According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a weblog (or "blog" as it is more commonly known) is "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer." And while this definition may be accurate, it does not do blogging justice.

Blogs are becoming wildly popular, both with enthusiasts and businesses alike. They are inexpensive to create, easy to update, and a great new channel for marketing.

So What Is a Blog?

A weblog is a web site that mainly contains "posts", which are the entries that are added to the site by the owner, and responses from the people that view the site. The content of these posts and replies is completely up to the bloggers, and can be formatted any way you like.

What a Blog is Not

A weblog is not a replacement for a website for any business or organization. Blogs are a great way for people to communicate on the web, but they are not nearly sophisticated enough to properly reflect a modern business or club effectively. They can, however, complement your new or existing web site.

Blogging is Easy

The reason that blogs have become so popular is that they are extremely easy to use. There are very few technical skills required to post to blogs- numerous web sites such as Typepad and Blogger are available to help web surfers become bloggers.

Blogging is Affordable

Blogging does not require many of the expenses of a traditional web site. The design is usually not as involved, web hosting is not required, and you don't even need to buy a domain name. Many blogging tools offer packages that start at under 5 dollars per month.

How Blogging Can Help Your Organization

Blogs are a great way to show off your organization's knowledge of a particular subject, or create an online community of readers interested in your area of business. If a blog is well written and maintained, it can garner a large audience of regular readers. And once there, they can be nudged towards your web site. Examples of blogs might be:

	Hotel writing a blog about travelling abroad safely
	Golf course writing a blog regarding course architecture
	Financial Services firm writing a blog about investment strategies

Green Island can help your group with every aspect of creating one or more blogs:

	choosing a topic
	creating and designing the blog
	tutorials on use

To view a sample of the weblog Green Island created for software developer PolarLake, click here to view the Ronan Bradley Weblog.