Internal Blogs vs External Blogs
Mon. Jun 22, 2009 
4 Comments
Previously I have stated that blogs are in important element in your online marketing strategies for several reasons. The primary reason is a blog is an easy-to-use method for adding NEW content on a regular basis. Secondary reasons are creating an environment for user interactions, product /concept testing, and creating depth of content … all of which are important to search engines.
Now that you’ve welcomed the idea of creating a blog you’ll have to decide whether you should have an internal blog or an external blog. And, to make that decision, you are going to need some definitions.
Internal Blog. An internal blog is a blog that is built within the context of your current website.
A perfect example of an internal blog is Voice for Hire. “Blog” is listed as a menu item. The fact that the blog portion does not look like the main site is intentional but you may also have your blog customized to integrate completely with the current look of your website.
External Blog. An external blog is a blog installed on a free blog service such as Blogger or WordPress.com or installed on a seperate domain name and hosting account and is, in fact, a site unto itself.
A custom install of the WordPress blogging engine on your own server and domain is your best opportunity for total customization. Using a free service like Blogger limits the customization of your blog’s looks and content.
The pros of an internal blog are that you do not have any additional expenses for domain names and hosting. Additionally, you have a built-in audience; all the people already visiting your site will now visit your blog. The cons are that you may not be able to have the level of customization that you’d like, you are not really reaching NEW visitors, and possibly feel more restricted to the content you are willing to post.
The pros of an external blog are the ability to give the blog its own identity, you are more flexible with your content choices, you’ll be able to reach new visitors, you can expand your company branding by making it edgier, more fun or less fun! The cons are the additional expenses of buying a new domain name, hositng, and the additional labor involved in building a customized blog, marketing another website, marketing to another audience, and you will need to be consistent with new content.
If you and your company are interested in learning more about how a blog can become an effective part of your marketing strategies contact me at 971-207-4492 immediately.
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Interesting!
I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. Good marketing means which can convert the leads into sales. The only marketing that has moved me in the last couple of years is Social Media Optimization.
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