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Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?Views: 1328
Oct 26, 2005 6:06 pmCan Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Garland Coulson

Psssst...come over here.  I have a secret for you.  Don't tell anyone, but my entire web site is just a blog!

Long before blogs became popular, my web site was set up in a blog system.  I love my blog site because I can easily update the content.  When you add new articles nearly every week, having a web designer adding them doesn't make good financial sense and it isn't the best use of your web designer's creative abilities.

The benefits of a blog as my main site.

  • Don't have the expense and time commitments of maintaining both a site and a blog.

  • Very easy to add content myself whenever I want just by copying and pasting.

  • Very article focused.

  • Blogs tend to rank well in search engines.

  • Automatic creation of RSS feeds - another way to publish and reach people with my articles.

  • Built in search capability.

So is having a blog as a web site site for everyone? 

Absolutely not!  A blog works for me because I write lots of articles and add more continually.  If I was an online department store, putting this into a blog would be very difficult.

Here is a table to help you understand whether your web site could be a blog.  If most of the comments in the "yes" column apply to you, you may be able to convert to using a blog as a your main web site.  If most of the comments in the "no" column fit, a blog probably won't work.

Yes No
  • I will write and post new content every week
  • My site has a strong article and informational focus
  • I have a small number of products and services
  • I don't need an online product catalog
  • My content doesn't change regularly
  • My site has primarily a product or service focus
  • I have a large number of products or services
  • I need an online product catalog

My own site is done is a blog system called Geeklog at http://www.geeklog.net.  It does require some technical knowledge. If you are looking for a similar solution that is easier for beginners, check out Blog Harbor at http://www.blogharbor.com.  

I added e-commerce, auto responders and ad tracking to my site using 1ShoppingCart.

Having my web site as a blog has saved me 1,000s of dollars and has given me a great way to connect with my target audience.

Garland Coulson, “The E-Business Tutor” is an acclaimed speaker, author and coach in the field of Internet marketing for small business and is the creator of the Free Traffic Bar at http://www.freetrafficbar.com.  For more information, visit The E-Business Tutor web site at www.ebusinesstutor.com or call toll-free in North America at 1-866-413-0951.

Permission to publish this article on your own web site or in your newsletter is granted as long as the complete article is used and the final paragraph and link to our site is intact.

Private Reply to Garland Coulson

Oct 26, 2005 7:18 pmre: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Chris Young
In reality, a blog is nothing more than a content management system that has been dumbed down for personal use. Nothing more...nothing less.

Systems like Blogger, enable the non technical person publish to their own little corner of the web.

Content Management Systems like Feed Stream or Interwoven, create template driven sites that let you set up a variety of categories, assign permission levels to various users and add special features without knowing anything more than how to type.

In fact, catalogue publishers use Content Management to manage their sites without the hassle of re-coding a site every time a product changes.

So...whether a site is called a Blog or something else is a matter of symantics, the underlying trend is towards self publication with a content management system that automates updates thus eliminating the need for a "Web Master".

Cheers,
Chris
www.RambleWeb.com

Private Reply to Chris Young

Oct 26, 2005 10:21 pmre: re: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Denise O'Berry
Garland --

I'm with you on this. Great points! Content management tools / blogs have really removed some of the technical barriers that many small business owners perceived. I love the software and wish I'd known about it years ago when I started my very first website.

Best regards,

Denise O'Berry
Small Business Expert

Your website = cobwebs or cash?
Visit http://www.gotsmallbusiness.com

Private Reply to Denise O'Berry

Oct 26, 2005 11:28 pmblogs#

Chris Rempel
Blogs are very effective not only as an easy CMS (content management system), but also as a marketing tool:

Blog comments act as an interactive method of creating credibility for your business - it's a way to visibly connect with your user base, while others can see the process and make their own decisions based on non-vested testimonials (comment strings).

The marketing crowd calls this "social proof".

This is far more effective than simply including testimonials on a standard site, and it adds a certain dynamic of motion to an otherwise static site.

However, moderated comments are a must for a setup like this.

Again, this should only be used in certain settings (ie. when your userbase is aware of who you are).

I recently added a blog onto one of my client's sites, and it has worked wonders for a hard-sell market.

We pointed our newsletter subscribers to a feature on the blog, and encouraged their involvement/comments as part of an interactive, multi-stage contest.

This creates a real community based on real testimony. Since we've done this (it's been online for only a day), we've had a ton of response on the blog and NEW signups for the newsletter - which means people are now telling their friends about it.

This has worked so well because our newsletter user-base is already aware of who my client is, and have been "warmed up" previously with other events.

So that's just one example of how blogs can be very effective from a marketing perspective.

Chris Rempel
Testiment Consulting
http://www.testiment.com

Private Reply to Chris Rempel

Oct 26, 2005 11:34 pmre: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Nicole Bandes
Blogs can also work successfully as a main site when there will be multiple collaborators.

I maintain a free yahoo group for individuals that are building a business with the company I work with. We often get product testimonials and want to share them with each other. In an effort to keep something active and on going, I created a blog where I list each product (still completeing the product line) and then people can go to the blog and post a testimonial as a comment. It doesn't cost me anything other than a little time which I don't mind using since I can then access and use the testimonials whenever I need to.

You can see what I mean at http://www.nsptestimonials.blogspot.com/.

Nicole Bandes

Private Reply to Nicole Bandes

Oct 27, 2005 2:16 pmre: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Amy Knowles
I plan on creating a blog for my business. I am looking for recommendations as to which blog program to use. Your opinions will be appreciated.

Amy
www.swirlsofcolor.com

Private Reply to Amy Knowles

Oct 27, 2005 5:00 pmre: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Garland Coulson
Hi Amy,

I really like Blog Harbor at http://www.blogharbor.com. Only $8.95 per month and it is very easy to use and full featured.

My Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant was approached by a woman's networking group about settting up a web site and I suggested Blog Harbor because it would allow multiple authors.

Garland Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
Market while you surf!
FREE Traffic and Research Toolbar for FireFox and Internet Explorer
http://www.freetrafficbar.com
Moderator, Internet Marketing Tools

Private Reply to Garland Coulson

Oct 27, 2005 7:01 pmre: re: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Chris Young
Amy, Since your site is written in PHP you may already have a blog feature available to you through your hosting provider. It depends on how many data bases you are alotted but many PHP Hosting providers offer features like blogs at no extra charge.

If you have don't know anything about PHP, determine how many unused databases you have on your account and talk to your site designer about setting up a free blog application This should not take much more than an hour to do.

Private Reply to Chris Young

Nov 28, 2005 9:33 amre: re: re: Can Your Blog Be Your Main Web Site?#

Ash Nallawalla
Many Linux hosts offer a tool in their control panel known as Fantastico, which lets you install one of 2-3 blog types, especially WordPress.

No matter if you already have a conventional web site, you must get a blog and use it partly to give links to your main site. I intend to make a blog the home page for some of my affiliate sites. ;)

Private Reply to Ash Nallawalla

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