There is much confusion about Blogs. Some think they are web sites. Well, they are web sites but they have a specific purpose which makes them more limited than web sites. However, their strong point is that they offer the owner a way to update the site to keep the site fresh with new content.

A Blog is an Online Public Journal

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. Blogs come in all shapes and sizes and feature sets but, they all do the same thing, they allow the owner the ability to make text entries that immediately appear on the site. Blogs can be very interactive as readers are often able to make comments to the author about what they just read. Other features include surveys, links to other sites and archives of past entries. Many people are challenged in the ability to update their web sites. Blog software makes it easy. Check out Blogger.com or GoDaddy's Quick Blog. Some are even Free to use.

Most Web Sites are not Dynamic

Would it not be great if you could update your web site when ever you wanted to? Your site can be set up to do so with some help with program scripting. There is also off the shelf software that can allow you to make updates to your site. Either way there is an added investment for you to personally be able to change the content on your site.

Best of Both Worlds

There are great advantages to having a Blog. First it gives you a way to interact with the public and make updates any time you want. Secondly, Blogs bring in more traffic. The search engine visits your page more each time your update, ultimately moving your blog higher and higher on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). So if you already have a web site,start up a Blog on Blogger.com (remember it's free) and link back to your site from your new blog. If you like writing about your industry, the new traffic can be funneled back to your web site. Probably the cheapest and most fun way to promote your web site

So while a regular web site may not have the functionality of a Blog, a Blog doesn't have the pages and other features that your web site has. Together your web site and your new Blog will help you with your online marketing efforts.

Karl Knelson - Site Mechanix, LLC
Web Development and Web Consulting