{"id":8106,"date":"2024-02-21T07:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/?p=8106"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:28:07","slug":"what-is-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/what-is-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Blog? How a Blog is Different than a Website (Blog Definition) in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Without wasting any more time, let’s jump straight in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>What is a blog?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A blog is a regularly updated website where new content is frequently published, typically written in an informal or conversational style\u2014often with the goal of attracting readers and achieving some sort of blogging goal<\/a>, whether community-building or growing a business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s one big point in the definition of a blog<\/strong> here that I’d like to point out\u2014a blog is regularly updated. <\/em>We’ll get to why that’s so important in a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You most likely read blogs every day without even realizing it. You’re actually on my blog<\/em> right now. Major websites like Forbes, BuzzFeed and CNN are all blogs too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019m sure you’ve heard of the term blog<\/em> before, do you actually know what the difference between a blog and a website is?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you’ve already started a blog<\/a>\u2014or have held some other type of web-based job, you may not realize there’s a real difference between a blog and a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All blogs are websites, but not all websites are blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Blog? How a Blog is Different than a Website (Blog Definition) in 202<\/strong>6<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. What is a Blog?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. A brief history of blogging<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. How is a blog different than a website?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Is it better to have a blog or a website?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Key pages every blog and website should have<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Why every website should have a blog<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What is a Blog? How a Blog is Different than a Website (Blog Definition) in 2026<\/a><\/div>Click To Post on <\/i><\/a>
    <\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Disclosure:<\/strong> Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I\u2019ll earn a commission. Know that I only recommend products and services I\u2019ve personally used and stand behind. When you use one of my affiliate links, the company compensates me, which helps me run this blog and keep all of my in-depth content free of charge for readers (like you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now, I want to cut through some of the confusion and really nail down on what a blog actually <\/em>is and how it’s different from making a website<\/a>. The true blog definition<\/strong> you’re looking for \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But first, if you haven’t yet gotten your blog off the ground yet, then open up my ultimate guide to starting a blog<\/a> and bookmark it for coming back to (soon) after we talk through some of today’s blogging basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ready to Start Your Blog Today?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Check out my ultimate guide How to Start a Blog (on the Side)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

    Read Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Now, let\u2019s go over a little history of how blogging got started and where it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a>A brief history of blogging<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Blogging has been around<\/a> since 1993\u2014that\u2019s over three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"History<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    While there is some debate over who the first blogger was, one man makes a compelling case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 1993 Rob Palmer<\/a> began working for a company in London where he wrote a quarterly publication for the company and posted it on their website. Considering the World Wide Web<\/a> was going open source, the company decided to continue this quarterly publication as a free online journal\u2014or what’s now known as a blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While Palmer was blogging for this early online company, less than a year later, personal blogging was born by 19-year-old Justin Hall.<\/a> His blog really only consisted of ramblings and links, but people (and companies) quickly took notice of the potential of this new sharing platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While the term \u201conline journal\u201d and \u201conline diaries\u201d can certainly be a mouthful, in 1997 Jorn Barger<\/a>, an American blogger, coined the term \u201cweblog,\u201d which was quickly shortened to \u201cblog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"What<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Web developers quickly began to notice that people were becoming interested in blogging\u2014and came up with a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 1998, Open Diary<\/a> was born. This platform provided people a place to share their thoughts and ideas while also allowing others to comment. More blogging platforms like LiveJournal, Blogger, Tumblr and Xanga soon emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then in 2003, blogging changed forever when two college kids developed WordPress<\/a>, a content management system (CRM) that now powers over two-thirds of the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 2007, micro-blogging emerged with the emergence of Twitter and the ideal blog post length at the time was around 300-400 words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 2016, Wordpress opened up the .blog domain extension, solidifying the popularity of blogging in a major way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So here we are in 2026, with approximately 70 million new posts<\/a>\u00a0being published every month on WordPress. And even though the average blogger spends about three and a half hours writing a 1,500-word post<\/a>, their audience reportedly only spends about 37 seconds reading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While a seemingly sad statistic, there are certainly ways that bloggers can increase that 37 second read time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But that\u2019s not the focus of our topic today…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a>How is a blog different than a website?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The main difference between a blog and a website, is that a blog is active (dynamically changing as new content is published) and a website is more static without regular updates.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As we covered already, all blogs are websites by definition\u2014but not all websites are blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Difference<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    One of the main differences, is that a website is comprised primarily of pages\u2014such as the home page, a services page and contact page. A website can even be just one single page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A blog, on the other hand, is comprised of both pages and posts (of which there are usually more posts than pages).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Each post is its own distinct article, most often hosted on the blog page<\/a> of the greater website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Put simply, a blog is designed around the principle of releasing regular new types of content<\/a> and your typical blog layouts<\/a> reflect that focus\u2014while websites are more static and don’t usually change with regularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With a website, they’re generally built, published and more or less just sit there. Unless the business needs to update the website in order to do something like add new services or change their address, these static websites that aren’t as central to driving a significant amount of business remain relatively the same for long periods of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Blogs are very fluid web properties (which means you need to choose one of the best web hosting plans<\/a> to get your blog online). Blogs are updated and changed on a regular basis with new and relevant content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you publish a new blog post, that most recent article often shows up in reverse chronological order, like on my blog<\/a>. This way, your readers get your most recent content first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That being said, there are many ways to organize your blog in order to guide your audience toward what you want them to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use My 50+ Powerful Free Blogging Tools<\/a> Today<\/h4>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"Free<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    When I first started blogging, I couldn’t afford fancy tools. That sucked. And that’s why I’ve built a stable of powerful free blogging tools ranging from keyword research<\/a> to an AI article writer<\/a>, blog idea generator<\/a> and more. Forever free for all to use\u2014no strings attached.<\/p>\n\n\n

    Use My Free Blogging Tools Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    <\/a>Is it better to have a blog or a website?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"Is<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Disclaimer:<\/em> I’m a little biased when it comes to blogging. I feel that blogging is better than having a static website\u2014in most<\/em> situations. Plus, if you’re considering how much does it cost to blog<\/a> as opposed to running a static website, the costs are essentially the exact same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, it really comes down to the business goals you have, and what your priorities will be with your digital property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Deciding between a blog or a website for your business? Take these considerations into account.<\/a><\/div>Click To Post on <\/i><\/a>
    <\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember when I said that websites are made up primarily of pages?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A website that only has pages is usually there to convey very specific (limited) information. That includes things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n