Business todayInteresting stuffReal Estate RelatedTechnologyWindermere Real Estate April 27, 2011

A blog vs a website!

As  Windermere solutions gets ready to launch their new agent.com tools set there will be lots of discussion on the topic of blog vs website. 8 years ago a website was a good idea. Today that has shifted especially when it comes to having a website that lives in the world of Real Estate. Today we are seeing a greater need for both living under one URL.

Lets do a comparison between what a website can offer you vs what a blog can do for  you.

The typical website today tends to be very static, techterms.com states that a static website is the following “A static website contains Web pages with fixed content. Each page is coded in HTML and displays the same information to every visitor. Static sites are the most basic type of website and are the easiest to create. Unlike dynamic websites, they do not require any Web programming or database design. A static site can be built by simply creating a few HTML pages and publishing them to a Web server.” Many of the sites I see today are static with the addition of a data driven IDX search tool embedded into the HTML code. This is a bit better but still very uni directional when it comes to interaction with the end user.

A blog on the other hand combined with a dynamic website can  offer  much more.

A blog is interactive and it allows you to have a voice that you get to control while at the same time allow others to contribute to that common voice. Blogs are immediate and if done correctly they build loyalty because then tend to bring together other individuals with common interest.

They are a great way to build content for social media and they give you content that helps to create great conversation.  They can also be a gateway into SEO. (Search Engine Optimization)

Where I tend to see blogs fail is when they do not have a focus and are not offering the reader base value as it relates to the specific topics.  Many times you will see a blog start up but die a slow death because the creator didn’t stick with it. I think the most successful blogs will be very focused, up to date with relevant information with interactive linking off to useful sources of like information.

I have attached some helpful articles that I have read recently that give you some good idea and specifics on the  differences.

Should I change my website into a blog?

Blog vs Website whats the difference?

The online debate blog vs websites?