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A Blog or website...Which is better?

by JHandy
72 replies
I've heard from time to time that it's better to have a blog online, rather than a website. What do you guys and gals think and why? Does either one give you an advantage from an SEO standpoint or are they relatively the same? Just curious.
#blog #blog or website #websitewhich
  • Profile picture of the author radhika
    It depends. Just to post our raves and rants, blog would be better.
    If you sell a product, seriously web site format will be better.

    But recently many CMS/Blog software are using to create product selling web sites.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author ScottCofer
    My personal opinion ... definitely a blog focused around a tightly-defined niche and a small number of products. Wordpress comes out-of-the-box well optimized and it is highly flexible.

    From an SEO standpoint, you can rank highly very quickly if you choose your keywords carefully and produce quality, keyword-focused content.
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  • Profile picture of the author goodmast3r
    A website made with Wordpress
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    • Profile picture of the author ejullya
      It really depends on your objectives or goals. It also depends on what you are offering. Many companies have a website where they offer their products and services and then they have a blog on that website.

      I would not just go with a website because it is difficult to create the interaction as you can with a blog. Plus a blog is easy to upkeep and easy to publish.

      I would choose either blog or a website and blog in one
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      • Profile picture of the author JHandy
        Originally Posted by ejullya View Post

        It really depends on your objectives or goals. It also depends on what you are offering. Many companies have a website where they offer their products and services and then they have a blog on that website.

        I would not just go with a website because it is difficult to create the interaction as you can with a blog. Plus a blog is easy to upkeep and easy to publish.

        I would choose either blog or a website and blog in one
        That was kinda my thoughts as well. I figured you be more interactive with your visitors with a blog but a website is more static and just sits there. Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author koreancowboy
    Being an auto journalist and dating writer, I'm naturally inclined to say "go with a blog". But like others have said, it greatly depends on what you're trying to sell.
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    • Profile picture of the author revjoe
      You probably should have both, the blog is great for social connections, this is the best way to build an audience, and a great way to get free traffic Search engine optimization has changed and Google is not the number one factor anymore to getting traffic to your sites. In other words use your blog as a main hub for your activity and create a website specifically for what you selling to others which of course can be connected to your blog, e-book or email marketing series.
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      • Profile picture of the author JHandy
        Originally Posted by revjoe View Post

        You probably should have both, the blog is great for social connections, this is the best way to build an audience, and a great way to get free traffic Search engine optimization has changed and Google is not the number one factor anymore to getting traffic to your sites. In other words use your blog as a main hub for your activity and create a website specifically for what you selling to others which of course can be connected to your blog, e-book or email marketing series.
        Very good points and what you said makes a lot is sense. I have been contemplating how much I should focus on google for ranking purposes and came to the conclusion that its not worth the time. If I have a blog and provide good content and the readers enjoy it, they will rank it in their minds and if it ranks high they will share. Who needs google right?
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  • Profile picture of the author bishalbricormedia
    I would say blogs for they are quite easy to setup using Wordpress. And yes, with wordpress you can setup almost any kind of site these days!
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  • Profile picture of the author competent123
    content will be best, my opinion,

    for selling something - website is better because it can give you much more option to make it the way you want

    if giving information, blog is better.
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  • Profile picture of the author nitesh
    A website that has blog integrated in the wordpress interface.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    This question makes no sense.

    A blog goes on a website.
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    • Profile picture of the author RanD
      Sorry, when I initially read the OP I assumed the question meant Wordpress or Static HTML site, but I may be mistaken.

      Blog or website can be just design concerns. A blog roll with the last post at the top of the home page, or a static homepage with a site designed to look like a static HTML site.

      My answer would be Wordpress (over static HTML), configured however you want. Even if you set it up to look like a website, it can still function as a blog, in the background. More so now, with the custom menus, so you can use posts as if they were pages.
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    • Profile picture of the author schttrj
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      This question makes no sense.

      A blog goes on a website.
      That's the thing. Unless you are focusing to become a blogger, your blog only serves the purpose to push you up in the SERPs.

      Yes, you can run a blog, but that should complement and promote your services. Look at Google. When you type "Google.com" in the search box, you don't find a blog. But they do run an official blog that centers around their service.

      Then again, some of the most popular services never got famous with a blog. For example, Facebook or Twitter.

