Learning the terminology is one of the first things someone needs to know when becoming knowledgeable on any subject and blogging is the same. There are quite a few terms which are used in blogging that are unfamiliar to anyone who has not entered into the world of blogs before.

To follow is a brief list with explanations of the top ten words used in conjunction with blogs. Once you understand and learn the terminology, it becomes much easier to understand more advanced articles.

1 – BLOG, BLOGGING, BLOGGER

Blog is an abbreviation for ‘web log’. In simple terms, a blog is a frequently updated online journal for individuals or companies to provide fresh, new information on a regular basis. It should be written for a specific readership audience on a particular topic.

Blogging is the process of writing content for a blog.

Blogger is the term given to a person who creates the content for a blog.

2 – BLOG HOST

Blog hosts are the location on the Internet where your blog is stored. Blogs are often a feature of businesses and companies online as part of their website, using software such as WordPress, though there are many free places to host a blog without needing a website such as Google’s Blogger, or MySpace.

3 – TEMPLATE

Blog sites allow you to select the design of the site itself, from the background images, to the way text appears on the page, to what else appears on the page. The idea is to create an interesting, aesthetically appealing blog with plenty of relevant information.

4 – NICHE

A niche is the purpose for your blog. It’s what your content is all about. My blog here is all about helping webmasters create profitable websites, which include a lot of niches as well. Each specific niche shows up in my category listing on the page. Do you want to write about politics or gardening? Your niche is usually something you are passionately interested in or the theme of your existing website. If you are looking to find a niche in order to create income from it, then you will need to do some research, and that’s beyond the scope of this article.

5 – POST

A post is an entry into your blog. Every time you write something new for your blog, you are making a new post.

6 – LINKING

Linking is the process of adding links to your content (see the reference in point #10, pinging).
Linking allows the blogger to recommend other sites that provide more information on the topic and show the goodwill of the blogger. Readers usually appreciate more information from their favourite blog.

7 – TRACKBACK LINKS

Trackback links, or trackbacks, tell other bloggers whenever you refer to their blog in a post. It also includes a link from your site to theirs.

8 – DIRECTORY

A blog directory is an online database that stores and categorizes blogs. You can find blog directories by doing a search. Write (your topic) blog into a search engine and check out the listings.

9 – RSS FEEDS

RSS feeds is code that is created by your blog that allows your readers to subscribe to it. That means your readers will be notified every time you post something new.

10 – PINGING

Pinging is the process of sending your most recent blog content out where it can be seen by as many people as possible. This could be a time consuming task, but there are many websites and software than can help you with this. Many of them are free. My favourite is Ping-O-Matic (http://www.pingomatic.com). These sites notify various search engines each time your website is updated.

If you are new to the world (and terminology) of blogs, blogging and bloggers, these top ten terms should help you when you read more about this fascinating part of the Internet. As you continue, you will find new words. Take the time to research them. I’d recommend starting on Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com) or searching the term in your favourite search engine.

Once you have mastered the list of terminology associated with a subject, you will find it much easier to grasp the intricacies and advanced topics associated with it. Your next step is to subscribe to this ecourse.Good luck with your blogging!

Rebecca Habel
Rebecca’s Resource

http://www.rebeccasresource.com