Do I Need a Website and a Blog?

As an eBusiness expert, many entrepreneurs and small business owners ask me, “Do I need a blog and a website?”

Exploring some of the differences between blogs and websites will help you to decide.

FEATURES / GOALS	WEBSITE	BLOG
Indexed by search engines regularly based on new content being added	slow	rapid
Accomodates newsworthy info and trends	limited	yes
Produces leads with integration of forms	yes	yes
Driving traffic to a newer domain from search engines	poor	good
Automatic web 2.0 integration allowing for interactivity with a market	no	yes
Navigation and link structure makes it easy to find static and dynamic content for credibility, education and conversions	good	limited
Accomodates all types of secure eCommerce integration	yes	no

Here are a few suggestions to consider about websites and blogs:

Every business can benefit from having a blog, even if they have a website.
If you don’t have a website, developing a customized blog may be all that you need. (WordPress blogs are indexed better than any other blog platform in Google)
A blog will only perform well in the search engines if regular posts are made.
If a website is performing well in the search engines, use a blog to drive traffic to your website.
Blogs make it easy to present compelling multimedia content.
Blogs and websites should make it easy for your visitors to subscribe to your blog RSS feed and join you on your social media sites.
Use your blog to journal about hot topics for your market and solicit their comments.
Use you blog to solicit ratings from social bookmarks like Digg and Delicious.
Use your website to establish your credibility and provide landing pages for inquiries or sales conversions.
Create a navigation from your blog and website and allow your visitors to seamlessly move between the two.
The best choice for providing seamless movement between your website and blog is an easy instant website builder.