      It actually depends.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by schttrj View Post

        That's the thing. Unless you are focusing to become a blogger, your blog only serves the purpose to push you up in the SERPs.

        Yes, you can run a blog, but that should complement and promote your services. Look at Google. When you type "Google.com" in the search box, you don't find a blog. But they do run an official blog that centers around their service.

        Then again, some of the most popular services never got famous with a blog. For example, Facebook or Twitter.

        It actually depends.
        I read this twice trying to understand what you said and it gave me a headache.

        Look, you have content management systems, that typically plug into a database, whether that be MS SQL or MySQL. Content management systems are written in server side code (asp.net or php or whatever) Wordpress is an example of a CMS, just like Joomla, and Drupal.

        A static site is one that is typically written in flat html or htm depending upon the hosting environment.

        The advantage of a CMS is that instead of editing pages locally, then having to FTP them up to the server each time you make a change, you can do so dynamically on the fly through populating a database. This is why they're called "dynamic" pages.

        But guess what? Both are rendered as HTML in the browser. Its what happens in the backend that makes the difference.

        A blog is just a label that someone stuck on (at some point) a content management system. Infact as far as I know it stood for "personal web log".

        Ive built sites that use a content management system just to update pages on the site (FCKeditor) - these have nothing to do with a "blog" at all.

        I don't mean to come across gruff, but seriously, some of the questions and responses here are WAY off.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by schttrj View Post

        Unless you are focusing to become a blogger, your blog only serves the purpose to push you up in the SERPs.
        You don't really believe this, Ron, I think?

        I know these conversations inevitably get confused and confusing, with people talking at cross-purposes, mostly because they mean (and instinctively think of) such different things when they hear/use the word "blog" - and I'm not trying to blame you for that! But this comment is surely kind of "way out there", however you look at it?

        Let me put it this way: all of my "main niche sites" are technically blogs, and I'm certainly not focusing "to become a blogger", and my blogs have almost nothing at all to do with pushing me up in the SERP's.

        Originally Posted by schttrj View Post

        It actually depends.
        Yes, I agree with you, there.

        Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

        I don't mean to come across gruff, but seriously, some of the questions and responses here are WAY off.
        Yes, I agree. I don't know if this makes it better, or worse, but if you look back through the previous 20-30 threads headed "blog or website" and/or very similar titles, that's probably true of all of them, too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henri Lind
    Definitely a blog. You are more-likely to build a followership with a blog where you constantly post than a static website.
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    • Profile picture of the author JHandy
      Originally Posted by Henri Lind View Post

      Definitely a blog. You are more-likely to build a followership with a blog where you constantly post than a static website.
      I was thinking the same thing. A static site just sits there with no constant updates, but a blog is constantly updated with fresh content. Thanks so much.
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  • Profile picture of the author MonitorScout
    As far as a business, brands, products, or services are concerned you should have both. Since a website is considered to be an online presence of your company, business or brands, therefore it is compulsory to have a website.

    A blog is useful for search engine optimization, since you can update a blog with fresh content. The more frequently you update your blog the more frequently the crawlers will come crawl your site and accordingly will get good ranking in search engine.

    So from business point of view I would recommend to have both.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimmyvanilla
    A blog is just one kind of website. It's usually a list of posts you've made with the most recent post at the top of the list. Usually people can comment on those posts. Most blogs have categories, tags and pages to help people navigate to the archive of your posts most relevant to a particular topic. A 'static' website doesn't have the list of posts in date order and people can't comment on what you've written. It depends on what you're doing as to whether one is better than the other. SEO can just as successfully adapt to any kind of website.
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    • Profile picture of the author glennshep
      I think it all depends on what the purpose of the website is. A large corporation, for example, may not see the need to have a blog as the focal point of their site, but even then some big companies do have a blog section on their site.

      As for Internet Marketers, I would vote for a blog over a static HTML site every time because, as has been mentioned by others, you get the benefits of social interactivity, building followers and SEO benefits too.

      Blogs have become much more than simply web-based diaries. They are now an integral part of marketing and relationship-building and a blogging platform such as Wordpress is an immensely useful and versatile tool for website-building, even if the user doesn't focus on the blogging aspect itself
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  • Profile picture of the author Soubhik
    its like asking if i can drink a cola when thirsty or a glass of water.You can have a website with a BLOG TAB --blog updates in a website helps in seo and engagement with your readers.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    Install Wordpress.

