An article and a blog post are not the same thing, even though they are oftentimes used interchangeably…

…And, a blog post is not a type of article.

Blogging and article writing is a must for any business that is looking to drive traffic to their site.

There are a few top reasons for writing either one, including creating a strong brand, industry authority or provide a vast amount of information to potential customers.

We hear so many people ask, “what is a blog?”, and “what is the difference between a blog or posts versus just creating articles on my website?”

Here’s an in-depth look at the biggest differences between the two.

The Difference Between Blog Posts & Articles

• The BIGGEST difference: A blog post is published within a blog on a website while an article is published anywhere else, including newspapers, magazines and other traditional paper style media (including the online versions like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, or Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
• Blog posts are actually a new form of writing while articles have been around for hundreds of years.
• Blog posts are posted in reverse chronological order (most recent first) while articles are time stamped on their publication date and not in a particular order.
• A blog post is usually written from a personal perspective based on opinion, can include facts or information however it is based on experience and includes more personality. An article is typically written to convey facts, information, news and unbiased perspective.
• The length of a blog post is generally much smaller than an article, starting at anywhere from 250 words (often a snippet of another writing and links to the full article) to 5000 words (not usual). An article is often much more in-depth and starting at the 2500 word range exploring every facet of the topic with no real objective for linking.
• The purpose of a blog post is to create authority status, lead generation and build SEO ranking, by including many links, internal and external and to create an objective to keep a visitor on a site for as long as possible by frog hopping them around post to post or to lead generation landing pages and even products. An article’s objective is to provide the topics information in full description with little to no actionable objective.
• The language of a blog post is informal and can include more personality and even slang, while an article is read in a more formal manner.
• The structure of a blog post is very flexible, with short sentences, fragmented sentences, many dot-dot-dot’s and even exclamation marks to emphasize reader exaggeration and interest. Articles tend to be less dramatic and much more proper grammar.

Both blogging and article writing are extremely important for any business or influencer to do to create additional awareness for their brand.

Afterall, CONTENT IS KING…..

If you learn the difference between the two and use each properly, you can get the increased traffic and conversions you are looking for.

Update: May 31st, 2020

Original post: July 1st, 2019