Is the money you pour into maintaining a personal website worth it compared to having a blog? Last year I was in a position to answer that question. I had a website and a blog. Now I have blogs, in the plural.
I had fallen for the oft vaunted wisdom that you must have a website to have a professional web presence. Without your own website and domain name, you are a nonentity. It was the old argument over public email addresses and private ones again. How could you be taken seriously as a professional without a personal email and a website.
In a word, nonsense. I've had both and they made no difference whatsoever. In fact I have heard from editors who use public email services like Yahoo. As for the benefits of having a website, with your own exclusive domain name, I found none.
My website was not doing me any favors, and the crunch came when my website host doubled the fees. I debated for a while - after all, the website was under my own name, and that domain may be lost to me if I gave it up. But in the end, I dumped the website. It just wasn't economically viable, and besides, blogs get more attention.
I am not sure why this is so - perhaps it is because people like the more informal style of a blog, and can't be bothered navigating websites. Websites are the very devil to keep consistent. They look different on different browsers, art images can be tricky (and do look its at 72 dpi although it loads faster), and writer's websites, in particular, are difficult to make look sharp and interesting.
On the other hand, a well made blog attracts visitors - actually, even blogs that aren't so well made attract visitors, if they are interested in the theme. For example, Blogger blogs are pretty much of a muchness, but Carol Gillott's Paris Breakfasts is a very popular blog that successfully showcases her work. It's the theme that draws her fans - including me! Her love of all things Parisienne - especially the delicacy known as macarons - makes for a lovely blog that you just have to keep revisiting.
Would Paris Breakfasts work as well if it were a website? Well, the choice is with Carol and she chose a blog.
Websites are often touted over blogs because they can be set up to allow a visotor to navigate around the site, but the latest blogs offer even more user friendly options.
For example, Wordpress, which I now use, can be set up just like a website, with a static welcome page and site navigation. The backgrounds are very cool, and the blogs look good. There is also considerable creative scope, just as there is with a website. The blog can be any style or theme you choose.
Better still, if you are the kind of eclectic pack rat who dabbles in almost everything, blogs can cover all our interests and business ventures. having several websites would be prohibitively costly - but you can create as many free blogs as you have the time. Blogs are also a good free way to experiment with ideas, and then, if you really must, you can create a website knowing it has been tried and tested.
In short, I found no real benefit in having a website, except the domain name. It made no difference when I dumped it - I still sell my work, and don't need a website to do that. But my blogs are a different story - they are giving me a web presence and a place to tell my stories, share my experiences and experiment with my creativity. All that helps promote my work without the unnecessary expense of a website.
