What Elements You Can Expect in All Blogs

Most blogs, no matter what topic they cover, look similar because the elements of one blog are common to all blogs. Look for these characteristics in blogs you come across on the Internet:

• Branding/logo header: A headerat the top of the blog displays the name of the blog, often using a logo or other visual element. This header is visible on every page of the blog.

• Frequent updates: Most blogs are updated a few times a week; some are even updated a few times a day. There isn't a schedule for publishing; theblogger simply updates the blog when it seems appropriate.

• Most recent posts: Each time a blogger updates the blog, he creates a blog post, or entrythat is added to the blog. At the top of the blog's home page, the most recent post is displayed. As you scroll down the home page, you see the next most recent post, and the next most recent post, and so on.

  New posts are always at the top, making it easy to find the latest, freshest information when you visit. The number of recent blog posts displayed on the first page of the blog is usually around a dozen, and to read older posts readers can visit the archives.

• Permalinks: Each time a post is added to a blog, it's placed on the home page. At the same time, a permalink page is created to contain only that blog post and its comments. (The word permalink is short for "permanent link.")

  Permalink pages are a big part of why blogs do so well with search engines — every post adds a new page to your Web site and is another opportunity for your blog to come up as a search result.

• Comments: Most (though not all) blogs allow readers to leavecomments — short text messages — in response to blog posts. Comments really differentiate a blog from most Web sites, by encouraging interaction and conversation.

• Archives: Because a blog is updated so frequently, many blogs are sorted into a date-based archive so that readers can find older information easily.

• Categories: Blog posts can also be sorted by subject, or categories, allowing a blogger to blog about a number of different topics and readers to focus in on the topics that most interest them.