Blog or website?

May 23, 2011 by Teresa Farrell | 0 comments

I read somewhere where there are more than 17 million registered blogs, and I find new ones popping up daily. Businesses have had websites for years while more individuals are hosting their own ‘websites’, by having a blog. I may be biased, but here are 7 good reasons for having a blog!

1. Blogs are easy to set up! You can install a WordPress blog in merely minutes. You don’t have to be too technically savvy to get this done. You don’t have to worry about coding, and the core files are there for you. You can find and install free and inexpensive templates called themes with simple click of the button. The WordPress dashboard is very user friendly. All you need to do is log in, setup your framework and add your content. It is very easy to manage your pages, categories, and comments. The blog platform does the technical work. You get to add your content and manage your site without knowing programming languages or depending upon technical resources!

2. Reader interaction! When someone visits your blog and has an opinion, they can share it through comments. You’ll get to know frequent visitors, and respond to their comments. Those conversations can continue through comments or email. When you have comments on a particular topic, it makes other visitors stop to take notice of what’s going on at your blog! This develops community and continued interest.

3. Blogs are more Search Engine Friendly than websites. Due to its size and vast amount of content, the blog platforms are crawled regularly by the search engine robots. When a blog is updated, the search engine bot will crawl and index the new content. With a blog, you have the ability to optimize your blog content. When you link your pages to each other, you give the search engine bot more options to crawl. This is especially helpful when targeting a specific keyword. There are popular blog plugins, such as ‘All In One SEO Pack’, which are easily implemented for free to help with optimization. [option add SEO Pressor affiliate link]

4. Blogs are more popular on social media sites than websites. If your content is considered valuable, your readers are more likely to share your best content on social media sites or email links. Readers love to interact with bloggers and bloggers also interact with other bloggers and syndicate (share) content they find valuable. Again, it’s very easy to install various plugins that make it easy for your reader to share your content to their favorite social media site.

5. RSS stands for ‘Real Simple Syndication When a reader subscribes to your RSS feed, your content is delivered directly to their email. They are among the first to know when you have new content, and visit your site as a result. With a website, there is rarely new content and there is no reason for the visitor to visit the site on a regular basis.

6. Blogging helps with personal branding! When you have a blog, you can shine in your niche by providing content relevant to your target audience. You will be viewed as an authority figure in your niche by the content and knowledge you provide. The more questions you answer, the more you will brand yourself as a leader. Post content regularly and optimize them so that they are easily found by the search engines.

7. You have complete control over your blog. If you host your blog, you control everything – the look, the content, the hosting, when it’s updated – EVERYTHING! You can update your blog whenever you get ready, manage your own archives and share information in all forms of media at very little expense and resource dependency. You control everything – the look, the content, the hosting, when it’s updated – EVERYTHING! You can update your blog whenever you get ready. You can add or takeaway at your will. With a website, you don’t have that kind of freedom.

Overall, an independently hosted blog offers complete flexibility for internet marketers. Creating internet marketing content is a big effort. You owe it to yourself to own and control the content you create. WordPress is a very good alternative and I recommend Gatorhosting as a host facility.

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Author: Teresa Farrell

Hi, I'm Teresa Farrell, an online marketing coach and network marketing leader who has been involved in entrepreneurial pursuits since 1997. Prior to that I provided management consulting services to Fortune 200 companies in the telco, tech, bio-tech and mass retail sectors. I loved the work because it was solutions oriented and required constant learning and skills upgrade. You couldn't sit still for a moment. After 20 years, the constant travel became too much and I longed for a simpler life. I found it in the Pacific Northwest. Its a great place to live but most of the paying jobs are a 1 -2 hour commute away so part of the plan was to create my own income. I evaluated several business models and ruled out anything with a storefront or employees immediately. I wanted to freedom of cash flow and did not want to have more obligations than absolutely necessary. Next, I evaluated franchises, B-to-B services, product distributorships or brokerages. I ruled out most of them because again they required large capital investments in merchandise and facility and I wanted to limit my exposure as a start up. I had seen the percentages of inventory write-offs and did not want to create a volume business to offset the write-offs. I found a couple of consulting franchises that made sense. 1. I was a seasoned consultant and felt comfortable in that arena, 2. I felt if they had the products or services of value, I could promote, sell and implement them, and 3. I really liked the idea of being part of a larger brand and support community. So after several years of free-lancing, I purchased a franchise as a web service consultancy for small and medium sized companies. Big mistake. I wound up paying royalties to someone for a job and getting very little in return. Anyway, I learned a great deal from the 2 years I stayed with that business and I gained confidence and clarity about what I really wanted to do with my life, now that it was totally my decision. I loved the internet. I loved problem solving. I loved consulting and coaching others. As I grew in my on-line abilities, I was introduced to network marketing and developed a supporting income from both activities. Over the past several years I have been amazed and excited to see my two vocations of choice merge and actually emerge as a powerful new economic model. You can become wealthy with little at risk compared to the past models of entrepreneurship. More importantly, ordinary people can create a debt free financial stability for themselves and others in this industry by learning the new skills and applying them thoughtfully with integrity. The outcomes are directly correlated with the level of effort. I love that! It is never too late to get started and now is the best time to start because it is very new - the integration of internet marketing, attraction marketing and network marketing. With the right focus and mentoring, a person can completely change their financial picture in a short period of time. In addition to my marketing work, I provide fund raising assistance to several non profit organizations and consulting services to small businesses. I relocated from New York City to the rural Olympic Peninsula and enjoy connecting with family, friends and business associates around the world clicking from my keyboard.

Teresa Farrell

Your Internet Marketing Coach

Blog or website?

Author: Teresa Farrell

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