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Noticed something about Authority WebSites!

by Mystery777
17 replies
Hello,

I'm planning on starting an authority web-hosts review site.

I noticed that most authority web hosting review sites, use a static site as the main site and have a wordpress blog added to it (feeding it with more content).... it is like http://www.site.com/blog/

I was initially thinking of using only a wordpress blog installed in the main domain address, and using a plugin like wpreviewengine which turns the blog into something similar to a review site. (of course, there will be more individual pages on the sidebar for extra hosting related stuff).

My question: is there an advantage to going the route most authority sites go (ie. static site with a blog added to it)? Or should I just use a wordpress blog all the way?

Thought a wordpess blog is enough, but maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks!
#authority #question #review #site #webhosting #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Pradeep Bhagwat
    I think you idea of using Review Plugin is better than the regular. You will get different look to your website and it will more handy for user.

    - Pradeep
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    • Profile picture of the author Mystery777
      Originally Posted by bhagwat68 View Post

      I think you idea of using Review Plugin is better than the regular. You will get different look to your website and it will more handy for user.

      - Pradeep
      I think so too. I'm more used to working with wordpress anyway.

      I just wanna know if I'm missing something, or if there is any sort of advantage to what other authority sites are doing [static site + fed by an added blog].
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      • Profile picture of the author mattjay
        Originally Posted by Mystery777 View Post

        I think so too. I'm more used to working with wordpress anyway.

        I just wanna know if I'm missing something, or if there is any sort of advantage to what other authority sites are doing [static site + fed by an added blog].
        i wish i had an educated answer on that. one of my sites is PR2 and it's all static. i thought about adding a blog to it, but decided against it. mabye i would do better by adding a blog!!!

        hard to say.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mystery777
          Originally Posted by mattjay View Post

          i wish i had an educated answer on that. one of my sites is PR2 and it's all static. i thought about adding a blog to it, but decided against it. mabye i would do better by adding a blog!!!

          hard to say.
          Adding a blog would definitely help your site... but was wondering, why not go with a wordpress blog from the start, rather than having a static site then adding a blog to it.

          Talking about webmasters who nowadays still choose a static site, before adding a separate blog to it.

          I believe it has more to do with the look webmasters want for their main site. Maybe it is easier to code it when it isn't a blog?
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          • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
            I would go with Wordpress blog all the way. Why complicate things?

            You can easily do a static site with WP and add a blog.

            You can do so much with Wordpress, I am not sure why you would want to combine several things.
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        • Profile picture of the author Crew Chief
          Originally Posted by Mystery777 View Post

          My question: is there an advantage to going the route most authority sites go (ie. static site with a blog added to it)? Or should I just use a wordpress blog all the way? Thought a wordpess blog is enough, but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks!
          Here are the major differences between using a Static HTML site over a blog...
          • Blogs use way more resources than Static HTML sites, (i.e., cpu and bandwith, storage, inodes, MySQL, etc).
          • Blogs have a tendency to attract spammers even if the blogger has Askimet or other spam protections in place. And it doesn't matter if the blogger allows comments or not.
          • If they allow comments, [moderated or not] bloggers will eventually have to deal with SPAM Bots.
          • Blogs have a tendency to attract hackers, that's one primary reason why the WP engine is updated regularly; WordPress adjusts the platform to address known security breaches. Sometimes those updates can send a site into a tailspin if certain plugins or themes have not been updated simultaneously.
          • You have to install and then constantly update the plugins. If you don't perform the updates, you are unnecessarily creating potentially dangerous security risks.
          • The more plugins one adds, the more of a resource hog that blog becomes.
          • The blogger is at the mercy of WP, the WP theme maker and the WP plugin maker. As stated previously, if the blogger has a WP theme that fails to update after WP makes an update, certain critical features may not work. Or, even worse, the site may not load at all. If the theme maker is behind the curve, the blogger will be forced to switch themes.
          • Once a blog grows to a certain size and the blogger wants to change the layout, they essentially have four choices: (1). Switch to another pre made WP theme. (2). Purchase a customizable WP Theme such as Headway or Flexx, etc. The thing is, even these themes have their design limitations. (3). Pay for a totally customized theme; which will be costly in comparison to paying for a custom HTML design. Or, (4). Switch to a HTML static site...
          Years ago someone started the myth that Google loved blogs over static HTML sites. That is a myth! The same person probably also started the myth that blogs get indexed faster than HTML sites. That is also a myth.

