What is the difference between a blog post and an article?

[CoolBee]

In your opinions, what, if any, is the difference between and article and a blog post?
If you think there is a difference, how do you decide whether to write an article or a post?

[Aminka Ozmun]

An "article" is supposed to be "informative" whereas a "post" has traditionally been more "opinionated."

An article is generally longer. A post is often much more informal.

I was told the other day by an SEOer that Google doesn't make a distinction between articles and posts (or even something very short called "blurbs") anymore.

Why is it important for you to decide on the exact format, CoolBee? I believe one of Steve's posts (or "articles," as he also calls them) addressed this particular point, and I think his take-away was that he just writes to the best of his ability, with his goals in mind, which also involves his audience....

[CoolBee]

Only because most of my posts on my oldbag blog are long - by which I mean a few thousand words, and I don't care! I'm in it to be informative and it's 'niche'. Not making any money from it! (4 years of adsense have earned me about £25 - $40 so far not even enough for a pay out) and zero from Amazon.

But, I want to start a more business-orientated blog - still to decide whether to include in my website or have as an adjunct somehow - and most of the advice seems to recommend blog posts not being more than a few hundred words.

So, I was just wondering if people make a distinction, and perhaps post one type on the blog and another type on the website (or different areas). For example, maybe if using Wordpress might set 'articles' up as 'pages' rather than 'posts', or something like that.

I was in fact just looking at one of Steve's long articles and it is a bit different to his blog posts in not having links to next post etc posted on it.

[GregD]

hi here is what i know:

1. google doesn't care what you call it, for google its all "a page with text"

2. otherwise if you are going to design a new site i suggest you the same structure i use on my snoring site below which is your best articles for which you also try to rank for in google as static pages and posts as all other articles on exactly that same topic supporting your main article. posts can also be less research, long or short, whatever.

3. lastly if you only made 25-40 from few years from adsense than you simply did not do enough reading and learning on how to do online business or you simply did very little work. 25-40 can be achieved even in less than 1 month or lets call it few months for the average person still working every day.

I can coach you if you want for free as a way of giving back to the community.

[CoolBee]

Thanks for the offer, Greg, I might take you up on it!
Regarding my oldbag blog though, it's never been about earning money, just about writing what I think are useful and informative posts in a tiny niche. I'm quite happy with that.
My only deliberate attempt at creating a 'surge' was to slip in title the name of an actress who had just been all over the press for putting on weight in a post I made about obesity in Egyptian women. I definitely saw the impact that made LOL!
PS My post on a trip to Siwa in the Western Desert was over 6000 words

[ainsleigh]

I think the boundary between blog post and article is a little blurry these days...

I guess a blog can be more personal and informal. Whereas an article relates to specific topic or event and references other sources.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

In your opinions, what, if any, is the difference between and article and a blog post?
If you think there is a difference, how do you decide whether to write an article or a post?

"Form follows function" is a good design mantra to adhere to.

Blog posts are traditionally used to post time-sensitive information, eg "I wrote a new blog post to update you about [x] topic" or something similar.

Articles on a more static site would typically be written about non-changing topics that don't need to include regular updates about new information. Although nowadays, pretty much every beginner who starts their own website uses Wordpress blogs even when they intend to make a non-blog website.

[just jr]

a blog post tends to be from a point of view that its personal and a article is for more informative. I tend to view a blog post as a longer tweet , and a article as something written as a guide to learning something ( not to say a blog post cant teach or that a article can be opinionated just that the distinction is usually that way)

if you are trying to start a more business type of blog just make sure the niche you are in is suited to make money in. more often then not most people pick a niche that is not spend money focused.

[chadcharlie]

I agree with most of the responses above. Particularly that it doesn't really matter what you call it ;p It's text on a page. However, certain branding or lengths play into readership. I use the word post and article interchangeably now.

I used to consider an article more informative, or how-to, and they were longer than my normal blog posts, but now my blog posts tend to be long anyway, and all informative...most of them. So I just consider them another post, or a recent post on my website.

When people ask me what I'm doing, I tell them I'm "writing" though. Not blogging.

Quick etymology: the word blog is a contraction of the words Web Log > Weblog > and finally "Blog." It was like a live journal (incidentally a popular blogging platform back in the day "Live Journal.")

Lastly, I've found that in today's Web, people don't "read" as much. Long word counts get skimmed over, as in my reply is getting lengthy, so more people are likely to not read it And secondly, in my Lastly, branding something as an Article, might get it taken as more informative by a reader.

Have fun with your blog. I think today the words post and article are synonyms.

[GregD]

Originally Posted by chadcharlie

Lastly, I've found that in today's Web, people don't "read" as much. Long word counts get skimmed over, as in my reply is getting lengthy, so more people are likely to not read it And secondly, in my Lastly, branding something as an Article, might get it taken as more informative by a reader.

Hahaha, not only I had the same experience but I have noticed that I do exactly the same (stay away from large blocks of text) unless it is something I am madly interested in.

With the above reflection I do my research and write very specific shorter articles (about 1 page in Word) instead of one very long one with all details.

[chadcharlie]

Originally Posted by GregD

Hahaha, not only I had the same experience but I have noticed that I do exactly the same (stay away from large blocks of text) unless it is something I am madly interested in.

With the above reflection I do my research and write very specific shorter articles (about 1 page in Word) instead of one very long one with all details.

Yeah, that actually bothers me because I want to write more resource laden articles (posts), but now you are forced to break it up into a series. The web has become this large 600 word sound byte studio of people regurgitating other established blogs and not really digging into the sources.

BUT...there is a place for the evergreen still. I write teasers into longer articles now.

