Is your website or blog dead? Someone asked me this the other day, “What is the difference or a Blog VS a Website?”
I have covered this topic in a few places. Are people still confused? And someone is spreading a rumor that Blogs are dead. Some are, simply because the owners aren’t writing on them, so they start falling down the stairs to the basement of the library.
Google likes blogs, they like fresh content it keeps the activity up and active. Blogs aren’t dead! If someone is telling you they are – it’s likely that they want to sell you something that can make you more money. (It’s really about them making more money).
Most blogs these days are websites. What is gone are the static websites that are just sales pages, like a brochure. Or it’s free to opt-in and then you get to pay. Yet, some people who I have spoken too, just still design static websites, I think this is a disservice to the client.
A Blog is a great marketing tool to promote yourself. Share your expertise, give great information out about what you do, how you help people, what’s happening in your industry, sharing resources, host videos, e-books, have a shopping cart , collaborate with other professionals in your niche or maybe they just are complimentary by being value-added to your audience. You get to become the Authority of your niche.
Audiences have shifted, as most B2B’s are now B2C’s. Therefore your audience or customers want an opportunity to leave comments, ask questions really just to engage with you. With a static website it’s really hard to do. It’s mostly a page to TELL the reader/customer what the company is about. Like an online brochure. Some may have their contact information, and not just a web form for you to fill out.
Now that I have said this for static websites.. a blog can be your website. The difference really means: A Blog Engages and Static Website Tells!
I had a client who wanted to really update her website, so I created one using Thesis..all she had to do, was to write content. One day she asked me why it wasn’t searchable. First of all, she hadn’t posted anything for a month, it was a new site, so it would take a couple of months to show up in the search engines. A blog is work, you need to be consistent in writing articles, being active on your site. If you are only going to post once a month, then that is how often the search engines will come around to visit you. It’s like a relationship, you want to nurture it , grow it, be more active and supportive with your own marketing platform.
This article that was written by an admin on Google will help you to understand when your site drops in the Google Search Results.
This is a list of all the things that could happen to your site or page in a Google search and why it might have happened. First, let’s clarify some terms here, these might have happened to you:
- Deindexed – When your domain is completely removed from Google. Also known as Banned.
- Penalized – When your domain or page still exists but none of your pages can be found through very direct search queries. This penalty can be automatic through the Google algorithm or manually applied by a Google Quality Engineer.
- Sunk – Your domain or page wasn’t Deindexed or Penalized, but the traffic you were getting from Google suddenly drops dramatically. Also known as Sent To Hell and Sandboxed.
How To Figure Out The Extent Of The Damage
Remember, Google ranks PAGES, not SITES. For example, Electron Plumber” is a PAGE. You can call it a domain or a site, but as far as Google is concerned, it’s a single page. And Aboutis a PAGE, and is a PAGE. Google ranks pages. I’ve seen a sites homepage be penalized out of the index, but other pages on that same domain still rank fine.
Check With Google’s WebMaster Tools. Go to webmaster.google.com. If you haven’t setup an account and claimed your site, do it. Google will tell you exactly if there are any technical issues with your site here that may be causing your issues.
If you aren’t registered yet, do so.
Helping you to transform your business.
