Before blogs became a media in their own right and an expression channel for companies, they were long relegated to a "simple online diary". Often associated and attributed to teenagers, it was in the late 2000s that blogs began to gain legitimacy.

Today, the usefulness of a professional blog is well known. Few companies are missing out on this valuable marketing support. But success has not always been the order of the day! A look back at the history of blogs and "life newspapers" at the premises of the web editorial office.

Definition of the word blog

Anglicism "blog" seems to come from the contraction of the terms "web" and "log". The word web referring to the web and therefore the Internet. While the word "log" refers to the concept of logbook.

Many Internet users point to the year 1999 as the key moment where the expression "blog" is used, at the initiative of Peter Merholz, a web designer and blogger at the time.

Its origins
The origins of the blog are a little blurred in the very volatile context of the nascent internet. Some of them date back to 1994 with the first census sites of links to other sites. The best example of the time is "Links. net", which is similar to a directory or a summary of sites considered interesting.

Fundamentally, the emergence of blogging platforms such as Blogger. com in 1999 or Ublog in 2002 allows us to have less tangible dates.

Finally, skyblog undoubtedly marked the rise of French-language blogs, also in 2002. A few years later, there were almost 30 million blogs, in France in particular.

In decline

Around 2006, however, skyblog and other public journals began to run out of steam. According to Gartner, a foresight firm demonstrates the decline of blogs. They are ensuring the death of these platforms.

Its evolution in a few figures

Yet in 2006, there were more than 50 million blogs according to Technorati (American advertising technology company). The arrival of blogging CMSs in the general public such as WordPress or TypePad is certainly due to this.

Again, the first videos on blogs emerged in 2004, one year before the birth of Youtube... Many indicators among others which attest to the growing movement of blogging.

A promising future for professional blogs

In 2013, there were about 200 million blogs worldwide (study conducted by acti, the French digital marketing agency). Every month, this figure increased by 3 million. In France, 18 million French people were already consulting a blog regularly.

For professional blogs, success is similar. According to this study, 33% of web users buy products online on the basis of information from blogs... Faced with this growing enthusiasm, it is obvious that a professional blog should keep an eye on its content and conversion strategy. Good hearing!