    Use it to build a website using wordpress "pages" not posts. It's just another form of CMS, like any CMS it takes some thought and work to structure it. You have to pay a lot of attention to the page menus. Using any theme and adding a child theme you can easily add an unlimited number of menus to structure your site.

    Once you have your core content built out, you can begin adding "blog posts" to provide content that your customers can follow chronologically and interact with you or one another as it's appropriate.
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  • Profile picture of the author ArielT
    Depends, if the nature of your site will be to be keeping more the time static like an spider in its web, then go with an static html, and if will be a site for news or need interaction (comments) a blog
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  • Profile picture of the author cititoru
    You get a website and put a blog on it amongst other things! Works for SEO as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Reinhart Osmond
    If you can use a blogspot blog owner google. And you can go to the blog page on google search engine page and your blog can be a lot of traffic coming to your blog.
    If the website, you can use wordpress and benefit you'll get there a lot of wordpress themes and plugins that can support your website.
    Advantage in the search engine websites and can compete in various search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author murtuza
    you can built both using wordpress and it is better to have both. Create your main pages as website and then blog your snippets using links to your pages. This is what I do and helps in building a strong internal linking profile in the eyes of search engines and also helps in strengthening your site theme. And if you wish to go advanced use the power of silo structure and LSI to build your site, that's very powerful...
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  • Profile picture of the author ScottWatson
    Personally I think a mix of the two - I use Wordpress on my site that allows me to have static pages like a website as well as a fully integrated blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Oh god....

    "have a blog", "a website is better", "use wordpress", "wordpress is better than static html" .......

    Does ANYONE in this thread have a clue?

    Seriously.
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    • Profile picture of the author JHandy
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      Oh god....

      "have a blog", "a website is better", "use wordpress", "wordpress is better than static html" .......

      Does ANYONE in this thread have a clue?

      Seriously.
      Some of us are newbie marketers and doing the best we can to learn the pros and cons of online marketing. This not only helps me understand this better but also others who may be wanting to ask the same question. I understand that a website can be a blog, but some may think to have a static HTML site up and just focus on trying to get traffic to it. Some may not be aware of the differences of which to focus on. Eventually it stands to reason that you have both. One for your product and service, and the blog for engagement and interaction. Thanks bro. Really appreciate your feedback.
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    • Profile picture of the author ScottWatson
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      Oh god....

      "have a blog", "a website is better", "use wordpress", "wordpress is better than static html" .......

      Does ANYONE in this thread have a clue?

      Seriously.
      Constructive
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  • Profile picture of the author jaggyjay
    I used to build all my sites using DreamWeaver, but now I'm transitioning over to Wordpress.

    I think having a blog platform is more efficient particularly for larger sites (hundreds or thousands of pages). The CMS aspect of blogs makes updating and changing pages around easy.

    As far as SEO is concerned, there are countless SEO plugins one can use to make optimizing their sites seamless and painless. Optimization can be a bit more difficult if you use a standard html site.

    So, from an efficiency stand-point, I'd say that a blog might be better... especially if you run a large site

    Originally Posted by JHandy View Post

    I've heard from time to time that it's better to have a blog online, rather than a website. What do you guys and gals think and why? Does either one give you an advantage from an SEO standpoint or are they relatively the same? Just curious.
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  • Profile picture of the author a1pena
    I agree a blog is much better for user engagement and viral traffic opportunities.
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  • Profile picture of the author SuperKristen
    Blog is great for branding your business and I always like to have blog on my business sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
    I personally like a static squeeze page on the home page and the blog being my primary content focus. It evolves, it's easy to use, it allows your customers to engage with you and build a community - better than a fully static website IMO.

    But don't forget you can do both if you want. You can have static pages and a blog. You're not limited to any one thing. I've done that

    Tiff <-- possessor of a clue.
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  • Profile picture of the author CaesarSEO
    Why not get a website and have a blog in a sub page?
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  • Profile picture of the author ymest
    I'd say a website-(Wordpress being my choice)! You own it so unless you're being tracked down by the CIA or the FBI, or if you don't pay the hosting lol, it's all yours!

