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Understanding the Difference Between a Website and a Blog

Understanding the Difference Between a Website and a Blog

Although Blogs can be difficult to define they are instantly recognizable as they all have a common form.

They consist of a web page with new content at the top ( ordered by date of entry latest on top) , and links to older content or other sites on the side.

They were originally intended as online journals which is why they are organised by date.

A traditional website is usually ordered by subject and not by date. In fact when you look at a web page on a standard website you have no idea of when it was created or by whom.

However a blog page uses the same underlying technology as a standard web page (HTML), and so in reality a blog page is also a web page and a blog is a website. I consider a blog to simply be a particular form of website.

In fact even before blogs, as we now know them, came into being many websites were being run as online journals, but the webmaster had to create the date based layout manually.

The term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997.

The short form, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase weblog in the sidebar of his Blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999–

Source Wikipedia

The creation of tools to enable non technical users to create a blog, and free hosting service led to the rapid expansion of Blogs from 100 in 1997 to over 20 million in 2005.

Because of the success and flexibility of the blogging platforms like Wordpress many webmasters are now starting to use the blogging plaforms as traditional websites by arranging the site content by subject and not by date.

So, in summary, a website can be used as a blog and a blog can be used as a website.

November 24th, 2007 | Tags: , | Category: Build-Website, blog, wordpress | One comment

An Introduction to Google Adsense

Google Adsense allows Web masters to make money from their websites by allowing Google to display ads on their web pages.

From a web master perspective all you need to do is to copy a little JavaScript code which Google provide and paste it onto the web pages. When someone opens the page Google will display ads that relate to the web page content- so called context sensitive ads.

If someone clicks on an ad then Google charges the advertiser a click fee and splits it between Google and the Webmaster.

Without a doubt Google Adsense is the easiest way of making money from a website. Google Adsense offers a webmaster several unique advantages that affiliate programs don’t:

  • Very easy to set up . You can include your Adsense code as part of your website template.
  • Only one company to deal with – Google
  • No longer need to spend hours trying to find matching affiliate programs.

Getting Involved with Adsense

To display Google ads you need to enroll in the Adsense program. This is simple matter of filling out a form online with your details, and your website details etc.

However before you are accepted Google will evaluate your website to ensure that your website is fit for its ads.

There is no need to get too concerned about the application. Google is basically looking for good content websites run by honest web masters. No tricks no cheating and you’ll be ok.

You can find the Google Policies here.

November 23rd, 2007 | Tags: , | Category: google adsense, money | Leave a comment

Niche Websites and the Zulu Principle

You may be forgiven for thinking .. What do Zulus have to do with niche website?

In the preface to his investment book Jim Slater writes:

quote fom jim slater

Jim’s book was all about making money in the stock market by specialising in particular types of shares and situations. In essence it is about finding a niche and exploiting it.

What is true in the investment world is also true on the Internet. To build a successful business on the Internet you need to specialise.

Specialization has many advantages the main ones are:

  • You can quickly become an expert
  • You know exactly where to concentrate your efforts
  • Search engines know exactly what your site is about
  • Site visitors are very targeted

Of course the other site of specialization is being too specialized such that your target market is too small. So your niche must be as Goldilocks would like it

not too big, and not too small, but just right

Theme or Niche?

Although theme and niche can be used interchangeably I tend to consider a theme as being a broad area and a niche as a narrow one. Once you start to narrow a theme down at some point it becomes a niche. When is just a matter of personal preference.

November 21st, 2007 | Tags: , | Category: Niche-Research | One comment

Niche Websites, Monopoly and the Simpsons

Did You know that you can buy a Simpson’s edition of monopoly!
What’s wrong with plain old monopoly? Nothing as far as I’m concerned.
However which edition of monopoly would you choose for someone who was
an avid Simpson’s fan?

You see the makers of monopoly have taken their product and created
new niches from it. Why? Not for the usual reasons-The original market
was too large- they were already dominant anyway.

No the reason was to give the game appeal to more people by making
it more relevant and to ship more product and guess which one costs
more? Not only can they sell the niche edition for more money (
currently 3 Times) they also they get to sell more games.

Instead of a family having one monopoly game they now have several
according to the taste of each of the members.

Not only can you get a Simpson’s monopoly but also a Simpson’s Clue
(Cluedo) etc. Can you see the power behind this idea? A single product
is turned into multiple products but all based around a single central
theme—Monopoly.

—-In essence that is your
model for making niche websites

You start with a broad central theme e.g.-monopoly,
and split into smaller niches- Simpson’s, clue, lord of the rings etc-
you then build a site based around one of these i.e. a site dedicated
to Simpson’s monopoly.

Once this site is established you then repeat the process with
another niche until you have a cluster of niches all based around the
theme monopoly.

Doing it this way it is easier to become successful for each small
niche one at a time than to try for the entire theme-monopoly. If you
check Yahoo for the number of competing sites for each term this is
what you get:

  • “Simpson’s monopoly” – 40,700  competing sites
  • “monopoly”-         7,710,000  competing sites

Which one do you think is the easiest?

November 21st, 2007 | Tags: , | Category: Content, Niche-Research | Leave a comment
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