Should I start a website or a blog?

Should I start a website or a blog?

For any online project, you need to have some type of a home-base. The choice is usually between a couple of options: a static HTML website or a blog.

The traditional definition of a blog is a website type that is updated regularly, usually from a personal diary perspective. The most recent entries are at the top of the blog, and it is interactive as readers can make comments and engage with the author.

Static websites eventually caught up with blogs and today many HTML websites feature updated content, personal views and interactivity with help of Facebook comments and such. On the other hand, blogs have moved more towards traditional websites with improved navigation and content layouts.

Blog vs website – the line is blurred

Many novice writers fall into the slavery of his blog. All the time they spend solely on the blog. This is a mistake of many newbies. A blog is primarily a hobby and not working. First off is to find more tips from experienced bloggers and skilled writers.

So currently there is no big difference between a static website and a blog – the line is blurred. Looking at it from a visitor point of view it makes no difference for them if they are reading an insightful article on a blog or on a website. Similarly, it makes no difference for them if they are watching an entertaining video on a blog or on a website. Work from a suitable design. Work from a suitable design when composing a blog post. The more clearly the blogger perceives the shape of high-quality writing, the easier it is for the reader and the better are the chances of success. Use paragraphs. Readers are reluctant to tackle large blocks of text. Break blocks of text into paragraphs. Deal with each topic of a blog post in a paragraph by itself to aid the reader. Do not write single sentences as a paragraph as too many short paragraphs in succession can be distracting. Give each speech or each quote a paragraph of its own.

From the front-end blogs and websites are pretty similar but from the admin back-end, there is a big difference in running a static website and a blog.

When I first began to create websites in 1990’s it was all about FrontPage and creating static websites via HTML coding, and constantly using FTP software to change and update the site. I can tell you that you don’t want to deal with HTML, FTP, file permissions, source codes, DreamWeaver, FrontPage and all the rest.

These days you don’t have to spend time learning how to deal with HTML code and FTP like I had to do when I started. Even without this knowledge, you can have a great online website. A blog is simple to setup, and you don’t need HTML, CSS, FTP and others to get started. You can simply start writing a blog in 5 minutes and get down to the important tasks like creating valuable content and growing your traffic.

Also, Google likes blogs more. As blogs have a cleaner and better coding and structure, blogs are given some priorities in Google’s search result rankings compared to static sites.

So how do you start a blog?

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and is used by the majority of the biggest blogs. WordPress is also a content management system and can be used to create a variety of websites (educational, entertainment etc). All my online projects are run on the WordPress platform.

WordPress must be installed on a web hosting server to work. For the simplest possible install, I recommend using Bluehost as you simply click on 1-button to install WordPress plus get a domain name and hosting for cheap.

It literally takes 5 minutes to have your blog up and running, no tech knowledge needed. Watch my video for a step-by-step guide on how to install WordPress and click here to get your blog started.