    Blogs are different, in general, since you don't own them! They're not yours so let's say you are building a great blog, getting big traffic and making $$$$$$ and then BANG, they close it down for any reason??? Boooo! Not good!

    This said, as Tiffany Dow suggested above, you can definitely do both! Spend more time on your website but use blogs to drive traffic, give link juice ( gosh I hate this word eeekk) and help your site grow!!

    My 2 cents!

    Yoan
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by ymest View Post

      Blogs are different, in general, since you don't own them! They're not yours
      What???? :confused:
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      • Profile picture of the author ymest
        Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

        What???? :confused:
        Have I made a BIG FAT MISTAKE?? LOl! I meant and thought that the term Blog was generally "free platforms" such as Squidoo or Hubpages.... (no domain buying and hosting) hence my response. Probably wrong then!

        What I also meant was that you don't own Squidoo or hubpage for instance and I guess you can agree on this with me?

        PS: I swear I wasn't drunk lol!!
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        • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
          Originally Posted by ymest View Post

          I meant and thought that the term Blog was generally "free platforms" such as Squidoo or Hubpages....

          PS: I swear I wasn't drunk lol!!
          Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

          As for giving excuses - as the OP did - for nonsense "beginner" posts... it's like the blind leading the blind. No! If you are beginner and not clear about the basic notions of web building, then you should not give your ignorant opinion disguised as 'advice'. Nonsense is nonsense, no matter how you label it.

          Nothing to add. Just don't give advice if you lack the knowledge. It is that simple...
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          • Profile picture of the author JHandy
            Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

            Nothing to add. Just don't give advice if you lack the knowledge. It is that simple...
            Wow, some amazing responses. I thought this was an open forum for all. Beginners and newbies included. My intent was to get the knowledge, wisdom and advice from the expert marketers here. Some have shown disrespect for the newbies in some instances but I guarantee if you were looking to sell your product or build your list they ( newbies) would be the first you would go after right? It's all good and hope this has been an educational thread for the onlookers. Mission accomplished.
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  • Profile picture of the author evilgenius142
    blog would be better, but you should write original article on your blog, there are many benefit in it, if you will write quality article then hopefully many people will link to your blog and you will get free backlink
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  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    Blogs are for disposable content. Think TMZ. Justin Bieber receiving a speeding ticket is yesterday's news because oh look Britney Spears fell down the stairs today.

    Newbies tend to go for the blog format because it's so much easier to build around. There is a monstrous selection of free themes. That path from nothing to something is much shorter than developing an entire website.
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    • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
      Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot View Post

      Blogs are for disposable content.
      That's a big BS... together with half of the posts above.

      First, the usage of the words: a blog IS a website. Period. The term "website" means any kind of web presence, regardless of the technical details, tools used etc. "Blog" is a narrower type of website, built (usually) with specific tools/scripts.

      So, having in mind what I said above, the 'blog or website' dichotomy is false! Because every blog is a website but not every website is a blog.

      Now, if one would like to discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of web presence built with plain(?) HTML/CSS (hand)code vs. using a CMS (content management system), which includes blogging tools, as well - then the OP question should be re-phrased.

      As for giving excuses - as the OP did - for nonsense "beginner" posts... it's like the blind leading the blind. No! If you are beginner and not clear about the basic notions of web building, then you should not give your ignorant opinion disguised as 'advice'. Nonsense is nonsense, no matter how you label it.

      Finally, to the question in the OP, provided it was asking about HTML vs. CMS.
      There is no answer that fits all. Without knowing about the type of the business, your expertize (or resources), the goal of the site, the target audience and many more factors - any advice is just a guess. Not even 'educated' guess.
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      • Profile picture of the author JHandy
        Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

        That's a big BS... together with half of the posts above.

        First, the usage of the words: a blog IS a website. Period. The term "website" means any kind of web presence, regardless of the technical details, tools used etc. "Blog" is a narrower type of website, built (usually) with specific tools/scripts.

        So, having in mind what I said above, the 'blog or website' dichotomy is false! Because every blog is a website but not every website is a blog.

        Now, if one would like to discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of web presence built with plain(?) HTML/CSS (hand)code vs. using a CMS (content management system), which includes blogging tools, as well - then the OP question should be re-phrased.

