For someone trying to start an online business for the first time, the difference between a blog and a website can be confusing. You can’t decide if you want to start a blog or if you want to start a website. Fortunately, the difference between these two things is surprisingly simple. In this short guide, you will learn what a blog and a website are.
Blog vs. Website – What’s the Difference?
To begin, we will start by answering this question in simple terms. A blog is a type of website that you can create.
All of the steps you must take to build your website will be the same if you want to create a blog for a business or yourself. To further answer your question, we will go in-depth on what these two things are.
What is a Website?
Across the web, millions of websites ranging from personal blogs to business websites can be accessed by anyone with a web browser like Google Chrome. Sites are all hosted by a hosting platform like BlueHost and can be accessed through an internet browser from anywhere in the world with many websites for different niches, passions, and purposes. What you are reading this writing on is placed on a website. Almost everything that can be accessed online is in the form of a website.
What is a Blog?
A blog is a type of website that creates content in the form of written blog posts for its readers. Blog posts can range from informational articles in a specific niche or a personal blog that you use to share your own experiences with your visitors. The main goal of any blog is to publish new articles regularly that gather readers who will keep coming back to your website to continue reading.
If you are someone who likes to write, a blog is a great way to build a following—as it’s mainly written articles. However, including images in your blog posts can spice them up and make it more appealing for the reader.
The content of your blog can be anything. Whatever you feel like writing can be put on your blog for the world to read. Along with writing whatever you want, it is now easier than ever to create a blog with content management systems like WordPress. You no longer need knowledge of coding to post articles to your blog as these content management systems do everything for you.
How to Choose Between a Blog or Website
In today’s world, you no longer have to think of picking between a blog or a website, as they can be easily put together on a single website. Any content management system offers blog functionality that allows you to craft blog posts and upload them to your site whenever you would like. Your blog posts will be posted in chronological order with the newest posts at the top of your blog’s feed. With consistent blog posts, you can have regular visitors coming back to see what you have to say. An email newsletter is a great way to inform your followers that a new blog post has been posted.
A blog is always a good idea to add to your website, as it helps you connect with your audience and showcases your expertise. If you are someone who has a skillset or knowledge that other people would enjoy learning about, your blog could be a huge success. Blog posts can be used to educate, entertain, or persuade, and these three things can lead to your business or personal brand becoming a hit.
Using a Blog or Website for your Business
If you own a business, a blog is a crucial step to building a reputable brand and building authority in your industry. With consistent blog posts from an experienced content writer, businesses will see significant increases in their sales. A customer on a business’s website likes to feel like the company understands them, and your blog is the perfect tool for that.
Along with building a following with your blog, search engines love to place blogs at the top of search results. A top search engine result will drive massive amounts of traffic to your business website, increasing your sales.
Can I Make Money with a Blog or Website?
As online shopping continues to grow in popularity, there has never been a better time to start making money with a blog or website. There are countless ways that you can make money, and one of the most popular ways is by affiliate marketing. By promoting other people’s products on your website, you can make a commission off each product that is sold. Affiliate marketing has become one of the top ways that famous bloggers have been able to make a living off of their blogs.
Some other methods of making money with your website are:
- Selling digital informational products (such as online courses) to your readers.
- Consulting services to help other readers with your expertise.
- Selling advertisement space on your site.
- Selling merchandise and other products.
However, the amount of money you make on your blog is highly dependant on a few factors. The main factor of any successful blog is the blogger’s ability to stick to a consistent blog post schedule for a long time. You will need to work very hard and stay disciplined when making a blog to ensure that you will succeed. You must also be willing to deal with failure, as many first-time bloggers fail when they start, and never attempt to make a blog again. The process of building a successful blog takes a long time as the search engines will take time to start putting your posts on the front page of the search results.
No matter how many times you have heard about how you can get rich quickly from blogging, it takes a long time to start to see results. Any veteran blogger will tell you they had not seen results for months, and all of a sudden—they began to get an enormous flood of traffic.
There are no limitations to how much you can make when you are blogging, you can have a small blog that makes only a few hundred dollars a month or a large content agency that manages dozens of blogs.
Selling Products on a Blog or Website
When using platforms like WordPress, you can install a free plugin like WooCommerce that converts any website to an e-commerce store. An e-commerce plugin will incorporate all of the necessary functions you need to sell products successfully, like product listings, payment processing, and receiving orders. You can sell whatever you would like, and your customers will have a secure platform to put their credit card information and purchase from you. Most content management platforms offer both blog and e-commerce functions, allowing you to create a website that matches your goals.
Selling digital products is also a great way to make money online. You do not need to spend any money creating a physical product, and the majority of your earnings will be pure profit. If you have knowledge that other people want, create an online course or eBook to teach your visitors.
Can you Build a Blog or Website on your Own?
With today’s easy to use content management platforms like WordPress, you can quickly build a website on your own with very little learning. Hundreds of tutorials cover WordPress in-depth to give you everything you need to create your website. You won’t need any specialized knowledge or skills to create a professional-looking website that compares to large enterprises. Once you are happy with how your site looks, you can make it public to begin receiving visitors and start building your blog following.
What Does it Cost to Build a Blog or Website?
There are a few necessary components that everyone needs to start their very own website. If you plan on using WordPress, you will need to buy web hosting from a reputable company with fast servers such as BlueHost. Paying for web hosting has never been cheaper, with hosting as low as $2.95 a month.
The other key component you need for a website is a domain name that people will use to find your site on a web browser. The domain name should match the name of your business or personal brand. Domain names can range from $0.99 to several thousand dollars, depending on the demand for the web domain. It’s recommended that you start with an inexpensive domain name that is short and easy to type in the search bar.
What’s Next?
Now that you know the differences between a blog and a website, you can now go out and launch your website (with a blog.) Building an online following is critical for any business’s success, and a blog is a straightforward way to build that following. Along with the benefits it has for a business, a blog can also be a great hobby that you can express your thoughts and feelings about anything.
