, blogs & bloggers are the running blood inside The Giant: The Internet as we all know it.

And today? There are more than 440 million blogs in the air. All these blogs cover a huge variety of topics, from fashion to nutrition, from technology to finance, from traveling to marketing and many more. The last five years social media has taken the lion’s share of interest but even though under this digital dominance, blogs are equally vitally important in the digital landscape. If you think it through, 80% of social media actions are helping blogs and websites to elevate their traffic and brand awareness.

Blogging History

Let’s dive into the history of blogging so we can gain a better understanding of the importance of blogs in the digital landscape.

• January 1994. Swarthmore student Justin Hall creates the first blog ever, Links.net.
• December 1997. Online diarist Jorn Barger coins the term “Weblog” for “logging the Web.”
• April 1999. Programmer Peter Merholz shortens “Weblog” to “blog.”
• August 1999. Blogger rolls out the first popular, free blog-creation service.
• 1999. LiveJournal, and Xanga both launched.
• January 2000. Boing Boing is born.
• July 2000. AndrewSullivan.com launches.
• February 2002. Heather Armstrong is fired for discussing her job on her blog, Dooce. “Dooced” becomes a verb: “Fired for blogging.”
• August 2002. Nick Denton launches Gizmodo, the first in what will become a blog empire. Blogads launches, the first broker of blog advertising.
• December 2002. Talking Points Memo highlights Trent Lott’s racially charged comments; thirteen days later, Lott resigns from his post as Senate majority leader.
• December 2002. Gawker launches, igniting the gossip-blog boom.
• March 2003. “Salam Pax,” an anonymous Iraqi blogger, gains worldwide audience during the Iraq war.
• June 2003. Google launches AdSense, matching ads to blog content.
• August 2003. The first avalanche of ads on political blogs.
• September 2003. Jason Calacanis found Weblogs, Inc., which eventually grows into a portfolio of 85 blogs.
• 2003 – 2004. WordPress and TypePad were born.
• January 2004. Denton launches Wonkette.
• March 2004. Calacanis poaches Gizmodo writer Peter Rojas from Denton. Denton proclaims himself “royally shafted” on his personal blog.
• December 2004. Merriam-Webster declares “blog” the “Word of the Year.”
• January 2005. Study finds that 32 million Americans read blogs.
• February 2005. YouTube started.
• March 2005. Blogger Garrett Graff was the first to be granted White House press credentials.
• May 2005. The Huffington Post launches. (mix of syndicated material and original content from staffers, columnists, and unpaid bloggers)
• October 2005. Calacanis sells his blogs to AOL for $25 million.
• December 2005. An estimated $100 million worth of blog ads were sold this year.
• January 2006. Time leases Andrew Sullivan’s blog, adding it to its Website.
• February 2006. The Huffington Post surges to become the fourth most-linked-to blog.
• March 2006. Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey sent out the world’s first tweet. Say hello to the bluebird, Twitter.  The introduction of microblogging.
• February 2007. Tumblr was launched as the first official microblogging platform.
• 2008. New blogging platform called Posterous. It closed in 2013.
• 2009. The launch of the White House Blog.
• 2001. Google’s Panda update, the purpose of which was to weed out sites with low-quality content and rank them lower in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
• August 2012. Medium was founded.
• 2012. LinkedIn’s publishing platform Pulse started. Two years later, Pulse became available to all members of LinkedIn.
• 2016. The launch of the .blog domain name in 2016, a new top-level domain rolled out by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.

Why Do We Blog?

It is obvious how much has blogging change the last 10 years, but the reasons or the goals that motivate each blogger to type from 500 to 1500 words every day have remained almost the same.

Communication and self-publishing are the top answers for almost every blogger out there. The need to share one’s passion is the ultimate booster for blogging. Then the need to create new ways to earn some extra financial income. People want to grow awareness, traffic, new clients, sell their work or services through different types of blogs, such as lifestyle blogs or fashion blogs, business or e-commerce blogs, journals or magazine blogs and many others.

