How many kinds of blogs are there?

There are, in fact, six main uses for a blog. These are:

• Self expression
• Showcase expertise
• Writing for others
• Multiple contributors
• Content marketing
• Affiliate marketing

Let’s explain these uses in a bit more detail:

Self expression

Since a blog is an online diary, it will be a medium to explain yourself, vent your feelings, describe your day or somewhere to safely explode! For many this is the valve of the pressure cooker of their lives. The style is humorous, conversational, entertaining or thought-provoking.

Showcase expertise

I have a friend who uses her blog as her example platform. She is a writer and her blog is an online presentation of her prowess, style, versatility and skill. She cleverly uses social media to promote and publicise her work to a much larger audience than she would have had access to in the past.

Writing for others

There are plenty of bloggers who write reviews for products, as this is perfect for making some extra cash on the side. Reviewer blogs require a healthy readership to be eligible, and this can be gained through good writing and choosing products that their followers would be interested in.

Multiple contributors

There are blogs, like this one, that benefit from many authors providing posts on structured or particular subjects. The regular content is not only good for the blog, its owner and the readership, but also keeps the search engines happy, who value a well-used blog. They are an excellent medium to provide a larger audience to writers and bring more traffic back to their blogs.

Content marketing

The use of blogs in online marketing is usually based around creating content about the company, product or marketing campaign. The blog acts as the ‘mothership’ of social media, as everything comes from and goes to it. Social media is used to capture the attention of the customer and draw them to the blog where the main marketing message can be explained in full. Then a suitable call to action directs the customer to the website where the business transaction can take place.

Affiliate marketing

The final method of making money through blogs is via affiliate marketing. This does require huge amounts of traffic to guarantee enough clicks on the adverts or banners to ensure a suitable return. Therefore it is necessary to post several times a day with the kind of content that would attract the search engines. It is a difficult way to use a blog and would certainly benefit from more than one contributor to keep up the momentum, but would not necessarily result in good content.

So which kind of blog appeals to you?

–oo0oo–

About the author:
Alice Elliott is a online marketer and blogger, who runs the Fairy Blog Mother, an educational website resource that trains, explains and creates awareness about blogs. Find out what she can offer you regarding blogs and online marketing at http://fairyblogmother.co.uk