A Website or a Blog — Which Is Right for You?

Kethyr's CAMEL Report
Mountain View, California
Sunday, March 15, 2009

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You've spent your time wisely. You've educated yourself. You've improved your skills. And you've developed a business plan. Now the time has come to map out your strategy for taking your business online.

One of the first decisions you have to make is should you start a website or a blog? The answer to that question depends greatly on what goals you want to accomplish online. But first, allow me to provide a quick definition for those unfamiliar with blogs.

A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website with regular entries of text commentary, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and media related to its topic. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order and readers have the ability to leave comments in an interactive format.

Today I'm going to look at four factors that should help determine whether to go with a blog or a website for your online business presence…

1. The level of the ongoing commitment you're prepared to make.

Starting a blog is the easy part; maintaining a blog takes time and effort. That's because blogs are hungry animals. To keep them happy, they need a continuous stream of new, fresh, relevant content. And because blog posts are usually stamped with the date and time, if you don't update your blog for an extended period of time, people will notice — and they may lose interest in your blog. And not only that, your reputation may suffer.

Have you ever been to a blog where the last post was from say, April of 2007? I always think to myself: "Has this person gone out of business?" or, "Is their business fading away, and they've all but given up?" or worse, "Is the blogger still alive?" Starting a blog is not something to be taken lightly. It requires a high level of commitment to be successful.

Of course, websites also require a commitment. You'll need to add new content to your site to keep the search engines happy. But you don't have to update it on quite such a regular basis. Which means, if you're busy doing other things or want to take time off, your site will still flourish and continue to generate leads and/or revenue without you.

2. The navigation structure that will best help you achieve your online goals.

A blog usually organizes its posts by date or by category. It's not the most logical format when it comes to letting your visitors know what your site contains. Some bloggers have chosen to add static pages to their sites to make it easier for their readers to access important information.

A website's navigation structure is far more intuitive and easier to follow than a blog's. If done right, your viewer will be able to quickly size up the type of information your site contains and how to access it. This is key if you're looking to sell products and/or services on your site. A website's navigation structure is simply better suited for e-commerce transactions.

3. The level of technical expertise required by each.

Very little technical expertise is required to start a blog. You can generally get a blog up and running in a few minutes. And adding additional features (like Google Adsense, YouTube videos, and social networking integration, for example) is relatively easy to do. Unless you're doing advanced customization, the technical expertise required to set up a blog is relatively low.

On the other hand, creating a website does take longer and does require more technical expertise (especially if you're planning to build it yourself). Plus, because the navigation is more complex, you can't just put together pages willy-nilly. Everything has to work together just right.

4. What you want to accomplish online.

Although last on this list, this is your most important overall consideration.

Blogs are ideal for topics that are prone to constant updates. For example, politics is a perfect topic for a blog. New things are constantly happening that "political junkies" are eager to read about. Blogs are an excellent choice if your goals include establishing yourself as an expert on one particular topic or creating a bond between you and your prospects and clients. Plus, they are a great vehicle to get customer feedback. I'm not saying you can't do these things with a website, but the interactive format of a blog fits in perfectly with these goals.

As mentioned, if your main goal is to sell products and/or services, a website makes sense because of its superior navigation structure. If you're, a freelance writer or graphic designer looking for an easy way to show prospective clients samples of your work, a website will work just fine.

Choosing between a website and a blog is one of the first major decisions for a new online venture. Choose the wrong format, and you could lose months, even years, of precious time. Choose the right format, and your business will thrive and flourish right from the get-go.

Yours in success,

Sean Eric Armstrong
Kethyr's CAMEL Report

P.S. Please send your questions and comments to editor@kethyr.com. For more information on websites, blogs, and which is right for your business, please e-mail info@kethyrsolutions.com.

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