Is a blog much different from a diary? With a diary, you write down all your thoughts, supposedly for your own amusement, and occasionally someone nosey will take a peek. In the same way, a blog for most people is a collection of thoughts that people can pick up and read.

But is a blog more than just a diary? Does it have other benefits? The answer is yes. It is interactive and available to the public, readers can leave their comments and share your posts with others. The other major advantage is that it is good for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A website that has fresh content added to it on a regular basis is not only more likely to be indexed by Google but will attract more users to the website.

So far the effects of having a blog on this website have been positive. Since that flurry of initial interest from friends and supporters, I realise that this blog is destined to be read by readers who come across it through Google. That is why your blog needs to be relevant to the rest of your website. It needs to contain the “keywords” that will bring the right people to the right place. In other words, there is no point writing about your cat’s sleeping habits if your website is about selling art.

I have to admit, as an incredibly nosey person, I enjoy reading other people’s blogs. It gives a snapshot on someone’s life and there are many blogs that are incredibly useful. I’m not one of those secret blog readers that never leave a comment. I think it is good practice to leave a comment for the author to let them know you’ve appreciated their advice.

Talking of words, this brings me on to my next question, what is the point of dictionaries? To look up a word you have to know how to spell it and if you knew how to spell it you wouldn’t need a dictionary…