[ButterflyWoman]

I'm going to show both my age and my geekiness here. The word "post" originally came from the function of "sending" or "posting" material. This could be to a BBS, to Usenet (a kind of distributed BBS system), to a blog, to a forum, etc. So it was originally a verb, i.e., "to post". From that came the descriptor "poster" (meaning "s/he who posted") and the term "post" in noun form, i.e., "that which was posted". So, really, a "post" is anything that is "posted", i.e., sent, published, shared, etc. On a less geeky level, I don't think there's much difference between an "article" and a "post". They're pretty much interchangeable at this point in internet linguistics and popular culture.

[CoolBee]

Originally Posted by chadcharlie

Yeah, that actually bothers me because I want to write more resource laden articles (posts), but now you are forced to break it up into a series. The web has become this large 600 word sound byte studio of people regurgitating other established blogs and not really digging into the sources.

BUT...there is a place for the evergreen still. I write teasers into longer articles now.

That's why on Oldbag I will write a 6000 word article and I don't care. For me, that blog is about providing a service not about earning money. (Though I do break long ones up with white space and pictures to make reading more easy).

I am probably rare in that I often feel cheated if I start reading a blog post/article that someone could really get their teeth into, but then they finish after a few hundred words and I'm wanting more - but there ISN'T any. Puts me right off.

Maybe I should just stop worrying about what 'they' recommend and write what I feel like writing?

Actually, you know what? That's what I'm going to do. If it only deserves 300 words, so be it. If I want to write '000s I will.

[GregD]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

That's why on Oldbag I will write a 6000 word article and I don't care. For me, that blog is about providing a service not about earning money. (Though I do break long ones up with white space and pictures to make reading more easy).

I am probably rare in that I often feel cheated if I start reading a blog post/article that someone could really get their teeth into, but then they finish after a few hundred words and I'm wanting more - but there ISN'T any. Puts me right off.

Maybe I should just stop worrying about what 'they' recommend and write what I feel like writing?

Actually, you know what? That's what I'm going to do. If it only deserves 300 words, so be it. If I want to write '000s I will.

hehehe then you should not be inside the Business & Financial forum if you don't care about making money

[just jr]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

That's why on Oldbag I will write a 6000 word article and I don't care. For me, that blog is about providing a service not about earning money. (Though I do break long ones up with white space and pictures to make reading more easy).

I am probably rare in that I often feel cheated if I start reading a blog post/article that someone could really get their teeth into, but then they finish after a few hundred words and I'm wanting more - but there ISN'T any. Puts me right off.

Maybe I should just stop worrying about what 'they' recommend and write what I feel like writing?

Actually, you know what? That's what I'm going to do. If it only deserves 300 words, so be it. If I want to write '000s I will.

its all about what u want to do. its not about the writing so much if its about what you are writing about. if you are writiing about plastic stars for car windows most people are not gonna read 6000 words, however if its about say different catalysts that will boost share holder value then that crowd will be more then willing to put in the work for that type of knowledge

[chadcharlie]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

I am probably rare in that I often feel cheated if I start reading a blog post/article that someone could really get their teeth into, but then they finish after a few hundred words and I'm wanting more - but there ISN'T any. Puts me right off.

Maybe I should just stop worrying about what 'they' recommend and write what I feel like writing?

Actually, you know what? That's what I'm going to do. If it only deserves 300 words, so be it. If I want to write '000s I will.

I agree with you! I can't stand when something that should have been a really informative article turns into a soundbyte only.

I run into 2,000 words easy when I write, and then I become conscience of size. I make use of the Excerpt function when I run over 1,500 words.

I can do 600-800, for guest posts or spun articles, but I definitely feel like I'm trimming valuable supporting details out of that.

Keep writing how you want to write! There's a market for everything.

[Aminka Ozmun]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

Only because most of my posts on my oldbag blog are long - by which I mean a few thousand words, and I don't care! I'm in it to be informative and it's 'niche'. Not making any money from it! (4 years of adsense have earned me about £25 - $40 so far not even enough for a pay out) and zero from Amazon.

Well, I certainly hope you do much better with the new year! How's your SEO? Are you actively promoting the blog? I doubt that the article/post distinction in itself, as a semantic technicality, has anything to do with online success.

Originally Posted by CoolBee

But, I want to start a more business-orientated blog - still to decide whether to include in my website or have as an adjunct somehow - and most of the advice seems to recommend blog posts not being more than a few hundred words.

Yeah, people don't like to read: that's why Twitter is so big! Even when reading the NYT or something I find that while I'm grateful for the information, I have this weird urge to move on! I think it's the click-click-click nature of our online habits that's to blame. Plus, at least for my generation, we associate computers and the internet with games and other audiovisual fare, like reading is what the offline world is about!

Originally Posted by CoolBee

So, I was just wondering if people make a distinction, and perhaps post one type on the blog and another type on the website (or different areas). For example, maybe if using Wordpress might set 'articles' up as 'pages' rather than 'posts', or something like that.

Certainly! I do believe that was the original mindset, though it's now more a technical formality than anything else: when I first started out a few months ago, it was confusing that certain WordPress themes use "posts" in the manner I would have thought would be reserved for "pages" -- and vice-versa -- but oh well if it made the programmer's life easier somehow....

Originally Posted by CoolBee

I was in fact just looking at one of Steve's long articles and it is a bit different to his blog posts in not having links to next post etc posted on it.

I've always taken Steve's "articles" to be just "posts," however informative. But yeah, I've seen a few like that...I think those are supposed to be money-makers, like his review of SBI! and whatnot (someone correct me if I err), so I think the idea is to make sure all links go to the sales landing page instead of taking the reader away elsewhere.