        As for giving excuses - as the OP did - for nonsense "beginner" posts... it's like the blind leading the blind. No! If you are beginner and not clear about the basic notions of web building, then you should not give your ignorant opinion disguised as 'advice'. Nonsense is nonsense, no matter how you label it.

        Finally, to the question in the OP, provided it was asking about HTML vs. CMS.
        There is no answer that fits all. Without knowing about the type of the business, your expertize (or resources), the goal of the site, the target audience and many more factors - any advice is just a guess. Not even 'educated' guess.
        See a lot of these techie terms go beyond the scope of newbies understanding or lack there of. We are simply asking a question to the more advanced and experienced guys and gals on exactly what should be the focus and which would be more advantageous. I personally don't know all the SQL cms, java this and that stuff, but I'm sure I can learn more about it. Thanks for taking the time to bring clarity to the conversation.
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        • Profile picture of the author RanD
          JHandy,

          Based on your last couple of questions, I think you are asking the wrong question. I don't think you are asking about blog or website. Let me clarify.

          A website is pretty much any site that is on the web, regardless of how it was created. A blog is a type of website.I think this has led to some confusion in the responses.

          Wordpress was initially seen as "blogging" software, but these days it is a full blown CMS (content management system), meaning it can do a lot of stuff besides blogging. You can design it to be just about anything you want. You can use it just like you would a static HTML (you can make it look just like one, but it will have more functionality), you can use it as a blog, or you could even use it as an ecommerce site.

          The typical question is Wordpress or static HTML. At one point Wordpress had a slight advantage in getting ranked quicker due to its blog and ping functionality, and its built in RSS feed, but you can ping a static website and set up RSS on it. In the long run, either are fine, from an SEO standpoint.

          Static HTML is initially simpler (assuming you are using a WYSIWYG editor). You create the pages and copy them up to the server, and you have a site. If something bad happens to your site and you lose everything, you simply copy the HTML files back up to the server, and you are up and running. Despite a comment previously about it being a hassle FTPing them to the server, it is easier to create the page locally and FTP it to the server than having to log in to the server to create the page in Wordpress.

          In wordpress the site is rendered in HTML, but everything that makes up the site is stored in the database on the server, not individual HTML files. If the database get corrupted (and it likely will at some point), the only way to get your site back is from a backup of the database, so you need to do regular backups. Any work you have done it between backups will be lost. Thankfully, there are plugins that will allow you to do manual back up at any time, and schedule backups at any time interval that you desire.

          There are also more security issues with Wordpress than for static HTML. Hacking is a very real concern, but again, there are plugins and manual steps you can take to alleviate those risks.

          Wordpress has a steeper, initial learning curve. Not only do you have to learn how to use and configure Wordpress, and how to create and maintain the database, you still need to learn the basics of HTML to get the pages looking the way you want (a WYSIWYG editor is never perfect).

          On the other hand, once you get past making a basic website, HTML will have a pretty steep learning curve, as well. You would have to learn a lot to do a fraction of what you can do in Wordpress. Once past the initial learning curve, Wordpress is very easy to work with.

          Wordpress has a tremendous amount of flexibility and functionality that you don't get with HTML. It is open source and people are developing stuff for it on a regular basis. You don't have to worry about CSS and PHP, because the designers of the plugins and themes have already done it for you, especially with premium versions. You can completely change the entire look of your site within minutes, on the fly, without touching a single bit of code.

          HTML is great if you need to put up a basic site quickly, for some reason. However, I would suggest taking the time to learn wordpress, and go with that. If you are like most people, you will eventually decide that you want the functionality of Wordpress, and converting from HTML to Wordpress is a pain, especially if you have a lot of pages.

          The comments about blogs being disposable sites is nonsense. However, those types of comments made me think about how you worded the question of "blog or website" It is possible that some people took the question as should you build you own site or build on one of the web 2.0 blogging platforms like Blogger, or Wordpress.com (not to be confuse with the self installed version from wordpress.org). In that case, some of those responses would be correct. You can't count on the web hosted blog sites, and they should be looked at as disposable.

          Wordpress installed on your own server, is as permanent as HTML, or any other platform.
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    • Profile picture of the author JHandy
      Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot View Post

      Blogs are for disposable content. Think TMZ. Justin Bieber receiving a speeding ticket is yesterday's news because oh look Britney Spears fell down the stairs today.

