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Your BLOG Should Not Be Your WEBSITE

By Connie Tebyani

Home Stager with Platinum Home Staging, Inc. : RESA-Pro

June 05, 2009 05:33 AM

There seems to be some disconnect in today's Technological / Social Media age. The confusion seems to lie in that if you have a BLOG, you have a WEBSITE.

So many Entrepreneurs are beginning to advertise themselves using solely their blog AS their website. Countless times while wanting to investigate a local company about their services, specialize or professionalism, costs, etc... I click on what is labeled "website", only to be directed to their BLOG and finding that they think "trash cans should be red, not blue"....which leaves me scratching my head.

Let's break it down for those who may have jumped into this plethora of technological advancements not knowing the difference between a BLOG and a WEBSITE

A BLOG is an on-line "This is what I am THINKING, DOING or WORKING ON at this moment" It can make you a "specialist" per-say in your field of work, or simply make you the knowledgeable "go to" person in your neighborhood. A good example of this would be for a Realtor to BLOG, "Wow-look at the size of the portions at XYZ Restaurant in Anytown" or "Today's market values in LMO, EFG & RST cities". You can BLOG about your garden, your recent ReBarCamp or your latest success in your business. ActiveRain is an excellent forum for your BLOG.

A WEBSITE is all about YOU and/or your COMPANY and will usually be something along the lines of www.YourCompanyNameHere.com /.net or .org What are your services, specialties, contact information? More importantly your website tells your customers what you do! What can you offer a new client? What separates you from your competition? It should have lots of links and pages about YOUR SERVICES, maybe even your upfront costs or fees, etc. It might even have a link to your BLOG, but your website should not be about what color of Kleenex box you prefer or an open letter to a local vendor of your distaste for their services....

Still confused? I'll use my own company as an example:

Here is my BLOG (as well as the one you are currently engaged in)

Here is my WEBSITE

See the difference? BLOGS are informational (such as this one) but I wouldn't want for every customer who is interested in hiring me to Stage their home to be directed here FIRST. This should be secondary to the website showing what my SERVICES are, not what my OPINIONS are. Just my $.02 ~ take it for what it's worth.

Platinum Home Staging, Inc.

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Brian Brumpton

Keller Williams Boise - Boise, ID

Boise Idaho Real Estate

Connie,

I agree you should have both. Your blog should be used as a means of generating traffic and fresh contnet that will bring people to your website.

Jun 05, 2009 05:49 AM

Chris Fisher

Your Virtual Assistant - Concord, CA

Very well said Connie, and so true. Your blog should point to your website, get you some more traffic!

Jun 05, 2009 05:50 AM

Li Read

Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring) - Salt Spring Island, BC

Caring expertise...knowledge for you!

Good post! Thanks for sharing this. I agree with you, and will check out your website and your blog, too.

Jun 05, 2009 06:05 AM

Gordon Sloan

Group1 Real Estate, selling houses in Salt Lake City Utah - Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake Homes For Sale, Salt Lake Real Estate

Connie, I am not so sure.

I have noticed some very succesful agents that have been just using a blog.

Since I have been thinking about where I want to be in this regard this was a very timely post.

Thanks

Jun 05, 2009 06:18 AM

Billie Hillier

http://702IsHome.com - North Las Vegas, NV

Savvy Home Realty Solutions

Yes, you are right. Your blog is your "journal or LOG" that changes daily and your Web content stays the same for the most part.

Your Web site showcases your business and your blog showcases your expertise.

Your blog should be a component of your Web site.

Billie Hillier
___________________
Practical Real Estate Marketing
The Internet Has Changed the Way Clients Find You - Let Us Help Them
www.PracticalRealEstateMarketing.com

Jun 05, 2009 07:02 AM

Kimo Stowell

HI Pro Realty LLC RB-21531 - Honolulu, HI

REALTOR Associate® RS-76763 - Honolulu Hawai'i

Aloha Connie,

I personally think your blog should be embeded in your Web-site. I agree with you that just a blog for a business and no on line static presence might be a little scant. SEO dictates that websites need updated material in order to rank higher in searches, that means you have to update both website & blog regularly. However, if you embedyour blog in your website all you have to do is update the blog and the content will change for your website too. Arrrgggh all of this stuff takes far to much time to manage...yuck!

Peace,

Jun 05, 2009 08:16 AM

Ed Silva, 203-206-0754

Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT

Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

I have been including a blog ON my website, and lately have been thinking more about having them separate. You points are appreciated and timely.

Jun 05, 2009 08:27 AM

Muffy collins

Bridgeport, CT

I need to get started on my blog. I don't have an outside one yet. I agree, you should have both and keep them separate.

