What are blogs?

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much
attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance
and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the
term blog does not conjure pleasant images. 
Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a
daily basis. They contain information related to a specific
topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about
people's personal lives, political views, or even as social
commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be
shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be. 

Where Did Blogs Come From?
The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990's.
Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the
art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The
original "weblogs" were link-driven sites with personal
commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided
Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries
or online journals, blogs have evolved into the latest
fresh web content. 


The Future of Blogs
A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging" is the wave of
the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a new way to
communicate with existing and potential customers it
deserves at the very least a cursory look. 

Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?
Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the
trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not
beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep
fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure
visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a
necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being
found by search engines but also because it gives visitors
a reason to come back. 

Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog will
benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere to
it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect
it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct
attention to areas of your business that you want to
showcase; you direct the content but let your readers guide
you.

Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools that can be used to create
a blog. We found that because of security concerns, it
would just be best to use a standard html program. In our
case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really
not much more complicated than typing an email. The content
is then sent via FTP to a web server. If you want to test
the waters there are online web-based tool that helps you
publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based
tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com. 

Other Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your existing
customers, you may find that you can attract new customers
by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There
are numerous websites that act as "blog search engines", be
sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase
your exposure. This will also help with your page rank and
possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent
ranking with Google. You can also create an RSS feed in
order to syndicate blog content and gain additional exposure.