      Newbies tend to go for the blog format because it's so much easier to build around. There is a monstrous selection of free themes. That path from nothing to something is much shorter than developing an entire website.
      Now you're cooking with crisco and understanding the spirit of the question. It was all about which online setup is better especially for a newb.
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  • Profile picture of the author bhartzer
    A blog is more of a commitment--that you'll write a blog post on a certain schedule. So, if you start a blog and the posts are pinging when they're posted and you don't post then that's really worse than putting up a static site.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Careful guys, there's a bit of common sense creeping into this thread.
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  • Profile picture of the author fghaegele
    Content is still king so a blog is the best way to start - however, the two approaches complement each other:

    Adding a blog is the easiest way to build value to a web app or website- and building a website is the best way to add value to a blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
    Banned
    What's the difference between a blog and a "website"? A blog is a type of website! That's like asking, "what's better? an orange or a citrus fruit?" >.<
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    • Profile picture of the author daniell686
      Originally Posted by TheRealDudeman View Post

      What's the difference between a blog and a "website"? A blog is a type of website! That's like asking, "what's better? an orange or a citrus fruit?" >.<
      I get what you mean, but there's still differences between a website and a blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    A blog IS a website. From my experience, it depends. There are times when it's best to use a blog and times when it's best to code a site from scratch. This is easier for me as I have a degree in web development, so if you're just starting out it might be a lot better to focus on creating blogs and learning HTML/CSS/PHP/MySQL slowly.

    It takes time to develop amazing applications and websites, but it's worth it!

    SEO-wise I don't think it really matters (from what I have seen). However, keep in mind that you have to optimize your site, while WordPress often does it for you out-of-the-box or with a few plugins.

    Best of luck,

    Joaquin
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    • Profile picture of the author JHandy
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      A blog IS a website. From my experience, it depends. There are times when it's best to use a blog and times when it's best to code a site from scratch. This is easier for me as I have a degree in web development, so if you're just starting out it might be a lot better to focus on creating blogs and learning HTML/CSS/PHP/MySQL slowly.

      It takes time to develop amazing applications and websites, but it's worth it!

      SEO-wise I don't think it really matters (from what I have seen). However, keep in mind that you have to optimize your site, while WordPress often does it for you out-of-the-box or with a few plugins.

      Best of luck,

      Joaquin
      Great explanation of how the wordpress side of things work. I want to be able to help guys that are brand new understand the importance of getting started fast online and the easiest way to establish a web presence.
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  • Profile picture of the author cuzsis
    If you use wordpress, you can (with some effort) actually set up a website that has blogging capabilities and get the best of both worlds.

    For the content you have that is trendy or "disposable" like what Dub said above, then you use the blogging section.

    For content you have that is universal and evergreen, you create a static page for it. And make a link in your navbar.

    For example, this past year I did a website for a collegiate alumni marching/pep band. They had several static pages for things like, band history, a form to hire the band, and what members of the band could expect on a performance day (schedule wise) since sometimes you go a while between gigs and forget what time you need to show up by and where to go. Stuff that was necessary to know, but not going to change over time for the most part.

    That was all well and good, but of course they had gigs that would come up and need people to sign up for. Membership meetings ect.. All the "usual business" that changed and shifted regularly. Those they posted in the blog format (which was also their home page and so the first thing all the members saw when they went to the website).

    This was a good set up for them because it allowed them to have their "website" with their static information, but at the same time have the flexibility to share info that changed rapidly.

    This way is also nice because sometimes when you start out you don't have enough content for a full blown website. But if you build it bit by bit while having your "blog" section running, you can eventually have a pretty nice site full of great content.
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    • Profile picture of the author JHandy
      Originally Posted by cuzsis View Post

      If you use wordpress, you can (with some effort) actually set up a website that has blogging capabilities and get the best of both worlds.

      For the content you have that is trendy or "disposable" like what Dub said above, then you use the blogging section.

      For content you have that is universal and evergreen, you create a static page for it. And make a link in your navbar.

