Blogs as alternative websites
The internet these days is full of blogs masquerading as websites. A blog that looks like a website? What happened to the websites?
The difference between the two used to be quite clear. Traditionally, a blog had a journal type layout. People posted their thoughts or news and it was displayed in a single column. Each new post appeared right above the previous post with the dates next to it. As the month went by, the posts were automatically archived to the right or left side of the main column. However, a website was structured into multiple columns and headers that directed traffic to various locations within the site.
A blog layout was standard for several years, while websites differed in layout and depth. In fact, when I first searched for the best multi-site design software, using a blog was not an option due to its standard format. Instead I would use Joomla or Drupal, content managers with more functionality. Fast forward to 2012 and I switched from Drupal and Joomla to WordPress. Simply put, blog layouts have caught on in the last four years and are now the best option.
Blogs are much easier to use and don’t require hours spent coding and designing. There are a large number of templates available for free, or you can purchase an exclusive design. This frees content providers from programming and design issues, allowing them to focus on their writing. Also, many plugins and widgets have been designed in the meantime, creating many more options for page layout.
I would encourage anyone wanting an online business presence to look into the blogging platform. You can easily tune up a blog and there is a lot of support available through the forums. If you want free hosting, you can sign up for a WordPress, Blogger, or Typepad account (there are many others, but these are the top three), choose a template, write a post, and go live right away.
If you choose a free blog, you can use any name you like, but the blog provider extension will be added automatically. However, you can choose to host your blog on a server for a small fee and have your own domain name.
Is web design software a thing of the past? Probably not, there will always be great data driven sites. E-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay need the database-driven functionality of dedicated web software – a blog wouldn’t be able to track the vast amount of data that goes through each day. However, for smaller businesses and content providers, all they need is a blog.
To get started, there are several tutorials available on YouTube or the blog provider will have helpful guides and videos. Blogger has a slightly simpler interface than WordPress for those who are new to blogging and want to start with something simple. The key is to research all of your options before committing to an online presence.