Writing blogs and writing articles – is there a difference?
I didn’t give much thought to the question until I had been writing for more than a decade. Blogs were only beginning to emerge early in my writing life and at that time, and my focus was on learning to write articles.
Things have changed a bit.
It took me awhile to catch on to the fact that a blog post and an article are two different animals. In fact, for a long time I used the terms “articles” and “blog posts” interchangeably. (Sometimes I still slip up.)
Blog posts and articles are two different types of content. Definitions differ among content providers, but here are the consistencies.
Blog Post | Article | |
---|---|---|
Medium | Exclusively digital; the term “blog” is a shortened version of “web log” | Print or digital, often both |
Content | Originally written to share a viewpoint, but today’s blogs call upon facts and research too | Written to inform; typically, well-researched and full of details |
Tone | Conversational, casual, less formal | Professional, formal style |
Scope | A narrow aspect of a topic | A broader aspect of a topic, even an overview |
Length | Originally shorter; today can be any length, but averages 300-600 words | Originally longer; today can be any length, but usually longer than 300 words |
While blogs have long been published exclusively online, articles are now published digitally as well.
The first blogs launched as a way to create online conversation by including a “Comments” section. Today that capability extends to online articles, too.
In the past, articles were printed via an editorial process; to get your work in print, you needed to work with a publisher. Technology now allows anyone to be a publisher, both online and in print – and not just through blogs, websites, and articles but books, too.
Using SEO (the process of writing and formatting a page for the web to return strong results in web searches and drive more organic traffic to a website) and keywords (terms and phrases that define a piece of content) in writing were originally in a blogger’s domain. Today, article publishers understand the value on online traffic. Digital articles increasingly target keywords and SEO for more traffic.
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Content by award-winning content writer and author Kathy Widenhouse, who specializes in writing for nonprofits and faith-based organizations.
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