Excerpts from article: "The Whys and Hows of Adding a Blog to Your Website"

Here is a section from my article "The Whys and Hows of Adding a Blog to Your Website."

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The Whys and Hows of Adding a Blog to Your Website.

A. WHY ARE BLOGS IMPORTANT?

1. Blogs personalize your website

There is the "About" section with the biography, and the "Gallery of Photos" section with photos to put a face to the website contributors, but there is no direct interaction with the reader with these one-off posts. A blog, with repeated entries, is about giving the point-of-view of the webmaster, allowing us to know him better than what his website says.

Example: The Times online has a blog section with several writers (including the featured web writers) who give their own perspectives and opinions on current news.

2. Blogs update visitors

A static website, with irregular updates (usually on services, which don't change that much) cannot give a well-rounded picture of the goals and plans of the website. A good blog will discuss new ideas before they are implemented, and explain current services to give its visitors the workings behind the idea.

Example: The Art Gallery of Ontario has a blog section which focuses on the renovation, comments on gallery projects, and other related topics. This kind of information would be hard to document on the regular website.

3. Blogs provide information

Much better than links, blogs can be a great resource for like-minded websites, projects, communities and individuals. A well-archived blog with easily classified topics can be a wealth of information

Example: bbrooks fine flowers has a blog to give seasonal and other information about flowers. The information doesn't necessarily have to be about the flowers in their store.

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What to look for in a good hosting company

There are many hosting companies that provide you with server space to store your files. But a good hosting company isn't just storage space.

Ultimately, you will want to have as much control over your files and their manipulation, especially if you decide to create a website. Hosting companies should be able to provide you with as many features as possible to make your web and internet presence easy and manageable.

Here are some points to consider when looking for a hosting company.

- Make sure that it provides you with Domain Name registration and renewal. There is nothing worse than finding you DN has expired because it was monitored by a company other than your hosting company.

- You shouldn't have to pay more than $10 (I would say $8) a month for good, basic services.

- The company should provide you with sub-domain options so that you can have secondary websites.

- There should be good email services, including web-email.

- Free amenities (like blog builders, web design tools) are standard features in all competent companies.

- At least one type of e-commerce service should be available.

- Make sure that there are current databases available.

- Other programs and software should be current

- Additional storage space can be purchased