          The truth is, if you have the right ping plugin such as the cbnet ping optimizer, yes WordPress blogs will get indexed fast but ONLY because the blog automatically pings the proper sites with each post. That said, you can set up the effect/system with HTML static sites and get the same results.

          Al in all, the advantage of using a HTML static site over a blog is that you utilize less resources and the sky is the limit as far as layout and design.

          Giles, the Crew Chief
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          • Profile picture of the author osamabindrinking
            Originally Posted by Crew Chief View Post

            That said, you can set up the effect/system with HTML static sites and get the same results.

            Giles, the Crew Chief
            Hi, can you give some details on how thats done?
            Thanks
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          • Profile picture of the author tpw
            Originally Posted by Crew Chief View Post

            • Once a blog grows to a certain size and the blogger wants to change the layout, they essentially have four choices: (1). Switch to another pre made WP theme. (2). Purchase a customizable WP Theme such as Headway or Flexx, etc. The thing is, even these themes have their design limitations. (3). Pay for a totally customized theme; which will be costly in comparison to paying for a custom HTML design. Or, (4). Switch to a HTML static site...

            My answer is most consistent with Giles on this point...

            But more to my point, there may come a time when you change directions with your site and you want to give more prominence to other sections of the site, rather than to keep focus on the blog...

            While blogs are a good tool for building websites quickly, they are not always the best design philosophy for your website as a whole...

            I have several sites where the blog actually sits at /blog/ and the root domain redirects to the /blog/ directory... These are sites where I expect that one day I may outgrow the blog design...

            If that time ever comes, all I have to do is to build a new index page on the root directory, and turn off the redirect from the root...

            If the blog was installed on the root directory, that would not be an easy transition... In fact, trying to make the blog play second fiddle to the rest of the site could break the site... And moving the blog to a subdirectory will break the URL paths of all of my posts, breaking the age accumulated on all of those pages...
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            • Profile picture of the author Crew Chief
              Originally Posted by osamabindrinking View Post

              Hi, can you give some details on how thats done?
              Thanks
              On a small scale, there is: Ping-o-Matic!

              On a large scale, there is BIE, BLB, BMD, Ubot, Scrapebox and of course XRumer.

              Essentially, all you're doing is putting your target URLs into your software and scheduling the runs. That's over simplified but you get the point. It's all about automation.

              Giles, the Crew Chief
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            • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
              tpw

              Originally Posted by tpw View Post



              I have several sites where the blog actually sits at /blog/ and the root domain redirects to the /blog/ directory... These are sites where I expect that one day I may outgrow the blog design...

              If that time ever comes, all I have to do is to build a new index page on the root directory, and turn off the redirect from the root...

              .
              That's a great idea; you are essentially keeping the Home page vacant until you need it.

              On separate point using xsitepro you can build a HTML site as fast as you can build a wordpress based site.
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          • Profile picture of the author jamawebinc
            Originally Posted by Crew Chief View Post

            Years ago someone started the myth that Google loved blogs over static HTML sites. That is a myth! The same person probably also started the myth that blogs get indexed faster than HTML sites. That is also a myth.

            The truth is, if you have the right ping plugin such as the cbnet ping optimizer, yes WordPress blogs will get indexed fast but ONLY because the blog automatically pings the proper sites with each post. That said, you can set up the effect/system with HTML static sites and get the same results.

            Al in all, the advantage of using a HTML static site over a blog is that you utilize less resources and the sky is the limit as far as layout and design.

