Blog vs website

Samker

10 years ago

If you're not experienced Webmaster, blog is better choice.

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ggwp

10 years ago

Notice how a lot of companies have a main website and a blog. They present their main products on their website, and then they post insightful articles on their blogs.

So I guess the answer to your question will depend on your content. If you're going to have mostly articles/tutorials then I guess creating a blog would be the better choice. You can always add a "date modified" info somewhere in your posts so your readers know that it's not outdated.

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ncloud

10 years ago

I'm not an experienced webmaster, but I'm not really worried about that - there are lots of videos that show how to set up a site with wordpress. It looks pretty easy to do posts or pages.

I am interesting in affiliate marketing, so my content will be informational/educational in nature. But, I'm planning on doing maybe 10 - 20 articles, and then focusing my attention on creating an email series so I can build a list. And I will be focused on getting traffic. So, I really don't want to have to keep focusing my attention on having to continually add new content to my site also. I see blogs as being something that you continually add - a lot of people create a blogging schedule so their readers know when their next blog will be up. I'd rather focus my attention on building an email series (list) and getting traffic, than having to continually add new content and reply to people comments. But, if that helps to bring in a lot more traffic it might be worth considering. What do you think?

Maybe I should just do web pages for now. Is there any reason why I couldn't convert them into posts latter on down the road if I wanted to switch from a website to a blog?

Also, I'm still curious about one of the questions I had for those of you who have experience with building a list with both websites and blogs. Do you get more people subscribing to your list when you have a blog?

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ggwp

10 years ago

Originally Posted by ncloud

I am interesting in affiliate marketing, so my content will be informational/educational in nature. But, I'm planning on doing maybe 10 - 20 articles, and then focusing my attention on creating an email series so I can build a list. And I will be focused on getting traffic. So, I really don't want to have to keep focusing my attention on having to continually add new content to my site also. I see blogs as being something that you continually add - a lot of people create a blogging schedule so their readers know when their next blog will be up. I'd rather focus my attention on building an email series (list) and getting traffic, than having to continually add new content and reply to people comments. But, if that helps to bring in a lot more traffic it might be worth considering. What do you think?

Having a blog can really help increase your traffic + subscribers. What you should think about is, would the number of additional subscribers be worth the additional workload on your end? I think you're the one who knows the answer to this question best. You know your content best, after all.

Originally Posted by ncloud

Maybe I should just do web pages for now. Is there any reason why I couldn't convert them into posts latter on down the road if I wanted to switch from a website to a blog?

I don't see why you should have problems with switching from a static site to a blog. You just have to make sure you keep your URLs intact.

Originally Posted by ncloud

Also, I'm still curious about one of the questions I had for those of you who have experience with building a list with both websites and blogs. Do you get more people subscribing to your list when you have a blog?

Short answer: yes.

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King Manu

10 years ago

Originally Posted by ncloud

So, I really don't want to have to keep focusing my attention on having to continually add new content to my site also. I see blogs as being something that you continually add - a lot of people create a blogging schedule so their readers know when their next blog will be up. I'd rather focus my attention on building an email series (list) and getting traffic, than having to continually add new content and reply to people comments. But, if that helps to bring in a lot more traffic it might be worth considering. What do you think?

Maybe I should just do web pages for now. Is there any reason why I couldn't convert them into posts latter on down the road if I wanted to switch from a website to a blog?

Also, I'm still curious about one of the questions I had for those of you who have experience with building a list with both websites and blogs. Do you get more people subscribing to your list when you have a blog?

Ok, let me tell you about my experience. My first reply on this forum i will try to make it as useful as possible.
In your situation i will go with WordPress and i will tell you why is that.
To cover your first issue ... you don't have to post very often. If my website is not about quantity but quality / product reviews , i will just first focus on creating posts, categorize them well etc. and than let the SEO SearchTerms 2 to promote old posts on my website. ( you have to use permalinks without date in them to not affect linking, just yourwebsite/post-title kind). This way, users don't see the same homepage every time (it's boring) and keep in mind that this plugin promotes posts without search traffic, with the idea of not becoming stale and drive traffic to them. Combine this with rss - > twitter , fb promotion and you will not have to worry about content anymore. The idea is to have a very good amount of posts when you start.

Now let me tell you other reasons i will make this choice :
1. Will engage user to comment and i will keep responding to them. They will feel safe and driven to buy or access the referral product if the one that promotes shows that he cares. Besides that, i will have a little checkbox bellow comment box to subscribe them to my mail list with mailchimp plugin.
2. thousand of plugins for any kind of things. For example, i might want to post a discount bonus or free ebook or something, but locked just for those who subscribe as readers = expand email list even more.
3. Seo plugin... i use yoast personally and i believe is one of the best. Learn to use it, optimize very post and you are on your way, seo at it't finest.
4. Simple redirect plugin. i will not use productlink.com/aff=23232 because it can be modified before hitting enter if you copy - paste, and while you can use shortening services it will look more professional a link like youwebsite.com/product that will redirect there + it's your link juice. a simple redirect plugin can make this accessible from your dashboard of WordPress.
5. caching + minify plugin. What else to say, speed its important. My wordpress website load in just 1 second from USA (tested with pingdom)
6. mobile theme via plugin : make your website easy to browse on any device. Or get a responsive template like i do and it auto-adjust for all kinds of display. Why to have headaches trying to make a mobile html yourself or ignoring your mobile users?! that's nonsense
7. simple contact form from plugin.no need to display my email or use other websites services to make my contact form.
8. contest from plugin. everything automatic, this way you also increase your email list. engage sharing with referral system on contest. offer cash prize, discounts, whatever you like.

