You've probably heard people talking about their "blogs" and using terms like "I was blogging about it". So for the uninitiated what is a blog and how do you use one?

Blog is short for weB LOG and is really an online diary. The term weblog first appeared around 1997 and it was the next step in online technology from the "personal" webpage. (As with any relatively new term there still remains some disagreement on what is and what isn't a blog and when it first appeared). It allowed people to update more easily and more frequently than a traditional webpage without having to learn any complicated coding. From just a couple of people linking to sites they liked and "blogging" about their lives, there was an almost overnight blog explosion, with the result that today there are literally millions of blogs from all corners of the world. Most blogs are focused around some kind of specific theme or topic, but some are just a mix of everything !

As humans we seem to be compelled to share information, sometimes for the right reasons sometimes for purely egotistical reasons. Having a blog makes it easy to share this information and because people can choose which blogs to read and keep up with you can often create a very loyal audience. While blogs initially started out on a more personal level, increasingly people are starting to use them as a business tool, in conjunction with their website.

Because blogs are generally updated more frequently than a website, it can help you to build a relationship with your customers and visitors. Your visitors can get a feeling for the person or people behind the business. Blogs are also a great way to generate traffic to your website, if you use keywords in your blog it can help to increase your search engine rankings.

So what do you blog about? For a personal blog that's your choice, blog about whatever you feel like at the time, wherever the mood takes you. For a business blog you obviously need to relate it to the business in some form or other. Blog about upcoming events, new products, newsworthy items, tips and ideas on how to use the product/service that you sell. Blog about the people in your organisation let the audience know who's who. Blog about the fantastic future plans you have.

The beauty about blog entries or posts, is that unlike a webpage where a couple of lines really isn't sufficient, a blog entry can be whatever length you feel is necessary to get your thoughts of the moment across.

So why don't you go and get your own blog and start blogging !