No, I’m not kidding. And believe me, I would have sworn I would be the last person on the face of this earth to tell you this. But it’s true. As I get my own sites converted, I am realizing how much wiser it would have been to use a blog to deliver my messages in the first place.

Remember that technically, a blog is a web site, but the difference between the two is huge. You’ll see why when you go through the list of Reasons.

Before I get into the list, I want to reiterate my position that your blog should be completely owned by you. What do I mean by that?

It’s simple. Decide on a domain name, buy it from a reputable name registrar, and put it on your own server. Yes, you can have a blog at no charge, but you do not own that blog. If, for any reason, the blog host you are using disappears, so does your blog.

If you have any questions about this, just let me know. I’ll be happy to help. Now, back to our list of “10 Reasons Why You Should Have a Blog Instead of a Static Web Site“.

1. A blog is faster. Blog themes are all over the internet, and many good quality ones are available at no charge. After you find one you like, download it from the site, upload to your site, and presto! You’re in business with a blog.
2. A blog is easier. Learning HTML and CSS to make a website can be a challenge for some people. Blog themes are ready to go when uploaded, and many of them allow you to easily make modifications in order to customize the look and feel of the blog.
3. A blog can be updated any time you are ready. No more waiting for a web master to put in the code, then upload your new copy. Just log into your blog, add your content or make changes to an existing post any time.
4. Add your video and audio files yourself. It’s simple to do with a plug-in, and it can jazz up your blog with additional information.
5. Blogs are interactive. This means your visitors can leave a comment or ask questions. It gives you an opportunity to communicate with the people who visit your blog
6. A blog can help you build your list. You can make it easy for your visitors to sign up for a free report or subscribe to your RSS feed so that they will be notified every time you put up a new blog post. Simply add a subscription box to your blog, and invite them to sign up.
7. Blogs are search-engine-friendly. There are plug-ins that will help optimize your site so your blog content can be found more easily in the search engines. These plug-ins can also help manage your meta tags and sitemaps.
8. Search engines play favorites with blogs. Static web sites rarely have new content, while blogs tend to have new content on a regular basis. Readers visit a blog more often that a web site, so the search engines tend to give blogs a higher ranking.
9. Blog posts can be put on auto-pilot. When you are going to be away, or busy with another project, simply write your posts in advance, then schedule them to post on any date, and at any time designated by you. How easy is that? Your blog will have fresh content, and you don’t even have to be at your computer!
10. Blogs are very popular with Social Media Sites – and Social Media is taking the entire world by storm. There are even plug-ins to allow the visitors to your blog to share the blog content. Check it out on this blog!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Business Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.