Here you are, at the precipice of marketing greatness, ready to shape and share your brand.
It’s time to go public!
Just one problem: should you invest in creating the perfect website, or just start blogging?
Well, to answer this question, you need to know the difference between a website and a blog.
Although they have a lot in common, they’re definitely not the same thing… and each works in a different way to achieve your marketing goals.
Luckily, all the information you need is right here in this article!
Here’s what you need to know about the difference between a blog and website.
Website vs. Blog
Before we get started, let’s define the terms.
What Is a Website?
A website’s primary function is often to present clear information to users using basic pages, such as a home page or an “About Us” page. (Some websites do have blogs among their main pages.)
These days, a web presence seems essential. But the fact remains that a website is often composed of static pages.
And the vital information on those pages isn’t likely to change.
What Is a Blog?
A blog can be anything from an online journal to an information library.
It’s ideal for storytelling, tutorials, and touching base with your followers in a more intimate way.
Although a blog lives on a website, it is not the same thing as a website in and of itself.
Blogs need regular posting to be effective. But that investment in time pays off in the form of a loyal audience and higher search engine rankings.
Which Is Best for Making Money Online?
When considering a blog vs. website, it can be intimidating to wade into some of the terms.
You’ll hear about content management, traffic conversions, and indexing.
But here’s the takeaway: a blog allows you to regularly update your website with content. This positions you as an authority.
How?
Because it positions you to win at internet marketing, empowering you to connect with an audience of 1k people a day or more. You can further expand upon this by putting a system into place to convert those visitors into leads and sales.
The main difference between a blog and a website is that a website offers static information. A blog grows and changes over time with new content.
A blog also wins as an effective long-term strategy to connect with a recurring 1k visitors a day, because you can optimize it for SEO and create an influx of consistent web traffic.
And it can even grow leaps and bounds beyond that 1K figure.
Along with driving traffic, blogs also help you collect leads. Pop-ups, content options, and a plethora of other strategies can get you leads with one click… as long as you’re driving traffic with an optimized blog.
When you build a website, it begins to collect dust. Websites need to be grown, either like a blog or with a blog.
A website of static pages will have a difficult time bringing in valuable traffic.
This is the primary purpose of a blog. Having a section of the website that regularly updates is a valuable marketing tool. Blogs also provide more backlinks and internal links, which can improve your search engine rankings.
When Is A Website Better Than A Blog?
A website is better than a blog if you are building a landing page to manage paid or affiliate traffic.
This is also true if you have a YouTube page or podcast, and only need lead capture and sales pages.
A blog is (usually) a small financial investment that can become a valuable marketing tool. Click here to learn how to start an effective blog on a budget.
Here’s some deeper info…
Generating Traffic
Regardless of whether you build a blog or a website, the purpose is to generate traffic.
And when it comes to this, blogs have a lot of benefits over a website.
Not only do they present new, engaging content for site visitors on a consistent basis, but the content is easily shareable.
In this way, a blog can reach a far greater number of people… increasing traffic and brand awareness.
Blogs can also help you generate interest by getting you a better search engine ranking.
Search engines like Google index your website and document what it is about. That way, when people search for something you offer, the search engine can point them your way.
But what are search engines looking for? They want to see a few things:
- New and consistent content that presents you as an authority on the topic.
- Internal links (like those between different blogs on your site) that show a wide information base.
- Reputable external links. You could link to established sites, or other sites could link to yours.
Websites mostly provide static information, such as you would see on an “About Us” page.
But when this is the only content on your page, Google perceives the information as old and less important.
To get a better ranking with a website, you will need more pages—and you will want those pages to link to each other.
A blog’s power is its ability to deliver regular, fresh content that engages your audience. This will convince search engines that you know what you’re talking about. Through this mechanism, they will begin to send more traffic to your blog.
Unlike many websites, a blog allows users to engage with your content. When users read the content and engage with it, search engines know they’re happy with where it has sent them.
This will, in turn, result in more traffic.
Traffic Conversion
Another factor to consider is traffic conversion. How much of your following are you actively turning into prospects?
Often, a blog is a better long-term investment to do this, but there is an exception.
There is a type of website designed to capture leads and respond to paid traffic and affiliate links.
These types of websites are usually just called ‘landing pages’ or ‘sales pages.’ And their entire purpose is to act as a place to send traffic when you want to convert a visitor to a customer or email list member.
This type of website is often designed with completely static pages. It uses pop-ups or lead-capturing tools to sell a product or capture an email address.
For this type of site, you may need to create extra “freebie” content to attract your audience’s interest and build loyalty.
When using paid traffic or affiliate marketing, this type of website can be powerful for converting traffic and building a brand.
But these websites likely rely on other growth mechanisms. Think social media, podcasts, YouTube, etc. to generate traffic to the page.
Without a vehicle in place to send traffic to your lead-collecting site, it is virtually useless.
Owning vs. Renting
If you’re trying to make money online, setting up a website and blog somewhere other than your own site is a misstep.
A blogging platform like Blogger or Medium makes blogging a breeze, and Medium even has a semi built-in audience. But if Blogger or Medium were to close up shop, years of your content could potentially go down the drain.
On the website side of things, you’ll find that sites like Wix and Weebly make site building deceptively simple.
But without their infrastructure, your site collapses.
Whether you go with a website, blog, or both, it’s best to host it yourself if you can. This will not only provide more stability and freedom, but room to grow over time.
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
If putting together a blog and/or website scares you, don’t worry. WordPress offers a content management system (CMS). It’s designed to make starting a WordPress blog or website stress-free.
But there are two different WordPress platforms to explore: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.com has two major advantages: it’s free, and it is also super easy to get started. But your site and its contents are technically owned and controlled by WordPress.
Like Facebook and Instagram, the platform owns your content once you post it to the site. This scenario is a good example of renting your site or blog hosting.
WordPress.org is a paid service. It offers similarly easy site creation without taking ownership, but requires a modest investment. Here’s what it entails:
- Choose where to host the site (a hosting service).
- Select a theme to make your site look and function awesome. While you can pay for a theme, there are a lot of free options as well.
- Buy a domain name (your .com, .org, etc.).
After that, you have a site and complete ownership over all of the most important pieces… the domain name, the contents, the traffic, and the income.
Amount of Effort
Many pages of a website do not change. But because of that, search engines view those web pages as static.
That makes them “less important.”
A blog uses its posts to tell the ongoing journey of your brand and to keep the site updated. But when using a blog as a marketing tool, you’ll need self-motivation and discipline.
Successful blogs publish two or more times per week, leading to 100 blog posts a year. Regardless of whether each post is successful, the blog as a whole registers as an updated authority on the topic.
Building Valuable Skills
Designing a website or a blog demands an understanding of modern, marketable skills.
With a website, beta testing options such as pop-ups, blog content, design, and usability further refine traffic.
These teach valuable lessons on what works in the world of online marketing.
A blog, though, is a lesson in finding your audience, gaining their trust, and providing them with valuable, helpful information. That keeps them coming back for more (and telling all their friends).
Long-Term Success
So, which is really better for long-term success: a blog or a website?
The answer is, it depends on your goal.
Using a blog to convince search engines you are an authority means more traffic. That generates more leads, conversions, and possible sales.
A static website can also draw traffic, but you’ll need to funnel your audience in from external sources. With a static website, you need to keep on your toes to keep it from becoming too static, so that you can continue to appeal to search engines.
Both blogs and websites are viable choices in their own right, but combining the two will give you the best of both worlds. Why not build your own website with a blog, and win on both fronts?