BEST ONLINE BUSINESS

Before creating your
business online. You need
to decide what type of
website will perform best
for you. There many
different types such as a
blog, a static website
consisting of HTML web
pages, a content
management system or an
e-commerce store. The
type of website you build
for your online business
depends on its purpose.
My case study
I have been running a static
HTML website and a blog
for several years and have
noticed a variety of
differences between them.
1. AdSense income
The income from my
website is consistent every
day, whereas the income
from my blog is up and
down. Only when I add a
new post that containing
AdSense Ads do I earn
something. If I don't add
any new content to my
blog I don't earn anything
from AdSense ads. My blog
contains hundreds of more
articles than my website yet
my website earns 5 times
more than my blog.
2. Search engine
rankings.
The rankings for most of
the articles on my website
have remained consistent
over the years. Many
articles have first page
rankings on the search
engines. Most of the
articles posted on my blog
don't get high rankings.
Only the ones where I've
built a number of incoming
links to the article do well
in the search engines.
When I post a new article
on my blog it immediately
appears at the top of the
search engines but after a
few days the rankings drop
dramatically.
3. Site structure
The hierarchical structure
of my website is based on
the common theme of
design, hosting and
marketing. All the pages
link to each other within 3
clicks. It has a theme-based
content structure that is
well-suited for the search
engines. The blog theme is
also oriented around web
design and marketing,
however, each new article
is stacked on top of the
previous one and is not
necessarily linked together.
This makes it a little
confusing for visitors to
find old content within the
blog. I use the site map
plug-in, but visitors still
can't see all the articles
contained within the blog.
4. Number of files on the
server
My website consists of
about 150 HTML pages. It is
not database-driven or
runs on a script so it is fast
loading. It was created by a
combination of hand
coding and using
Dreamweaver html editing
software. If the server
breaks down or my website
gets hacked, I still have all
the files stored on my
computer. My blog
contains hundreds of files
and is database-driven. The
files are not stored on my
computer unless I make
constant backups of the
database containing the
files. If the website gets
hacked I'll lose all my
content. The blog loads
more slowly than the
website.
5. Upgrading
Since the website was built
with Dreamweaver editing
software it only contains
HTML files. These files can
be edited easily by hand or
by any HTML editing
software. The blog was
built with WordPress
software that continually
needs upgrading when new
security fixes are released. If
you cannot do this yourself
you'll have to hire a
professional to do it for
you. If you don't upgrade
there is a possibility your
site will remain insecure
and susceptible to hackers.
6. Design flexibility
The HTML website allows
you tremendous design
flexibility as long as you are
familiar with XHTML and
CSS. The blog has
limitations on design with
most of them having the
main content on the left
and a narrower column on
the right. You can easily
find free templates that
have 2, or 4 columns and
change different headers,
however options for
complex designs are
limited.
7. Server resources
The website doesn't use
many server resources
because there are so few
files. Blogging software
such as WordPress uses
more server resources
because the software has
to load each page every
time a visitor accesses it.
Most websites reside on a
shared web hosting plan.
This means there are many
websites using the same
server resources. If any blog
or website exceeds the
resource limits of the server
it may disappear. Therefore
when researching a web
hosting service stay away
from web hosts that
advertise unlimited
bandwidth and disk space
because you will be sharing
the same space and
bandwidth as all the other
websites on the server.
8. Evergreen content
The content of the website
remains evergreen because
the information is always
relevant to the visitor. It
may be an article or
tutorial that can be viewed
within a few clicks from the
home page or is often
accessed by someone
searching for a keyword in
the search engines. Blog
posts tend to disappear
into the archives and
cannot easily be found by
visitors. Only the newest
post can be seen on the
home page, but quickly
disappears from view as
new ones are added.
Tips
Blogs are useful for
expressing personal
opinions providing the
latest news and interacting
with your visitors. New
content must be frequently
added to retain your
visitors. If you don't do this
your blog will be
abandoned and join the
large number of dead
blogs on the net. Clarify
the purpose of your online
business before creating a
website or blog and you'll
avoid the common pitfalls.
For more information on
creating a blog or a website
visit:
Create Blog or WebSite?
Herman Drost is the
Certified Internet
Webmaster (CIW).
Owner and author of
http://
www.DrostDesigns.com
Article Source: http://
EzineArticles.com/?
expert=Herman_Drost
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