Websites are tricky business. You can have a beautiful website, but if it doesn't perform well, it really won't do you much good.
By "perform", I mean that people can actually FIND you in the search engines, and your site is actually organized in a way that people can find what they are looking for when they get there.
And that people are actually contacting you for more information about your services.
Of course, you want your site to look good too. But most people get way too overfocused on the "look" of the site, when it is the performance that counts.
I get asked pretty often about the difference between a blog and a traditional website. Should I have a blog or a website or both? Blogs (especially Wordpress using Semiologic) have made it easy to have a blog that looks like a traditional website, with it's own pages and "blog" section . . . it can be hard to tell the difference.
Of course, a blog IS a website. And your visitors won't care which "platform" you use. So the difference is in the functionality.
There are 3 BIG advantages of using a blog and scrapping traditional websites. OK, OK, you don't have to scrap it -- you can let it sit there and look pretty if you want. But DO add a blog if you want people to find you. Here's why:
1. Blog-style websites have built-in editing software. So once it is set up, you don't need special software to change something on your pages. It's very easy to use.
2. Blogs are search-engine friendly. Google LOVES blogs, which is why you find so many of them when you search for information. Blogs get indexed FAR more quickly than traditional websites.
3. Easy Organization. When you add something to your blog, everything gets organized and categorized for you. It makes everything easy to find -- like an awesome filing system online. You (and your visitors) can easily find whatever you/they are looking for.
But what if I already have a website? Great -- get a blog and link to it.
Already have a blog? As Kathy Hendershot-Hurd says, "blogs are like potato chips . . . One is never enough!" She should know -- we both maintain multiple blogs. She optimizes the blogs that we create for others at Easy Coaching Websites and they get phenomenal results.
We're teaching a teleseminar together to answer the nuts and bolts questions on blogs. To register and get the details, go to: No Excuses Blogging
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