What’s the difference between a blog and a website?
Aug 31st, 2007 by Johan
The difference between a blog and a website is time. In other words; a blog evolved from a website. Today you have the option to use both, the flexibility and communicatability of a blog and the rigidity of a website.
Let me try and explain what we have by using your dairy as an example. When you receive your new diary you enter your personal details in the front, you create long term schedules and a list of your contact numbers at the back. Both the front and the back of the dairy exist for the year or longer. But daily entries exist for 24 hours. Well most of the days disappear. You can go back but most day-pages have a short life span.
In this example the rigid front and the back of the dairy are the web pages and the ever changing daily entries represent the blog.
Obviously a web page contains all kinds of information. The important differences in this example are the life span and the relative rigidity; the blog portion is dated and flexible and the website pages are rigid and not time dependent.
Let’s consider a few more differences and remarks on websites and blogs:
- At the beginning there was something and it developed into a website.
- A website is where you do the reading.
- A website is where you are given information on a service or a product.
- A website is one directional. “I do the talking and you listen”.
- But time defeated the talker’s plans. People don’t just want to listen, you want to give your opinion. The reader started making demands and the webmaster had to stop just telling but had to start listening as well.
- Websites are static creations, and most outdated companies regard their websites as digital brochures.
- Traditional websites are great at content delivery but they can also be impersonal in the way they publish content and inform their audience
- It’s very rare for a traditional website to be updated more frequently than once every month or two because the webmaster dictates the process.
- But as blogs developed the power of webmasters faded away,
- Blogs have very nice tools allowing ordinary people to add new content to their own web pages and to pages of other people’s blogs.
- Blogs are published in a personal voice, as a two-way conversation.
- Blogging was first used as online diaries and journals where entries were time-stamped.
- New blog entries are placed on their own stand alone web pages. But they rollout (or fadeout) as time takes its toll. Let’s go back to the dairy; as you go to the next day the previous day’s activity gets less important. The same is true for older time-stamped posts; they get displaced with the new posts and placed in an archive.
- A blog is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.
- Each and every page and article on the blog site can invite and display response from readers.
- A blog is in most cases written by an individual person or a few related individuals.
- Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or reflect the purpose of the Website that hosts the blog.
- The term blog comes from “Web Log”. When you combine the two you get – weBLOG. Someone removed the we and we ended up with BLOG.
What’s the difference between a website and a blog? There is no difference. The only difference is how we use and are allowed to use a website today.
The greatest feature of the blog evolution is the ability to create trust with your readers, to share quality information on a personal note where you give a in depth view of yourself. And they can, at their leisure, and without you interrupting get to know you by reading all you have to say.
Your blog will give them the opportunity to like you, to know you and to trust you. Start blogging today.
May you have a great start to your trust building blog
Johan Horak
P.S. Now that you know what’s the difference is between a blog and a website you can contact me here or phone me at 082 870 2004 or 086 026 3333
P.P.S. If you have anything to add please feel free and use the comment area below.