Jun 05, 2009 11:07 AM

Susan Grady

Inspiration Home Staging - San Marcos, CA

Very timely post, Connie. Thank you. Just earlier today I posed a couple of questions on Twitter as to blogs and websites. In my case, I have a blog page in my website. I also had just about forgotten that I started an outside blog in April. Haven't really blogged on either one because, as you know, I am confused about this electronic stuff...

So the question for me is, if a person has a blog independant of their website, how do other people find it, meaning, the blog? Want to hear something funny, too? When I was looking at my independant blog yesterday, YOUR BUSINESS was advertised on it. :-) I posted a tweet for you about it but don't know if you saw it.

Jun 05, 2009 11:21 AM

Elizabeth Bolton

RE/MAX Destiny Real Estate Cambridge, MA - Cambridge, MA

Cambridge MA Realtor

Hi Connie ~ My blogsite functions as both for the time being. I'm building static pages, have an IDX search, etc. Down the road I'll probably get another website but right now the combined version works just fine for me. My blog is about real estate - not my personal diary. I agree - when it gets mixed up it can be very unsettling. I found a blog for a local boutique in my city and the most recent entry the one and only time I visited was about the shop owner's cavities and visit to the dentist. Yuck!

Liz

Jun 05, 2009 01:35 PM

Susan Grady

Inspiration Home Staging - San Marcos, CA

Something else that confuses me is that just today and yesterday, I saw AOL business advertising to use a blog instead of a website...

Jun 05, 2009 03:16 PM

Mary Strang

Viroqua, WI

Interesting topic, I actually have been thinking of a blog as a primary site too, with static pages and IDX, it seems to make sense to me too... I have both right now.

Jun 06, 2009 02:20 AM

Connie Tebyani

Platinum Home Staging, Inc. : RESA-Pro - Calabasas, CA

Platinum Home Staging, Los Angeles and Ventura County

Thank you all for commenting! There are some great ideas which have passed around here in the comments, idea sharing is phenomenal in business!

A good Friend contacted me directly, asking what prompted the post, & here it is to be perfectly honest: We have a LARGE dead tree in our front yard which needs to be removed. When searching on-line for tree service companies 8 out of 10 directed me ONLY to a BLOG, & the quotes I included are true. If I need tree removed, I could care less that you feel trash cans should be a different color, or which style/color Kleenex box you think goes best in a family room vs. a bath room! I want to know: What are your hours of operation, your costs & fees, do you give free estimates, are you insured, how can I make an appointment?

There are many successful companies which utilize blogs well with static pages - but that have the FEEL of a website, and usually the blog will only pertain to the business(not what you had for breakfast). Embedding your blog into a secondary page of your website is a great idea as well and will up the Google juice, but in my humble opinion, shouldn't be the "landing" page.

Keep the comments coming =D

Jun 06, 2009 07:32 AM

Sharon Tara

Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH

Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

I totally agree with you and if I were searching for a service provider, I would want to see the details of their business on a professional site. I may click a link and check out a blog for more insight into the personal side of the person, but I think it should be separate.

Jun 06, 2009 03:09 PM

Debra Valentine

Designing Details ~ Staging & Design, LLC - Bountiful, UT

Utah Home Staging for, Bountiful, Salt Lake & Surrounding Areas

Like Sharon, I too am with you Connie! As a potential customer, I really don't care about their blog when deciding to use them or not. I may look at the BLOG only after finding the cold, hard facts on their website.

Jun 08, 2009 06:54 AM

Mary Fasnacht

Washington and Allegheny Counties and surrounding areas - McMurray, PA

Feels Like Home Interiors ~ Pittsburgh PA Home Staging

I agree with you, Connie. I think it is best to have a website and a blog. I do think it works well to have your blog connected to your website and obviously links to your website on your blog. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

Jun 08, 2009 07:24 AM

Billie Hillier

http://702IsHome.com - North Las Vegas, NV

Savvy Home Realty Solutions

Search engines look for blogs on your Web site - - - it will help your SEO if you have your blog connected to your Web site

Jun 08, 2009 07:28 AM

Wendy Casey

A-List Home Staging & Decor - Surrey, BC

Good topic, Connie. My learning curve has just gone up considerably. Now, I must get to the business of website design, and blogging!

Jul 23, 2009 07:10 AM

Pangaea Interior Design Kitchen & Bath Design, Remodeling

Portland Oregon - Portland, OR

Yes, absolutely you need both. That doesn't mean you can't have a blog page as one of the pages on your website, but people need to reliably find your services on the site and have it be easy to navigate.

Aug 29, 2009 05:50 PM

Theodora Wu

TJ Investments - Burien, WA

It makes sense to have both. A blog should be a tool that helps direct traffic to your website.

Oct 03, 2009 05:09 PM

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