website or blog? recommendations appreciated

[ponybarn5]

I'm a soon-to-be first time website creator or blogger, whichever is the better course.

Right now, I'm just looking to get my domain up and on the net. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. The site will be informational only--no ecommerce or ads or anything to generate money.

I'm wondering what people think as far as whether I should do a website or a blog.

Also, is there any problem if you develop a blog then decide to make it into a website (same general information content) at some point later on?

Thank you!

[felgall]

You don't have to make a blog into a web site since a blog already is a web site.

A blog is most appropriate when your posts are date related.

If you want to have pages that are more general and less date related then some other content management system may be more appropriate - you may want to look at Joomla and Drupal.

[Mr space]

As Stephen said you don't have to make a blog into a web site, I would like to ad that you can actually put up a blog with Google free of charge and it is a pretty easy way to get started and if you want to have more control you could put your blog on your own domain or server.

[esem]

A website is going to be a lot harder than a blog on average (my opinion)

Its really personal preference on which one you want to do.

If you make a blog and 500 posts later decide the information would be better spent on an actual website, You're free to pick N' choose your content and make a website out of your blog.

I'm assuming you're just beginning on this type of thing? Yes its very much possible to turn a blog into a website down the road. So my advice is probably start a blog if you're new. Get comfortable with that, since there are so many easy to set up blog platforms out there

[ponybarn5]

Hey, thanks to everyone who chimed in! Definitely advice I can use.

This really helps me a lot! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it other than to say thanks so much again!

[buldozerce]

I have used wordpress for bloggin, and drupal for blogging/content management. Both are very good, and have good number of features.

[Hal9k]

You may find "Write Articles not Posts" interesting.

[ryanhellyer]

This is an impossible question to answer. As Stephen pointed out, a blog is a website. So you can't make one or the other. You can either make a blog type website, or a non-blog type website, but they're both websites.


Whether you decide to create a blog or another type of website entirely depends on what you are trying to achieve with it. We need a whole bunch more information before we can offer any real help, in particular what sort of content you are wanting to present, what the goals of the site would be, what type of audience etc.

[somecallmejosh]

You don't have to make a blog into a web site since a blog already is a web site.

A blog is most appropriate when your posts are date related.

If you want to have pages that are more general and less date related then some other content management system may be more appropriate - you may want to look at Joomla and Drupal.

Good calls. Both of these tools offer integrated blogging solutions as well as the capability to grow from a simple informational website to a robust dynamic solution. I would also ad Wordpress to the list. It offers the ability to create pages (website style) or posts (the dated blog style mentioned above), and may be a little more user friendly from an installation (famous five minute install) and management point of view. Either way, you get the best of both worlds... Your choice, however, should be based on a business decision rather than that of technology. Which solution will help you accomplish your goal? Maybe that's what we should be discussing...

You really can't go wrong with any of these tools... They're free, they're expandable, and they all have a very strong support community. Good luck to you.

[Tom Lindstrom]

As a blogging platform, Wordpress is the best.Instead of saving a few dollars on the wrong place, invest in a domain name and hosting account.Remember to write new content regularly.

[busweb]

I suggest you to create a blog who looks like a website. Not kidding, you should use a platform who has the blog's attributes so it is faster indexed, you could update it anytime for community purposes. Stephen Spencer talked about benefits of blogging in http://videos.webpronews.com/2009/01...s-to-blogging/.

[zooted]

No answer is right or wrong.

A blog is easier IMO. You will probably see results quicker.

I would make the website and make a blog to go with it.

Depends on what your plans or niche is. For example I made a directory and then added on a blog to review the sites in my directory.

[Newviewit]

One word - Wordpress

Quick to setup, very easy to update, and there are thousands of nice looking free templates out there for you to start off from. Spend a little time customizing the pages and you're good to go... also has tons of plugins to make the website do most things you would want

[dwzemens]

I no longer consider WordPress to be "blogging" software. The recent version enhancements have increased it's proficiency as a true, low cost-high value content management system.

I also agree that the term "blog" often is what causes confusion. I have prefered to call them "articles" and not "posts" for quite some time.

[slayerment]

I'd definitely go with a blog (like Wordpress) for now. It's simple, handles everything you need and you can always scale it out later. Even if you were to build a more full website I would still recommend Wordpress or Drupal.

[Lavinco]

I prefer a wordpress blog imo, to properly reflect the client's needs, if they choose to allow us to do SEO with the design. There are so many benefits to having a self hosted blog for seo, that I no longer make static sites if seo is also on the menu. Even in some rare cases, I will still create a custome themed blog site for businesses just in case they wish to SEO in the future. Then this way, it is already setup.

[esem]

Yes. You must have a Webhost before you can start using Your blog..

When it says upload, it means Upload it to your web hosts server, Via FTP perhaps.

I can understand how wordpress is hard to install without a web host... lolol

[jonbey]

Yep, I vote for wordpress too. Blog posts, and pages for permanent important pages. Best of both worlds.

[felgall]

The biggest area of weakness of any of the online systems is that you have to remember to run backups every time you change something or risk losing that change if anything happens to your site.

With a static site where you write the pages on your computer and then upload them you automatically get a backup since the original is on your computer and is copied to your site.

[Duzero]

I would recommend a blog! Easy to make and you don't have to worry about the need for server-side languages and what your website will be about! The income from a blog isn't bad either!

[Ragect]

Like others... i will also recommend you BLOG... as its very easy to update and it have rich text editor inside, so you DONT have to buy a HTML editor or stuff...

[Pinny]

A blog will be easier to keep, since many blog platforms require very little web design related skills to maintain...it's a good starting testing ground for you.

[mike-spencer]

I think there is a big difference between a blog and a website.... It depends for what purpose are you going to use them. You can even work on both of them at the same time.

We have jut redesigned our Company website... which also includes our blog. Its just redesigned ... so i am looking forward for the feedback aswell...
go to genexbsdotcom

[Duzero]

To add on, with a pre-made script like Wordpress there are addons for whatever you could possibly want!

On the other hand, creating a website of your own, especially your first website, can have amazing advantages. You learn so much including cross browser techniques and why not to use tables.

Cheers

[intra]

A website is going to be a lot harder than a blog on average

i don't thing so!