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RSS FeedWhat type of Internet portal is best for promoting your work: A website or a blog?
Results so far:
| Website | 68% | 320 votes | Total: 468 votes | |
| Blog | 32% | 148 votes |
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Add to Favorites"I lead an interesting life..." begins your blog, ample enough introduction to your range of skills and talents. No, I'm only playing, it really isn't.
There are many boons that come with operating your own blog, for example: freedom to express views and opinions on subjects that you otherwise might never have the opportunity to speak of. Well, like this! But any other benefit, however removed it may seem, is only an addition to that purpose. Blogs are opinions and personal thoughts, what YOU think about THAT. Your language may be professional and you can have a humorous turn of phrase, but is that a fair portrayal of your abilities?
Ignoring the fact that blogs can be stationed on your own website anyway, let's take a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of such a site.
1) - Flexible. A website can be tweaked and arranged in thousands of different ways to portray thousands of different things. Articles, artwork, lyrics, novels, photographs, games, puzzles, statistics... the list goes on. If you have it you can put it on a website.
2) - Bold. Ever considered a graphic for your website homepage? How about a sword plunging into soil as lightning dances across the background, setting the scene for your fantasy work portfolio? No? Well how about a marquee of quotes and proverbs from history's greatest thinkers and poets, whispering across the screen? The perfect introduction to your own poetry and prose. Websites can be deliciously eye-catching, gripping you with even the most simple of images and inspiring you to delve into whatever wonders await you on the other side.
3) - Inexpensive. - Some people may entertain the idea of making a website for the briefest of moments before disposing of the idea like so much conspicuous milk that's been lying around in the fridge for more than it's fair few days past the sell-by date. The most prominent reason for this is the idea of spending more money than you can happily console yourself with. But, regardless of the dogma, making a website can be surprisingly affordable. Even free. The top web designers on the net needn't be the ones you turn to to make your portfolio come alive, you can do it yourself. There are a wealth of creation tools and programs lying around the nooks and crannies of the internet, the vast majority fully supported by help programs and tutorials. Even hosting has become easy, with a multitude of sites and companies offering free or dirt cheap web hosting for coms and orgs. It's never been easier.
Now, how about the cons of a website? Let's attack that vile beast, shall we?
1) - Confusing. Yes, it can get very confusing. With half a dozen web formats and scores of fiddly little support programs to master, it can weigh heavily on your inspiration to make your site. But if you can read, you can work. As I stated previously there is a wealth of guides at your disposal, you just have to look for them.
2) - Organization. If you're anything like me then you've got hundreds of ideas, if not thousands. Dozens of those are in concept already and a fair few of them are working projects. What do you do with all of this treasure? Do you hoard it in one place in the shadows of the world wide web and hope that you remember where it is, or do you take the intelligent route; draw a map. It can get confusing sometimes. With multiple projects on the go at the same time, all constantly being updated, sometimes you've really got to knuckle down and let your mind bulldoze its way through the organization process. But don't worry - I have faith in you.
3) - Attention. While blogs are, for the large part, maintained on sites that lean towards the subject you feel an affinity with, your website is a grunt in a war machine that stretches beyond mortal comprehension. Well, sometimes. You're one of many, a blank face in a sea of blank faces; until you make yourself heard. Having a website means digging up your own crowd, posting links and visiting forums, using keywords for search engines, etc. It can be boring, time consuming work, but you'll feel much better when your hit counter hits the multiple digits.
No matter which way you look at it, even the most pessimistic of entrepreneurs can't fault the professional capabilities of a website. If you're a local roofer, no. If you're a writer, it's a big yes. And an artist. And a composer. And a cat food salesman. If you're serious about your work and you want to be taken that way then throwing all of your efforts in the pile with the rest of the pulp isn't going to help you.
Be smart. Be organized. Be professional.
Learn more about this author, Damian Brown.
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Blog
Is the money you pour into maintaining a personal website worth it compared to having a blog? Last year I was in a position to answer that question. I had a website and a blog. Now I have blogs, in the plural.
I had fallen for the oft vaunted wisdom that you must have a website to have a professional web presence. Without your own website and domain name, you are a nonentity. It was the old argument over public email addresses and private ones again. How could you be taken seriously as a professional without a personal email and a website.
In a word, nonsense. I've had both and they made no difference whatsoever. In fact I have heard from editors who use public email services like Yahoo. As for the benefits of having a website, with your own exclusive domain name, I found none.
My website was not doing me any favors, and the crunch came when my website host doubled the fees. I debated for a while - after all, the website was under my own name, and that domain may be lost to me if I gave it up. But in the end, I dumped the website. It just wasn't economically viable, and besides, blogs get more attention.
I am not sure why this is so - perhaps it is because people like the more informal style of a blog, and can't be bothered navigating websites. Websites are the very devil to keep consistent. They look different on different browsers, art images can be tricky (and do look its at 72 dpi although it loads faster), and writer's websites, in particular, are difficult to make look sharp and interesting.
On the other hand, a well made blog attracts visitors - actually, even blogs that aren't so well made attract visitors, if they are interested in the theme. For example, Blogger blogs are pretty much of a muchness, but Carol Gillott's Paris Breakfasts is a very popular blog that successfully showcases her work. It's the theme that draws her fans - including me! Her love of all things Parisienne - especially the delicacy known as macarons - makes for a lovely blog that you just have to keep revisiting.
Would Paris Breakfasts work as well if it were a website? Well, the choice is with Carol and she chose a blog.
Websites are often touted over blogs because they can be set up to allow a visotor to navigate around the site, but the latest blogs offer even more user friendly options.
For example, Wordpress, which I now use, can be set up just like a website, with a static welcome page and site navigation. The backgrounds are very cool, and the blogs look good. There is also considerable creative scope, just as there is with a website. The blog can be any style or theme you choose.
Better still, if you are the kind of eclectic pack rat who dabbles in almost everything, blogs can cover all our interests and business ventures. having several websites would be prohibitively costly - but you can create as many free blogs as you have the time. Blogs are also a good free way to experiment with ideas, and then, if you really must, you can create a website knowing it has been tried and tested.
In short, I found no real benefit in having a website, except the domain name. It made no difference when I dumped it - I still sell my work, and don't need a website to do that. But my blogs are a different story - they are giving me a web presence and a place to tell my stories, share my experiences and experiment with my creativity. All that helps promote my work without the unnecessary expense of a website.
Learn more about this author, Gail Kavanagh.
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