Blogging probably sparked the emergence of Web.2. It remains a popular and effective means of getting content on to the Internet. Whilst blogs can support and enrich free-standing web sites, they need not replace them.
These days we need to figure out the inter-relationship of web sites, blogs and social networking facilities. They are not mutually exclusive alternatives. They are complementary methods for enhancing the power of the Internet. If you have a web site – i.e. something you have built yourself from scratch with its own unique domain name – you can then use blogs and social networking tools to drive traffic to it.
See your web site as the end of the food chain. Twitter, Facebook, whatever else you are on, can be used to introduce readers to your web site and call them to action – to read something.
For over 12 years I have been producing free-standing web sites for small businesses and organisations. They have all met with varying degrees of success. I have built over 100 new web sites for clients. In the majority of cases, I have then left them to get on with the updates. LOL. Clients often say to me “I am so glad I now have a finished web site”.
My reply: “There is no such thing as a finished web site.”
As soon as a new web site goes live, the work really begins. Every page must be updated on a regular basis. If content is not changed the site well get nowhere.
It’s like a voice crying in the wilderness.
Since I started doing web sites in 1997, the Internet has changed enormously. We now have Web.2., a second generation of the web, in which blogs and social networking sites appears to have taken over much of what web sites used to do.
There is still a role for static web pages; that role now is to support and enhance the more interactive elements of the web, like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linked-in and many more. There is still a need for the free-standing website but people need to figure out what that role is. I believe I have.
Originally published 7/12/2010