Are you completely new to blogging? Great! Start here. Here are some basic terms that are used around the blogosphere (blogging universe). Once you’re familiar with the terms, you can start blogging.
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Blog
The word blog is short for weblog (web-log not we-blog). It’s a collection of articles, images, videos, or other content that is shared with others. Most are public and can be accessed by anyone. The posts are usually in reverse chronological order with the newest at the top.
Domain/URL
The domain of a blog or website is like your address on the internet. My domain is tootsmomistired.com. A URL can be the same as the domain, but it can also be more specific. It links to a specific page on the website. The URL appears in the bar at the top of your browser.
Web Hosting
If your domain is your address, web hosting is your house. It’s your place on the internet where you keep your blog and all of your information. All websites are hosted by someone. Free to use websites like Blogger and WordPress.com will host your blog, but that gives you a lot of limitations since technically Blogger or WordPress.com own your blog. If you have a self-hosted blog, that means you pay for your own hosting through a third party such as Bluehost. Since you pay for your domain and your hosting, you own your blog. If you have a self-hosted blog, you’re free to do whatever you want with it including making money from blogging.
Post
A post is a single article. This is primarily what your blog is made of. Ideally, you should create a post at least once a week.
Page
A page is a part of your website that doesn’t have a date attached to it and does not get listed among your posts. Pages are best used for things like “about me” and “contact me.”
WordPress
WordPress is a website designing program that is completely browser based. You don’t need to download it to your computer. You just need to install it on your host. WordPress allows plugins and themes that can be made by anyone.
Plugin
Plugins are optional tools you can add to your WordPress to help you manage your blog. Most are free. They are usually designed to do specific things like adding related posts at the bottom of your posts or tweet links to your posts automatically.
Theme
The theme of your website is like a template. You can install a free one or pay for one. The theme is where you decide on the main color scheme, fonts, and overall placement and design of elements such as the header and sidebar.
Category
Categories are the main sections of your blog. These are your general topics that you post about and they should be included in your menu bar. If someone clicks on your category, it will show all the posts within that category.
Tag
Tags are sections under your categories that make finding your posts easier. If you click on a tag on one of my posts it will take you to a page with all of the other posts with that tag.
Widget
Widgets are small areas that can be used for tools like top posts or open text areas to add banners. They’re usually on your sidebar or footer.
Favicon
The little picture next to your website name at the top of the browser is your favicon. It gets saved with your website when it’s bookmarked. They’re very small so shrinking your logo may not work unless you have a distinguishable logo like Facebook or Twitter.
Editorial Calendar
You can plan out your posts for the month or even the year with an editorial calendar. Post titles and notes if applicable can be either in list form or on an actual calendar.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a strategy to get your posts and website to the top of search rankings on Google and other search engines (but let’s face it, no one uses anything else anymore)
Analytics
There are many aspects to analytics but they’re basically measurements for your blog performance. They involve a lot of graphs to show you how many page views you get or where your traffic is coming from. Google Analytics offers the most comprehensive free analytics. WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram also have their own.
Niche
A niche is a small portion of a market. For example, mom blogs are a niche but there are smaller niches within that such as special needs mom blogs or homeschooling blogs.
Affiliate
Affiliates are companies that you promote in exchange for a commission on sales or leads.
Do you have any other terms that you need to know?
Let me know in the comments below! I’m happy to help!
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Tess says
Love this. You broke this down perfectly! I am new to blogging and while I knew some of these it was very helpful to read and understand the rest. Thanks for Sharing!
Simone says
Wow! Lots of great info that I certainly need. Should I be moving my blog “off” Blogger?
Niki @ Toot's Mom is Tired says
If you really want to make money and have ownership of your blog, I would definitely recommend it. I started on blogger and moved to a self hosted WordPress and I was so much happier with the freedom to do basically anything with my site and use any plugin I wanted. Plus I love having my domain as my own and not .blogspot. Check out my How to Start Blogging Right Now post for a quick guide to start with them! Feel free to email me with any questions you have!
Tara says
Thanks for the information. I plan on starting after the new year! I really appreciate these tips.
Tara