If you’re wondering what the difference is between a blog and a website, it is simply that the information on the Home page changes regularly with a blog, but not so often with a website.

In effect:

1. a BLOG’s home page changes every time you write a ‘post’ and add new ‘content’;  this keeps the blog constantly evolving with fresh information appear on the home page every time there’s an update
2. a WEBSITE normally has a ‘static’ or non-moving page, where the content normally isn't changed as frequently as a blog (but it should be to keep it fresh).

So which one’s best – a blog or a website?

Good question

Why not have both?

I have a lot of websites, many of which have been created in Content Management Systems – CMS (like WordPress technology). I add widgets to my site which show the latest ‘news’ I post on my website, so that information is constantly being added to, and the News keeps the Home page (and internal web pages) fresh with lots of new content. The News can be coming from a separate blog, or within a News of Blog widget in your website software.

I have other sites where my Blog is separate from my main website, and I was talking to a friend about this today. We both agreed that we find the blogging aspect of writing quick updates very easy, whereas to think of writing a new webpage and to do our keyword research feels like a bigger task. We both tend to write on our blogs often, several times a week, and point our readers back to our main websites.

We also had the same train of thought in that websites tend to look and feel more structured because of the static pages listed in the menus. Easily searchable and easy to understand. A blog on the other hand has dynamic content, frequently updated, where the blog's followers tend to be notified every time there's a new post, so they're up-to-date with the content and read it as it's written.

Both effective, merely two different ways to provide information.

I think the line between blog and website is getting fuzzier, they’re really the same thing these days – they both provide information for website visitors, and it really just depends on how you wish to display it.

Socialising with your readers

The other main difference between a blog and a website is that blogs tend to encourage readers to make comments, whereas the average website does not tend to have the social technology in place. I quite look interacting with my website or blog visitors, and it's a marvellous way for your visitors to get to know you, trust you, and one day become your client or customer.

The most important thing to take away from this conversation is that you need to have at least ONE of these - and if you have both, more power to you because you'll be reaching different audiences and your traffic will probably improve faster than a normal website.

Let me know if you have any questions about the difference between a blog and a website.

Cheers
Teena