            Giles, the Crew Chief
            All good points. I wrote a post detailing my test results of putting to the test the statement blogging is good for seo and search engines, or not?"Google loves blogs over static html"

            To build on your post, people should remember that how you build your site is just a tool, and people should not lose focus on the overall goal of the content. That is the main reason you are creating the site, for the content.

            When visitors come to the website, if its a blog or static html, if it was made with wordpress, xsitepro, or drupal - non of that matters to them - they only care about the content and information on the site.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Originally Posted by Mystery777 View Post

    My question: is there an advantage to going the route most authority sites go (ie. static site with a blog added to it)? Or should I just use a wordpress blog all the way?

    The best advantage of adding a blog to a domain with a static front page is that you are leaving room for your site to grow beyond the blog...

    For some sites, I would not want to get three years down the road and find an opportunity worth pursuing and not be able to easily put up extra pages not connected to the WP structure...
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    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author Mystery777
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      The best advantage of adding a blog to a domain with a static front page is that you are leaving room for your site to grow beyond the blog...

      For some sites, I would not want to get three years down the road and find an opportunity worth pursuing and not be able to easily put up extra pages not connected to the WP structure...
      Other than the reasons Giles stated above in favor of static sites, may you elaborate a bit with regards to "extra pages" point you are referring to?

      I mean, can't this be easily done through WP as well? Pages...etc.

      Also, how about a website built in wordpress? Meaning not a blog, but a regular website made in wordpress platform. Is it better in terms of SEO than a regular static site?
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  • Profile picture of the author Stephen Crooks
    The beauty of using Wordpress is its flexibility. What I mean by that is that you can use Wordpress to create traditional type blogs and also to behave just like a static HTML site using pages. In this sense it is the perfect solution for you for both your blog and static pages.

    The Wordpress architecture is PHP driven so the actual site doesn't exist like a static HTML site does. This potentially can mean it is more of a hog on resources once the site has grown in size. There are some excellent plugins available like the wp super cache which negates this problem though.

    All in all, I love Wordpress because of the flexibility, the "out of the box" SEO, the power that plugins can provide, the ease of being able to change the look and feel. Unless you are a web designer who has the time and skills to create stuff using an HTML editor, Wordpress is the best solution in my humble opinion.

    Another great solution is to use the excellent XSitePro if you want to go the static route but for the flexibility you are looking for, the perfect fit is Wordpress.

    Originally Posted by Mystery777 View Post

    Hello,

    I'm planning on starting an authority web-hosts review site.

    I noticed that most authority web hosting review sites, use a static site as the main site and have a wordpress blog added to it (feeding it with more content).... it is like http://www.site.com/blog/

    I was initially thinking of using only a wordpress blog installed in the main domain address, and using a plugin like wpreviewengine which turns the blog into something similar to a review site. (of course, there will be more individual pages on the sidebar for extra hosting related stuff).

    My question: is there an advantage to going the route most authority sites go (ie. static site with a blog added to it)? Or should I just use a wordpress blog all the way?

    Thought a wordpess blog is enough, but maybe I'm missing something.

    Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author SantiSantana
      I believe you can find a brief tutorial on how to make Wordpress behave like a CMS ala Drupal or Joomla over at ehow. DO a quick search and bear in mind it will mean editing CSS code. MIght be what you are looking for though.
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  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaG
    One explanation for authority sites having a blog attached is because blogs are used for different reasons then websites.

    Blogs are updated with fresh content regularly. Static sites are not.
    Blogs are used to keep customers/clients updated. Static sites are not.
    etc.

    Owners of authority sites use blogs as a tool to aid their business.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mystery777
      Originally Posted by JoshuaG View Post

      One explanation for authority sites having a blog attached is because blogs are used for different reasons then websites.

      Blogs are updated with fresh content regularly. Static sites are not.
      Blogs are used to keep customers/clients updated. Static sites are not.
      etc.

      Owners of authority sites use blogs as a tool to aid their business.
      Does adding an automatically updated blog feed to the static site, help with giving search engines the impression that the static site is updated regularly, even though it may not be?
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