At the end of August, I jumped headfirst into the blogosphere and began blogging here daily. Before then, I'd just dabbled with blogging, posting Wednesday blogs at my group blogspot, http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/.
A chance mention of the listserv, blogbooktours, in a blog by Echelon publisher, Karen Syed, led me into the blogging labyrinth where I've since become willingly entangled.
As I honed my blog, I began visiting other blogs and leaving comments. In the process I've made countless cyber friends. Each friend leads me to another. When I read a blog, I usually leave a comment. This courtesy is reciprocated at my blogspot, even by bloggers I've never visited before.
Now that I'm a full-fledged blogger, I spend about 95 per cent of my time at blogspots and not websites. Blogspots seem more current, more personal, are faster to get in and out of, plus they afford the option of leaving my opinion on the topic of the day.
Because of my tendency, which I presume is shared by others, it's all the more important that my blogspot be as much as it can be, with catchy post titles, hot topics, excerpts from my books, buy links, a website link just in case a blogger should wish to wander over, plus a blogroll, a followers section, bookmark option, and other features.
I've done what I can to lure bloggers here, but a question still lurks in my mind. Since I've become guilty about ignoring websites, do other bloggers do the same thing?
Do you visit websites? If so, how often?
Please share.
Absolutely. Blogs and websites are by definition supposed to have different purposes. I visit both.
ReplyDeleteBlogs, originally called weblogs and later shortened to blogs, are meant to be more personal, more current, more conversational. They've expanded into How To blogs, group blogs, microblogging, and everything in between. Personal blogs are ones I generally don't read...
But that doesn't mean it's time to discount websites. Websites can offer a wealth of information. And you can have a website built on blogging software. CataNetwork is just one example of that.
I prefer websites that offer educational, instructional, interesting content.
One of the major advantages that blogs currently have over websites (and one of the reasons many are moving to more blog-like software) is the ease of adding content and having that content be easily distributed through widgets and RSS.
I could talk all day about this topic, so I should probably stop now. I actually presented a whole workshop on Blogging last July. :)
Ally
I love blogging because blogs give me another outlet for my creativity; but because I also love research and learning about things, I visit websites at least as often as blogs...if not more.
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges of being a virtual book tour coordiantor--at least for me--has been that blogs have so much to do with my job that I almost avoid them during down time.
Cheryl
Depending how you count social sites, I'm about half & half.
ReplyDeleteI still struggle with my daily blog, even though I've had it several years. I have an easier time with a twice a week journal entry.
I guess as far as actual websites, I probably don't visit that many any more. No time!
I visit lots of blogs daily. More blogs than websites, for sure. Bloggers, the good ones, always have links to websites in their posts. so if I like more info on the topic of the post, I can easily find the website, bookmark it, and store it for future reference. Plus blogs are more conversational and interactive.
ReplyDeleteMorgan,
ReplyDeleteI personally don't like blogspots because they aren't very user-friendly. But I read some blogger blogs because some of my favorite bloggers (like you) are there.
My site and my Web site are combined. With WordPress, people who visit my blog are also on my Web site. They can stay on the blog or simply click on a menu item to go anywhere else on my site. And people who come to the Web site can click on a menu item to go to the blog.
Most of the sites I create and maintain for clients are that way now. For example, my church's Web site is very large—82 Web site pages, more than 100 audios of services and sermons, and nearly 300 blog posts. Many of the members aren't very Internet savvy so it's convenient for them to go to one place for everything.
I visit both, but honestly, I do not visit nearly the amount of websites that I used to. I think you may be onto something here about the website being the host site for the blog, and the blog being the place where people really interact.
ReplyDeleteI know several people who have given up their "website" and created a blog that they update regularly in lieu of it.
I say whatever keeps your fans informed and interested is the best way to go.
I have both a website and a blog. The website gets updated weekly, while my blog gets updated every day - multiple times each day if you count the comments.
ReplyDeleteI visit more blogs than websites. But I do go out to websites. I have to find websites of interest to writers to put weekly in my newsletter. And when I have an author guesting on my blog, I have to do research on him or her and that usually means multiple trips to his or her website.
They each have their own purpose. I mostly keep my blog focused on business -- writing, publishing, writers, etc. But my website is about half info about me and half business stuff.
I rarely go to websites. What for? There's got to be something powerful to attract me to a static website!
ReplyDeleteAfter I went to twitter grader.com, I found something about website grading. I went there and got about 7 pages of some great ideas about what needs changing on my website, but don't have time to do the major overhaul yet. I changed a few things, but that's all so far.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I plan to concentrate on my work in progress when I'm not blogging or marketing.
I just wonder if I've made the right decision to put more emphasis on my blogs at this point and not my website. Or, maybe I should do a bit at a time to get the website more up to speed, so the project won't seem so daunting. Not that I don't have a lot on there already, but I do want it to be more current and eye catching.
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
I visit websites as well as blogs. Each has a different purpose.
ReplyDeleteI visit at least 10 blogs a day and 5 - 6 websites, often more.
Vivian
http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com
http://prairiedogcowboy.weebly.com
I like websites for static content, such as article sites and photo archives. I visit them less often because they update less often. It doesn't stop them being valuable.
ReplyDeleteI have my daily blog on my website-so my website does get updated daily or even more often. This allows people access to my static articles and examples of my work.
ReplyDeleteI think they both serve a valuable purpose. I view blogs as more spontaneous. Always changing. Websites generally stay more steady and have more info.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading both!
http://www.marycunninghambooks.com
http://www.woofersclub.blogspot.com
I visit both, for different reasons. Websites often have more accessable information, blogs are more current and personal. Just depends what I actually want to know and how much I enjoy the blog.
ReplyDeleteWow, I most certainly visit more blogs than websites and that's even before the tours. Now, let's just say tours are out of the picture and I was the average Joetta, I might check out websites to learn more about the author, but blogs tell so much more. I'm a blogging fiend now and I do just as you do...when I stop off at a blog, I try to leave a comment. Ninety-nine percent of the time they reciprocate...I love blogging!
ReplyDeleteLike Lillie I have my site and blog through Wordpress software so it's all combined. The blog always changes and the static pages get updated when there is something new to add.
ReplyDeleteI visit more blogs than web sites though some newer web sites have a page with constanting changing content such as a blog or forum.