Movable Type, Wordpress allow a seamless website/blog look

Older blog software were limited in their function. Their primary purpose was to let you post your blog articles on regular intervals, have your readers comment on them and provide an easy way for them to find older posts (usually by date or by category).

Many individuals and companies have been adding blogs to their main websites for a while now. This gives their customers and readers a place to find a variety of updated, current information, and even interact with the website besides just sending emails.

What is happening now is the reverse. Many bloggers are finding that they want to add a website-like appearance to their blogs.

For example, they may wish to sell some products (often books or artwork), they may want to add an extensive "Abouts" page, or a section for scheduled events , and a special menu for their links (to other blogs and other sites), an articles section if they also write for other journals or online sites, and of course the requisite "Contacts" page.

The site then seamlessly functions both as a website, and as a regularly updated blog.

Popular blogging software such as Movable Type and Wordpress have come up with just this version of web+blog.

Here are some examples of websites and blogs that combined together to provide the functions of both.

* Serious Eats very successfully merges both the functions of a blog and that of a content-driven website.

Regular bloggers post daily on a number of topics, and readers can interact with comments, and even participate by asking questions and making entries in the "Talk" forum*.

Besides blog posts, there are also columns which provide article-style posting.

* The Torontoist website posts daily information about Toronto. It has categorized its topics in its menu on top of the page, as well as adding a more conventional website menu including "about", an interesting "schedules" menu to know when the various topics will be posted, and a "staff" link with emails and contacts also added.

The Torontoist is part of a large, urban-based network of websites/blogs also found in New York, Vancouver and London, England.

* Even big organizations and institutions are using the Movable Type and Wordpress web and blog combination to greater effect, allowing for regular updates of news and events, some with commenting possibilities, and others with blog-like features for sharing and emailing these posts.

Almost everyone is now used to some kind of interactivity on websites. They also expect regular updates on information on events, specials (sales, items), schedules and other news that regularly change.

I have written briefly about this in another post.

*A forum is an online place where members login to discuss issues of similar interest. There are thousands of forums out there from discussing the latest reality TV episodes to intricate mathematical questions. Many websites are now including forums as well as blogs.

Members Section and Interactivity

I have been working hard at re-designing my current website to include more features. The most important is the members section. By logging in, members can enjoy some features like articles that I have written on website design and management, get information on specials and recent updates to services, and qualify for periodic sales and offers.

Now, is a members section necessary?

These days, the problem with websites is how static they are. Visitors come over once in a while and even if they return only six months later, nothing has changed. Not only nothing has changed, there is nothing for them to experience or benefit from the website.

If they feel that their presence is important enough that they are asked to sign in, which then allows them privileges from the site, that is one way of providing service to your visitors which isn't directly based on your actual business. In my case, I may not be building their website, but I am offering my (potential) clients special articles, reduced prices, and information on new and improved products.

The same with a blog. By keeping an active account on relevant information, your services to the clients and visitors becomes more than just a website that lists your services. You can actually provide a service, free or with minimal input like membership, that will help you interact with your clients and keeps their needs as your primary goal.