      For example, this past year I did a website for a collegiate alumni marching/pep band. They had several static pages for things like, band history, a form to hire the band, and what members of the band could expect on a performance day (schedule wise) since sometimes you go a while between gigs and forget what time you need to show up by and where to go. Stuff that was necessary to know, but not going to change over time for the most part.

      That was all well and good, but of course they had gigs that would come up and need people to sign up for. Membership meetings ect.. All the "usual business" that changed and shifted regularly. Those they posted in the blog format (which was also their home page and so the first thing all the members saw when they went to the website).

      This was a good set up for them because it allowed them to have their "website" with their static information, but at the same time have the flexibility to share info that changed rapidly.

      This way is also nice because sometimes when you start out you don't have enough content for a full blown website. But if you build it bit by bit while having your "blog" section running, you can eventually have a pretty nice site full of great content.
      That was a perfect scenario and a great explanation for how you can evolve from one platform to another. The static html side is still in tack, but the blog side is evolutionary, meaning that it takes on a more dynamic feel to it.
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      • Profile picture of the author cuzsis
        Originally Posted by JHandy View Post

        That was a perfect scenario and a great explanation for how you can evolve from one platform to another. The static html side is still in tack, but the blog side is evolutionary, meaning that it takes on a more dynamic feel to it.
        Thanks!

        This is more or less how I plan to set up my website blog (bwuahaha, I used *both* terms!) and it seemed like OP might've been pondering some of the same questions I originally had.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gene Pimentel
    Should I drive a Chevy, or a car?
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  • Profile picture of the author Anurag96
    You can have a blog in your website but can't have a website in your blog. That's the case, keep it in mind.

    A blog is a must for everyone who want to create an online business as with it you can easily connect with your audience and there are much more benefits of it though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ralph Malph
    You have to consider where you want this creation to go and how you want it to get there. The last thing you want to do is create something and spend a year on it only to find out you went about it the wrong way. What is it that you want to accomplish with this project? The answer to that question will likely give you the answer to how to get there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Abhik
    Honestly, that depends on the nature, or the purpose of the website. If you want to sell something, a website format would be better.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMSince2003
    tomato, tomahto.

    WordPress is a blogging platform that allows non-technical people to get a site up and running very quickly without getting into the technical details. Also, there are a LOT of great and free plugins that greatly enhance your user's experience.
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  • Profile picture of the author joshuamason
    Well, the cool thing is that your blog can function as many things. With a blog you can create some credibility to who you are with fresh content...while also using it to advertise your product.

    It it much easier to set up a blog then a website. Plus, WordPress makes it so easy for you. And as you learn how to set up your blog, the skills needed to create a site will come from that knowledge.

    Better learn to crawl before you walk....Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author CindyPink
    Well the answer depends on the type of business you like to run. Making a website is more expensive and more complicated than setting up a simple blog. But just as I said, it depends.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Moore
    I prefer blog because you can make a natural back link with many authority site that usually use a blog platform. There are also many premium theme that you can use to make your blog better than ordinary website. The yearly hosting rate to book a web URL is also very cheap compared with premium web hosting.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Berry
    Website gives you access to almost unlimited content size for your big business site. The user interface is also better than blog, if you succeed hiring the right designer to design your website. The hosting price is more expensive, but if you are looking for a long term benefit, you should use website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cyber Star
    I definitely use blog, because I'm not a tech savvy person. Blog have a simple dashboard. Blog have many plugins, add-on, and widget that really help your site looks amazing. I using a crosslink plugins that let me connect my Tumblr account with my blog. By doing this, I can drive traffic from it way better than any paid traffic that I ever use.
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  • Profile picture of the author thedark
    I see the blog more like a channel to drive visitors to your business. Your "business" may be to provide quality information on a certain topic, by posting it online, making and selling pdfs, teaching people, etc.

    The blog ( publish free articles ) is definitely a channel to attract prospect customers for what you sell. At start, earning trough display ads may be the way you make money online. A blog is a powerful channel and most it can be standalone, but adding other channels will help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Apra Barua
    Commercial website is for offering a product or service. There is no live interaction with people which is published on the website apart from testimonials.

    A blog is a discussion or informational website where people can participate. You can have a static website to sell the products or service and create a blog to interact with people who are interested in the topic. The blog will serve as a promotional tool for your commercial website.

    SEO can be done on both a static website and a blog and I don't think any one gets an advantage.
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