Website or Blog?

A lot of my friends and colleagues have websites; and lately, I’ve been feeling like an oddity not having one. After all, everyone has a website, right? Besides, a website can help me publicize my business, increase my sales, establish my online presence, make new connections, and do business all over the world without leaving my office.

Recently, I asked a well-respected and established entrepreneur if I should get a blog. He told me a blog will be a waste of my time because I’ll spend too much time blogging and not enough time establishing my business. So, I took the plunge and began to strategize my website.

My website designer friend is busy until the end of May because she is in very high demand. I cannot wait until May. I want my website now, so I decided to design it myself. I soon realized that I don’t have a clue on how to design my website. I have so many questions:

What colour scheme should I use? Should I use red, white and blue? Red, grey and white? Or, brown, green and white? I surfed the internet to find a colour scheme I like. The more examples I saw, the harder it was to decide.

How do I design my website? I considered using web design software like FrontPage, but I don't have strong web design skills and I don’t want to spend too much fighting with technology. I checked out some websites that specialize in designing templates. There is a myriad of choices, and I got lost in a sea of confusion.

What navigation system should I use? Should my navigation bar be on the left or at the top? Should I use square buttons? Round buttons? Links? Smiles? I don’t want too many special effects like spinning buttons or flashing arrows. All I want is a plain, simple website. At this point, a few hours passed; but I pressed on.

What background should I use? This is easy to decide. I don't want a flashy or colored background. I want the text to be easy on the eye so my visitors can read it quickly and easily.

Then, I have to think about page design, layout, fonts, typefaces, graphics, images, navigational rules... And, I haven't even thought about the content. It was the end of the day, and I still haven’t design a single pixel of my website.

Discouraged, I sank in my chair as I stared at my blank computer screen.

The next day, I went to an excellent seminar on how to get free publicity for your business. The trainer recommended we start a blog! After the seminar, I spoke with him and told him my dilemma. He recommended that I read the book Blog Wild! by Andy Wibbels. I hurried to the bookstore and snapped up the last copy. (I guess it's selling fast.) I read it, and I was sold. I decided to start my blog.

I checked out blogging software and was shocked as to how easy it is to use. All I have to do is sign up, choose the layout and design, and boom! I'm ready to blog. Just like that! It took me five minutes. And, I don't have to design the template. All I have to do is focus on creating great content, and I love it!

Who knows, I may get a website one day - but not today.

Want an immediate online presence? Start a blog. Now.

Comments

[Steven Smith]

Great article! I would have to agree with you that blogging is definitely here to stay and I think there may come a day where those who didn't start blogging may regret it. Obviously there are reasons to use a website rather than a blog, but why not use a blog to start out and use it as a launching pad to a website that then becomes a companion to the blog?

Just a thought.

Thanks for sharing!

[Michele Marques]

Welcome to the blogosphere. :-) If you add tags or categories to important posts, that will help automate setting up navigation to your articles.

[Giselle Conyette]

Steve,

Thank you for your comment. I'm glad we got in early on in the game of blogging. You are right. A blog can be a launching pad to a website.

[Giselle Conyette]

Michele,

Thank you for your comment. I will have to look into this.

[Max Haroon, President Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)]

Just to comment on your blog vs website:

1. I have been preaching to everyone, get some visibility, regardless of what you do or where you are in your career, and blogging (most of them are free) is an excellent way to start.

2. It reduces the work of optimizing, as the infrastructure or framework does a lot for you.

3. I am a strong believer in having an email address with your own domain name or your your organization's domain name.

(a) permanency in your email address
(b) A good place to host your own profile

View the page: Why You Should Have a Website
with Your Name as its Domain?
http://www.sipgroup.org/affinity/profilewebsite.htm

[Giselle Conyette]

Max,

Thank you for your comment. You made some excellent points and provided great food for thought.

Giselle Conyette
Director, Con-Yet Incorporated
Technology Creatively Captured in Words
Voice 416-593-7987
Email conyette@sympatico.ca