by Victoria Neely

Created on: September 25, 2007

The pat answer is: It depends on you and your business. No, really. Blogs and websites come with their own pros and cons, and you'll want to weigh them before deciding. For most situations, however, a website is the best bet. Here's why:

1. Websites are more flexible
Blog are easy to update and maintain, which is part of their appeal, but websites can have equally sophisticated and user-friendly content management systems. Blogs give readers a way to leave comments, but there's no reason why a website can't have similar features. Websites can be as simple or complex as you want them to be.

At first glance, blogs can seem just as diverse as websites. But for the most part, they all follow the same format: A blog is a series of posts listed in chronological order. The first thing you see when you visit a blog is the latest post. There are usually sidebars filled with links to older posts. Some blogs have static pages that live outside the chronological format, but blogs are still basically online journals. Regardless of how you dress the blog up, that's the format you're stuck with.

2. Websites are less demanding
Regardless of whether you have a blog or website, you'll want to keep it fresh and give people a reason to come back. Even so, it's less critical to update a website on a regular basis. Blogs by their very nature need fresh content all the time. Without a new post every day, or at least every week, blogs get stale and musty. You'll either have to spend a few hours every day writing articles for your blog, or you'll need to hire someone else to handle that job for you. And frankly, there are some businesses that are very hard to write fascinating news articles about on a continual basis.

3. Websites are more professional
Although blogs are gaining preeminence on the internet, a blog will still have the feel of an online journal. Blogs tend to be more casual and conversational. Depending on your business, a blog could set the perfect tone for your web presence. But in almost all cases, you simply can't go wrong with a basic website.

4. You can always add a blog later
In some cases, businesses have both a website and a blog. The two entities can complement each other nicely. The website usually serves as the official store front for whatever services or products the business offers, while the blog is the place where people go to read up on the latest news about the business. So when in doubt, go with a website first. Once you've had your website for a while, you'll be in a better position to know whether or not a blog will enhance your business.

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