Promote a Non-Profit Organization or a Noble Humanity Cause is a new addition to the blogosphere. Still, they try to share their mission and attract the community’s attention to their activities.

Writers show their work or sell their books directly through their blogs. Graphic Designers or Photographers are promoting their artwork and make their living via their blogs. In general professional networking is blowing throughout blogging. Webinars and educational remote learning centers, now have an extra cornerstone to building new clientele.

Why Do People Blog

The Very First Impulse

From 1st January 2015 up to 31st December 2017, I did a research on this topic and interviewed 800 bloggers from all over the world with these 4 questions:

• Q1. Why do you blog?
• Q2. When did you start blogging?
• Q3. Does your blog meet your goals?
• Q4. Do you remember the very first impulse that pushed you to start your blog?

No matter who old or how much money they may earn, almost all people respond with the same answer to the last question: “… To be absolutely honest, I started my blog just for the sake of communication. I needed a place to make my voice loud… I wanted to be  heard and wished to find other people to get closer… and make new friends…”

From one corner of the planet to the other,

people just want to meet other people.

Internet and blogging make this doable in ways that previous generations could not even dream of them. In my family, some of the oldest members used to find friends via the post office. Pen Pal friends. My oldest aunt had a Pen Pal friend from France for 20 years. They started to send letters to each other in 1949 at the age of 14. They managed to meet when they were both in their late 50s.

Nowadays they are 83 & 84 years old and very close friends. They both use social media and facetime to communicate. And my aunt asked me to teach her how to blog: “…Niece please, show me how to use a blog. I want to start one for the joy of making new friends and maybe share my life story.”

Do you remember when blogs started were addressed as online journals? Well, let’s come clean with ourselves and admit it. They are still in disguise, online journals! And the successful ones are those that have a more human and personal voice. The bold ones that dare to share their true story and put themselves out there, seem to gain people’s trust. It’s common sense, that if you can relate to “something” you never forget the person who made you feel this “something”.

After all, we are all humans that seek

acceptance and joy.

Blogging can provide both.

Do you want to participate in our research?

Start Blogging Now

It’s really beneficial for your health. If you are down and feel like things are rough, write about them on your blog. Want to check something or the impact of your idea before you officially launch it, then write about it on your blog. Are you planning your next trip to Japan, start blogging about it and hundreds of people will send you numerous tips and recommendations on how to enjoy your journey.

Good reasons to blog

1. Communication
2. Making new friends
3. Make a difference
4. Share your passion
5. Show your art
6. Share knowledge
7. Make a living
8. Sell your books
9. Become a better writer
10. Sell your services
11. Sell your products
12. Express yourself
13. Stand out
14. Sing in front of a digital audience
15. Sell your songs
16. Expand your networking skills
17. Find your next job
18. Build your authority value
19. Promote your startup
20. Support a cause

Top 12 Blogs

Make Money from Blogging

“There are over a dozen methods these top blogger’s are using to monetize their blog, different techniques for each niche. Some niche’s are easier to promote products to, some have high paying keywords and some are easy to drive millions of visitors every month! ” Read more at www.incomediary.com

My opinion

Just give it a try and start swimming in this vast galaxy of digital worlds. Maybe you are the carrier of the next big idea and you don’t even know it. It is a new way to communicate and do business. Worth to add that with the rise of video blogging (vlogging) now it is way easier to stand out. The hunger for fresh content will never stop! So, what are you waiting for?

In 2018, there are plenty of different ways to blog. Choose the one that feels friendlier to your needs, technology skills and your time schedule. There are various options like Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, Medium, and Squarespace, which can easily support creators to build and maintain sites.

Ideadeco Team is ready to help you make your blog fly!

We can create, design, set up, optimize your blog

or teach you how to use it.

Feel free to contact us here>>

Extra sources to read

• History of Blogging by HubSpot
• Short History of Blogging

Start to Blog!

Are you a New Blogger?

We are starting a new series of mentoring sessions in SEO, blogging, and social media optimization. Every three months we will choose one new blogger to support pro bono (free) in her/his effort to build a strong and healthy digital brand. Read more details here.