Ps: replying to comments it's much easier and fun to do than you believe. trust me

This is just some ideas, the reasons are much more. I've been using wordpress for my websites since i discovered it and never looked back. i currently have a new photography website and it's works like a charm. Hard to say it's a worpress the way it looks. Hope this helps, good luck !

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BestAdNetworks

10 years ago

make a website
you can use wordpress.org ... to have an easy setup website

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Alexa Smith

Banned 10 years ago

Originally Posted by ncloud

I really don't want to have to spend time doing that every day.

I use blogging software to make my sites, but they don't "look like blogs".

The posts aren't dated, and comments aren't available.

You can easily design, using blogging software, something that looks like a "static site" (even if, like me, you actually update a couple of times a month with some new content).

I'm an affiliate marketer, myself, so the primary purpose of all my websites is to try to collect the visitors' email addresses at their first visit to the site, while at the same time "showing them enough of a site for them to appreciate that it isn't 'just a squeeze page'."

Originally Posted by ncloud

Once your posts are a year or two old, people might be less inclined to read them thinking the info could be outdated.

I completely agree. This is one of the reasons I don't show the dates on my posts (and very rarely change the home page at all, in fact).

Originally Posted by ncloud

Do blogs have any advantage over a website?

I think there are advantages and disadvantages for each.

I see that for some people, the "interaction" of having comments, and "conversations" in comments, can be a plus. I think less so, for me, because I really want their email addresses, but without using a squeeze page, myself. So I just design everything around that objective (which is fortunately dead easy, even for a non-techie like me, to do).

.

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CyberQuill

10 years ago

I am at the same point - blog - or website - or both. I believe I will need the functionality of the website, and the comments and feedback from the blog. Input from so many viewpoints is helpful right now.

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Action Man

10 years ago

Originally Posted by ncloud

I thought I might find something about this by doing a search, but surprisingly no.

I'm trying to decide whether I want a website or a blog. There seem to be pros and cons for each.

I was thinking that because blogs allow people to leave comments and interact that people would probably be more likely to come back again, and more likely to sign up to your list. And I definitely want to build that list. What do you think?

But, on the other hand, with a website - if my articles are pages instead of posts, I wouldn't have to keep responding to people's comments. And I really don't want to have to spend time doing that every day.

And another thing I don't like about blog posts is that they always show the date of the posts. Once your posts are a year or two old, people might be less inclined to read them thinking the info could be outdated.

So, for me, I'm thinking I should go with a website and do pages instead of doing a blog with posts. But, I wanted to see what other people had to say about this. There might be something I don't know. Do blogs have any advantage over a website? Is there any reason why I should present my articles as posts rather than pages?

If your using WordPress self-hosted it can be what you want, you can build it static for your client as a website, with no posts--a blog is more about you as an individual,if you want to brand yourself and your name and personality well a blog style is better, you can make money with that.. Some people are making thousands with a blog style, its your choice

here is a top blog London Beauty Queen

personally, I prefer blog style, you can express yourself, say anything inspiring and interesting, and allow people to know what you are about, better than any squeeze page

regards

Jim

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Ron Killian

10 years ago

Sure don't know why people stil think a blog is not pretty much the same as a website. A blog put's out pages too, even though they are called posts, they are still web pages. Each post has it's own "page".

As said, dates can be taken out, I do that on my blogs.

As fas as visitors commenting and all that, if you want interaction on your site, you HAVE to interact with your visitors and readers. No way around it, and should be seen as a positive, rather than a negative. That's how people get to know you, trust you and give you their email address.

I recommend a blog all the way. I started in 98 and use to make webpages by hand, what a pain and very time consuming. Platforms like wordpress make it SO much easier and SO less time consuming. Sure you can make basic web pages pretty fast, but what about comments, visitor interaction, ect,ect, all that can be built in with a blog, and more automatic.

Also with a blog, it's much easier to change the layout or layout elements. You could change the layout in minutes with a blog. if you have 100's of web pages, that might be a big task.

There are so many things that could be built into, or added to a blog, very easily, things you'd have to code or pay some one to code for a regular website. I've done it, it's not worth it.

As fas as collecting emails address, doesn't matter if you have a blog or a website. One is not better than the other.

And yes you could switch from regular web pages to a blog later, but it could also hurt your SEO, short or long term, if there are big changes.

Just my thoughts.

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Glenn Rodgers

10 years ago

Just go for the blog creation with the help of blog you can easily promote your small business and also can add new and fresh contents in the form of blog post.

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arindamroy

10 years ago

Major businesses have a website that includes a blog. The blog needs to be updated on a regular basis. If you are experienced as a Webmaster then go for a website. Otherwise you may choose to do a blog. A blog is easy to set up and maintain. As for your not replying to visitor responses, don't answer them. Just remember that you need to do different keyword researches for websites and blogs.

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pinkwhale

Banned 10 years ago

hi,i think blog is better choice rather than website.....

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Blaine Smitley

10 years ago

Most wordpress themes have a built in blog. All of my sites have them. I don't do much with them though. I build small service sites that I build out then lease so it's a different ball game than an internet marketer needs, so I set them all to no comments allowed. Keeps the spammers out.