Whether you run a website or a blog you will generally still be doing the same thing – writing lots on a regular basis. However where this will differ is in the web design and on the layout which is largely what dictates whether a site should be classified as a site indeed or more of a blog. Here we will look at how to know which you are running and at how you should design your site around that.
What Does a Blog Look Like?
To the layman a blog and a website might look the same, but to someone who works online for a living there are a number of tell tale differences. First of all, if it is a blog you are looking at then the posts will likely be organized in order of how recent they are. Each recent short articles will be on the home page in order on the front page and this will likely be the first thing you see so that the minute you have visited a blog you can see what’s new and get reading. It’s a good way of reeling people in and it encourages regular viewing. As a preview however it may be that only the first paragraph or two are present on the first page and that actually you need to click on the link in order to read more. This way the information is presented in snippets with the option to expand if you wish.
At the same time, the number and the position of the menu buttons are going to be relatively minimal so that you can’t really see them right away and so that they are not a main focus of the site. This will be because a blog won’t really have much other than the content in order to read.
The right hand side of the column may have a list of categories to help you look through the archives of articles quickly and easily. The top menu meanwhile might have a couple of pages, but because most blogging software limits these to simply static pages, these will be limited to a few things like links and maybe an about page.
The main thing about a blog then is that the content is very much the focus. The blog itself provides nothing but a minimal framework for presenting that content and is designed to get in the way as little as possible. It’s regularly updated and it’s designed to attract the same visitors back time and again for the updates.
Websites
A website meanwhile is something else entirely. This is a site that can be read in any order and that might have more features and purposes than just its content. As such the front page will likely not be a simple collection of recent articles but may also include popular articles, products and a blurb about the nature of the site itself. These sites will likely include pages that provide as much value as the content itself which will include online shopping stores, forums, chat rooms and other media such as videos. This site is more of a book that requires longer reading but which might not warrant lots of repeat visits, whereas the blog is more of a magazine or journal.
Hi, I am Patrick from YarraWeb. My web company has designed many websites and blogs. Visit us on YarraWeb.com to know more about our services.