Homepage = Blog vs. Sales Copy???

12 replies
I'd like to get some opinions of the pros and cons of this regarding functionality and SEO of these 2 options...

Option 1:

Homepage = Sales Copy
Blog = domain.com/blog (sub-directory)

Option 2:

Homepage = Blog
Sales Copy = domain.com/keyword (static page)
#blog #copy #homepage #sales
  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    There's no difference.

    SEO is about web PAGEs and which ever option you choose - you'll end up with the same pages.

    The thing that will make the difference is where the links pointing to your pages point. Many people tend to point to the domain rather than specific pages, so your home page is likely to be the one that gets better traction quicker - but if you're marketing and link building to your internal pages - it'll all come out in the wash eventually anyway.
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    nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    There is a 3rd option. Install the blog at domain.com but have the salespage as the homepage of the blog.

    I think the advantage with your option #1 is that any visitors who come to your site via your blog, if they are interested in the content of the blog, a lot of time people will strip the extension off the domain to check out the homepage and see what else they can find - so they would then be seeing your sales page.
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    • Profile picture of the author tbrim20
      So it sounds like... if the overall goal is to drive traffic to the sales page then make that the homepage.

      WillR - Do you have an example of options #3? I'm not sure how someone would access the blog then.
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by tbrim20 View Post

        Do you have an example of options #3? I'm not sure how someone would access the blog then.
        You are able to create 'pages' as well as 'posts' on wordpress. You can then choose to have the homepage of your blog as a static 'page' and not the regular blog homepage with posts that you are used to.

        You could then just have a link down the bottom of your sales page that links to the sitemap of your blog so the search engines can find all the blog pages. If people are on your sales page, you don't want them finding your blog, or any other page for that matter - you want them to buy. People would find your blog by finding your blog posts in search results.

        With a well seo'd blog you should find more people coming in through your post pages than your homepage anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexd10
    Personally I would go for option 2
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  • Profile picture of the author deertrail
    It depends on your traffic source.

    If you drive much traffic with AdWords, then I'd say you'll probably have better results with option 2.

    -Bryan


    Originally Posted by tbrim20 View Post

    I'd like to get some opinions of the pros and cons of this regarding functionality and SEO of these 2 options...

    Option 1:

    Homepage = Sales Copy
    Blog = domain.com/blog (sub-directory)

    Option 2:

    Homepage = Blog
    Sales Copy = domain.com/keyword (static page)
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    • Profile picture of the author deertrail
      Originally Posted by deertrail View Post

      It depends on your traffic source.

      If you drive much traffic with AdWords, then I'd say you'll probably have better results with option 2.

      -Bryan
      To clarify why I say this:

      1. It will make it easier to create separate landing pages for each keyword theme

      2. Having the home page serve content instead of copy usually gives your site a more favorable impression in the event that Google manually reviews your site to determine it's quality.

      -Bryan
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      • Profile picture of the author tbrim20
        OK, so it looks like I was wrong...

        I will be running PPC so good point about being able to diversify the squeeze/sale pages.

        So instead of trying to drive SEO traffic directly to my sales page, I'll set my blog as my homepage and focus more on generating optins and sending the optins through my sales funnel.

        Plus, I think blogs are becoming more necessary for generating social proof for potential buyers these days.

        Sound right?
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        • Profile picture of the author FredJones
          In fact, how about the following?

          Make a generic sales page at the home.

          Then, take the longer tail keywords and make laser-targeted sales pages per keyword in sub, with no link back to home. Point from home to sub with the keywords. You get better-targeted traffic. Sell better with this.

          And of course, keep the blog as another sub.

          How does this sound? In my mind, this is something many people miss and can be a goldmine.
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        • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
          I mostly use WillR's 3rd option for my smaller niche blogs promoting 1 product (a static page as my homepage).

          For bigger authority sites I promote a number of different products so it doesn't really matter where the sales/presell pages go.
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          • Profile picture of the author tbrim20
            Originally Posted by Hamida Harland View Post

            I mostly use WillR's 3rd option for my smaller niche blogs promoting 1 product (a static page as my homepage).

            For bigger authority sites I promote a number of different products so it doesn't really matter where the sales/presell pages go.
            The only problem I see with this is if I'm trying to become the authority in this niche and build a following then people who want to read my blog regularly would have a difficult time getting back to the blog.

            But for solely SEO purposes and PPC purposes this would work.
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  • Profile picture of the author AMangones
    The best way to figure it out for your niche and your site is to test the heck out of it! After a couple of hundred visitors you should be able to see what converts better
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