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Thread ID: 127729 2012-11-09 18:22:00 Blog versus website Digby (677) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1311397 2012-11-09 18:22:00 Hi Guys
I am thinking of restarting an information style website I had a few years ago.

I cant quite grasp the difference between a website (html hand coded) versus a blog.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each ?
Digby (677)
1311398 2012-11-09 18:33:00 Wordpress is blog software but most use it for standard websites.

Website - info, shopping etc
Blog - online diary
pctek (84)
1311399 2012-11-09 21:26:00 Yeah thanks to software like wordpress, the lines are very blurred. I use Wordpress for almost all my websites :) Chilling_Silence (9)
1311400 2012-11-10 00:12:00 Hi Guys
I am thinking of restarting an information style website I had a few years ago.

I cant quite grasp the difference between a website (html hand coded) versus a blog.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each ?

If your pages won't change much, then hand-coding may be simpler and save you having to learn a whole new interface such as wordpress, etc.

You don't say whether you have your own website domina name, and/or a host. Blogs are especially useful for those with no domain name, and/or no hosting, who want to maintain a site - blogs tend to support more rapidly changing pages.

One thing to note is that most blogs have commenting - you have to keep an eye out for spam which you may not need to with a hand-coded site.

On the other hand, a blog will keep it's backend (hopefully) updated, which means you don't have to worry about whether you are up to date in your protection against new browser exploits and injection attacks.

Also, blog support for plug-ins, such as polls, comments, static pages, javascript, e-commerce backend etc, can vary, so if you know exactly what plug-ins you might want, you should check for support. With a hand-coded site, you can usually select anything your ISP/host can support, but blogs may be more limited. On the other hand, adding them in is as easy as ticking a box if the blog has the plugins you want.
Zara Baxter (16260)
1311401 2012-11-10 00:41:00 OK, so I think that you have convinced me that a blog may the way to go.

Say if I went for word press, can I add banner ads easily ?

What is Wordpress VIP ?
Digby (677)
1311402 2012-11-10 06:43:00 As Zara says, blogs seem to be common for pages being constantly updated. Many authorative info "sites" I subcribeto are actually blogs, and as CS says they blurrred in that many are similar to websites. Often with Wordpress as there are a ton of plugins, themes, and tutorials to make them appear (i.e. can customize) to be like websites. Some online businesses use both, blog for latest news/info that connect to their websites which generally provide services or products to sell.

Blogs I can quickly customize with different themes, or change from 2 to 4 column, change widths, etc, without knowing to much html/javascipt, as plenty tutorials about to change/swap a few lines of code. Hence you can rinse and repeat for many blogs (if you want) as long as they meet Webmaster Quality Guidelines, (support.google.com) e.g. for Google.

As for ads, I think for free wordpress they don't allow/support ads, e.g. adsense - your blog has to be self hosted (Perhaps check online). Relatively easy to add ads. The free Blogger allows ads, e.g. adsense as both are owned by Google. The have also endorsed Amazon ads. But can add many other ads.

Ideally you want to build up good content and visitors before adding ads for a new blog. Then add ads strategically, and not too many ads above the fold, with some content being present "up above" for users. Otherwise you risk being penalized. (searchengineland.com) Either buried in search results or worse rmoved (de-indexed) from Search Engines databases..
kahawai chaser (3545)
1311403 2012-11-10 07:37:00 I've just been finishing off one myself lately. Added AdSense, no worries :) Check it out, FixMyBroadband, in my signature. Naturally it's still not *quite* finished, but it'll give you a bit of an idea :)

It's also incredibly easy to customize the themes :)
Chilling_Silence (9)
1311404 2012-11-10 07:49:00 I've just been finishing off one myself lately. Added AdSense, no worries :) Check it out, FixMyBroadband, in my signature. Naturally it's still not *quite* finished, but it'll give you a bit of an idea :)

It's also incredibly easy to customize the themes :)been a while since you updated it
plod (107)
1311405 2012-11-10 08:05:00 been a while since you updated it
Not my blog, the "FixMyBroadband" site :p
Chilling_Silence (9)
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