All You Ever Wanted to Know About Blogs

We know that the questions you have about blogging keep you up at night. We feel for you, friends, and so we are here to ease your mind and offer all the answers we can! After all, we want you to rest easy and be blog savvy! Here’s the Q&A you’ve been waiting for.

What is a blog? Like, for real.
Blogs have been around for awhile, so long in fact that some people have the audacity to say that they are out. Of course, those of us who blog firmly believe they are in, and in more than ever! The term blog came as a combination of web and log, which is what they really began as: a diary of some sort to be shared online.

Blogs can vary greatly. They can be personal, sharing what’s going on in someone’s life, or they can be business, providing updates for customers. They can be magazine-ish or or book-ish or scrapbook-ish. They can be written by one person or dozens of people. And their topics cover just about anything.

Okay, so that’s what a blog is. But what’s its purpose? Aren’t Facebook and Twitter and Instagram enough to connect with people and share opinions?
We are fans of different platforms of social media and the unique ways they connect us all, but we do believe blogging is different. In a blog post, you have space. You have space to share what’s really going on, to give details, to provide more than a photo and a caption. Our local highlights, for example, are all about giving a glimpse into someone’s life and passion, and that can’t be done in a quick status update. Other social media platforms are like appetizers––bite-sized pieces that give you just a taste. Blogging is the main course!

Furthermore, a huge part of blogging is the community. When you read what someone cares about and recognize the time it took to share, you begin to build a friendship. Often, you’re drawn to blogs that speak to you personally, so even though the blogger may be across the country (or across the sea!), you become connected with him or her. It’s pretty neat

So you Citrus and Cream girls really love blogs, don’t you?
That we do. Both of us keep personal blogs, business blogs, and of course, our favorite blog Citrus and Cream. And we love reading other people’s blogs! We spend time daily checking up on our fellow bloggers, some of whom are friends of old and some of whom are friends we’ve made in Blogland hailing from all over the country! We love finding new recipes, crafts, design ideas, style inspiration, parenting tips, book reviews, and more.

What type of blog is Citrus and Cream?
Citrus and Cream was created as a place to share what we love about our Central Valley home in California. It is a mix of highlighting what’s going on in our area, featuring new and loved eateries and shops, telling people’s stories, and sharing what we’re up to in our lives. So, we have a bit of everything: local highlights, seasonal recipes, things to do, DIYs and projects, and then our own musings here and there.

If there are so many blogs out there, doesn’t it get hard to keep them all sorted?
Good question. This is where a reader comes in. A reader provides a feed of your favorite blogs in one easy place. There are tons. Both Steph and I use Bloglovin’, and we think it’s a good option with an easy layout and simple organization. You ready for the tutorial?

1. Go to bloglovin.com.

2. Create a username and password. You can do this with an email address or Facebook account.

3. Once you have an account, you can search for blogs. You can check out categories or type in a title directly into the search. (Perhaps Citrus and Cream?!)

4. When you find the blog you’re looking for, click on it. You can then follow the blog, and all of its posts will go directly into one main feed with any other blogs you like.

5. One of the features I really like is the ability to categorize your content. This makes it easy to read what you’re in the mood for. And since you create your groups, it’s customized to whatever your reads are. For example, I have groups for Local, Design, Food, Education, Music, News, and more.

6. That’s it! Now when you click on Bloglovin, you’ll have a feed of what you read. You have the option to like posts, share them, and even connect with friends if you so desire. Here’s a sample of what my feed might look like:

Wow, I never knew how wonderful blogs are! I want to start my own! 
Fantastic! The two major blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress. You can find all sorts of info on both of them with a quick Google search. We began with Blogger and recently switched to WordPress. Both have their pros and cons, so it’s just a matter of preference. And, you may not know this, but Steph designs blogs! You can check out her blog about designing blogs here. (At least it’s not a blog about blogs that design blogs.)

The word blog is sounding strange the more we say it. Do you think we should wrap this up?
Yes, agreed. But before that happens, we’d like to hear from you, dear readers.

1. What are your thoughts on blogging? We want to hear them all!
2. If you have a blog, please invite us to read it by leaving the link in the comments! If you’e local, be sure and say so. We’re working on a list of local bloggers.

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