What's the difference between a blog and a website and which one should I be using, or does it really matter?
Researching online, I discovered that blogs are
websites and both offer anyone, who's old enough to read and write,
the ability to obtain an online presence; albeit, blogs and websites
are unique in their own way.
Websites are sites consisting of
static pages (content usually remains unchanged), where as blogs are
sites consisting of dynamic pages (content changes on a regular
basis). With that being said, how else do they vary and should you use
one over the other?
Listed below are several ways in which
blogs and websites differ. Deciding on which one best suits your needs
is a personal preference; however, in my opinion you can't go wrong
creating a blog first, then, if necessary, build your website and
here's why:
Cost
Depending
on the type of business you have, creating a website from scratch can
be costly and time consuming. Business websites need to have a
professional look and feel in order to attract customers, which is why
most companies are willing to spend top dollar to secure an experienced
web designer. If you're considering a low-key website, using free
applications through sites like Microsoft Office Live or Google, can
produce quality-looking websites.
Blogs are usually free and
you can get them through your web host or directly from the Internet.
Site building applications include
WordPress, Blogger, and
Weebly. Some are easier to use than others; however, they all offer help links, directing you to their FAQs or help forums.
In
both scenarios, free site applications have limitations in features,
tools, and functionality; however, they offer the opportunity to
upgrade, for a minimal fee, enabling you to unlock advanced options,
which allows you to be more creative in your site's overall look.
If
you choose to use a free site application, for your website or blog,
you should purchase a personal domain and have your free site
redirected so that your personal domain's URL appears in the address
bar and not the URL from the free site.
Timing
Websites can take months to create; however, with a blog, you can have it up and running in less than a day.
Indexing
Since
websites are static, search engines are less likely to index them as
often, making it difficult to drive traffic to your site.
Search engines LOVE blogs because they're dynamic. Your site has a
better opportunity to be indexed every time you publish a new post.
Because of this, your site will show up in search results more
frequently, which in turn brings more traffic to your blog, potentially
improving your rank.
Visibility on the Internet
Websites
can take weeks for search engines to find them, whereas posts through
your blog can be found within days, if not hours.
Tagging/Keyword Searches
Tagging
a static website is limited because technically you're only supposed
to use keywords that pertain to the content on a particular page.
With a blog you're not only able to tag each page, but also each post. For every post, you'll have different
keywords
pertaining to the content on that post, allowing them to be indexed by
search engines, resulting in increased online exposure.
Monetizing
Static
pages are more difficult to monetize by means of adding links through
affiliate programs. Because of a website's low visibility and lack of
new content, you wouldn't generate enough traffic to your site to
benefit from your affiliates.
Blogs have more visibility on the Internet and offer better opportunities in creating multiple income streams through
affiliated programs and advertisements, such as Google AdSense.
Point-of-View
Websites are based on the author or company's point of view.
Blogs
provide a means to communicate, build relationships, and allows visitor
feedback. Visitors can also share one or more posts from your blog
with others using special social media applications like Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn and are offered through most, if not all site
builders.
Best Option
There are benefits to having a website
AND
a blog; however, if you're getting ready to make an online presence, I
would suggest going with a blog first, then create your website.
Offering useful and accurate content on your blog at least 4-5 times a
week will improve your site traffic and readership loyalty.
For
those who are having difficulties with some of the free blog
applications available, and having tried WordPress, Blogger, and Weebly
myself, I would definitely suggest giving
Weebly
a try. It has to be the easiest drag and drop site builder I've used
so far. It may not include all the "perks" from let's say WordPress,
such as setting time intervals to automatically publish drafted posts;
however, Weebly is relatively new and are continuously improving their
features. The reason I mention this is because for some individuals
the lingo used (i.e. gadgets, widgets, CSS, tag, etc) may be foreign to
them. You don't have those complexities using Weebly. You're still
able to upload videos, music, documents, and images; however, some of
these features are in the pro version, which is a mere $48 a year. For me, the ease in setting up a website/blog was well worth it. Over time, I've learned CSS code and have modified several of their free templates to fit my personal needs.
My site consists of a blog and several static pages. With Weebly, I can also add as many blog pages to my site as I choose; however, for my blog's purpose, only one is necessary. Feel free to
check it out.