Blog Only - Or Blog and Website?

There is a trend to have a blog only instead of a Web site and a blog, although that is certainly not for everyone or every organization. Most traditional businesses are expected to and should have a Web site. Could you image going to Walmart's site online and only finding a blog? Probably not. Then again, if I went to my auto mechanic's site and found a blog with hours, directions, and other info in the sidebars, and a post on seasonal car care tips, that would work extremely well.

Here are two examples of people who would just start a blog if they started anew. Guy Kawasaki, has mentioned that if he did it all over he would just start a blog, and in the sidebars of his blog he would have links to all the "brochure type" and other information he has on his website. He almost never updates his website, but he updates his blog almost daily. Also Michael McLaughlin, who is the co-author of "Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants," started both a website and a blog to promote his book but if he did it again, he also would just start a blog.

Most companies however will need a Web site, perhaps even more than one. Most people are familiar with traditional Web sites, and that's what they expect to find. Also Web sites are better than blogs for many purposes, for example a retailer who has many different products available, and sites that contain primarily "evergreen" material that is rarely updated or added to.

Me personally? I am keeping my website as well as my blog. Traditionally I have some very large corporate clients, some big Fortune 500 companies, and they certainly expect and understand websites very well. That said, when considering engaging me for a project, they almost always find my blog and enjoy looking at it and getting to know me a little bit before they contact me.

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Comments

[Craig]

I have mixed feelings on this topic. I think everyone should have a blog and not a website and I think it should be based on Wordpress because you can combine both static pages and blogging categories. But there are many businesses that have spent a ton of time and money on their existing website and it would be to expensive and time consuming to convert it to a blog. For those people I would say just add a blog to your existing website. But I do find most small businesses have basic, out of date websites that can easily be converted to a blog.

[T Demop, Blogging for Business]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the comment!

There are still some business situations that require formality where a blog isn't going to work as well, never mind businesses that have thousands of products online -- a blog isn't ideal at that.
Most businesses, especially small businesses, could do with just a blog certainly!

Now as for WordPress, great platform, but many platforms allow for both static and blogging type pages, including of course WordPress, TypePad, Expression Engine, and Joomla.

Hey, someday they'll be no difference between a Web site and a blog -- I see them merging.