I used to teach a dreamweaver class, but the demand for it now is so low that it has been cancelled twice in a row. I know there are multiple reasons for the lack of interest in learning to use a web site authoring tool, but at least one of those reasons is that blog platforms such as blogger and wordpress have made it so easy for many people wanting a web presence, to do it quickly without knowing or needing to know what’s underneath.

I also have a fair number of readers who claim to *only* read my blog. Some are old friends, business colleagues, pleople who have sat in my classes or speeches, etc. – basically people who know me. I wonder if they read other blogs and don’t know it??

Eventually this blog/Website thing will merge and the word blog will sound anachonistic, like “power tie,” “zoot suit,” and “Internet year.”

Lets face it: “blog” is not a pretty word. Imagine a standup comedian . . . . .

I learned a lot and became pretty good at writing websites. Then I found Wordpress.org. Wordpress was the tool that enabled me to create a website that I’ve been working on learning how to build for 2 years now.

I don’t consider the site a blog. It’s everything I wanted in a site that just so happens to be considered a blog by many people.

Now, of course you can have a conversation on your Web site, and of course you can put your best work on your blog. It’s just how they’re positioned in your head.

In the future, I see blogs becoming an invisible (and integral) part of most Web sites. However, these days blogs have a better (potential) reach than most Web sites. Most sites don’t offer RSS, and the grand majority don’t offer email newsletters. Blogs offer RSS by default, and between Bloglet, Feedster, AWeber and others, it’s impossibly easy to setup an email version of your blog for those people who don’t “get” RSS.

Blogging is a “pull” medium. Blog readers seek you out. They want “to the minute” information. These are seriously interested people. That’s why the potential for monetizing your blog is so great.

It’s easier to give really hungry people what they want (blog readers) then people who are merely window shopping (website readers).

And the media is getting hot for blogs. If you are an expert, you need a blog to position yourself as next level.

If something is to succeed on the web, us techies, need to make them as simple, easy to use and non-scarry for the general public to use as possible. That way they’ll get stuck in without even noticing, and before you know it, you’ve got a loyal user-base/reader-base…or whatever.

To me, a blog is a ‘blog’ when it’s in first person like Problogger else it’s a web site.

My big problem with blogging terminology? Or rather Web 2.0 technology in general? By it’s ‘techiness’ it excludes the very market that it should be a resource for.

That’s another reason I avoid the terms. Many people I i know who are computer people but aren’t weblog people regard “blogs” as a synonym for “livejournals.”

Eoghann said:
The idea that only blog owners interact with their readers is patently absurd.

Thanks for saying that, it’s absolutely true. I’ve been interacting with my readers on my quotations site since 1994. I talk to them, they talk to me, we talk in a forum, I answer questions, they contribute content to the site, I link to their sites… weblogs didn’t invent any of that. Heck, I had some of that same interactivity with readers on a dial-up BBS in 1987.

This touches on what Darren said about insularity, and he’s right–as a long-time webmaster I’m always amazed how the blog crowd thinks they invented the internet. For example, blogs went through the whole cycle of “advertising is evil — maybe not so much — hey, we can make MONEY doing this” a good 6 years after the same thing happened to regular sites, and I think there are still a bunch of bloggers out there who are unaware that the Web Advertising industry existed for ten years before AdSense.

I’m feeling a huge rant about “kids these days” coming on, so I’ll stop there…

First I wanted to thank you for being able to read my mind. I was going to write you about this subject because I was interested in finding out if you or your readers who do consulting had ever considered their pitch when trying to sell their service to a small business that might have a “site” but not a “blog”. My impression is that the difference between a website and a blog is really more of a contextual difference.

For example, if I were trying to sell my consulting services to a large corporation such as IBM, I wouldn’t try to sell them on how a blog is better than a website. I would say it’s a nice complement to their already established presence. If I were marketing to a small local business that is just getting into the game, I would explain what a blog is and what can be done with it. On a technical level, there’s not really much a website can do that a blog can’t. Components can be added to make your blog sell products, keep track of customer preferences, and on and on and on.

Instead of wasting time worrying about whether a site does or doesn’t qualify to some unwritten list of what makes a “true” blog, I just read the ones I like.

Blog, CMS, Forum, website… What matters is the quality of what I’m reading, not what name I should put on it. Crazy huh?

I guess what ever works best for you. When describing my site to others I use this description,

“Macsupport is your online source for Macintosh and iPod news, troubleshooting tips, reviews and links. Macsupport publishes daily articles related to Apple, iTunes, iPod, and the Mac industry, tracking the latest developments in the computer, Apple-related, Mac, online music, and iPod industry.”