Anybody build their own webpage?

[Bettacreek]

Well, I totally missed the last portion of your first post. A blog is basically an online journal/diary. The webpage is basically an informational site, and the web store is exactly that, a store, lol. For your needs, the other recommendation would be much better.

 

[FarmerJamie]

I manage a small 10-page website hosted on Go-Daddy that doesn't cost that much. The domain registration is ~$75/year. You can have a 5 page limit, I believe for free (in addition to the domain registration fee).

The web page management tools are fairly straight-forward. If you can navigate a word processor such as Microsoft Word, it's easy. YMMV

Edited to add: The tools don't always force you to be HTML-savvy, either, depending on the tools supplied.

 

[dfr1973]

The domain registration is ~$75/year. You can have a 5 page limit, I believe for free (in addition to the domain registration fee).

Seriously?? Regular domain registration is about $11/yr through NameCheap, then I think they do hosting on a per-month basis if you like (or you can shop around and point your domain to your host's nameserver). Or is that a "package" option with domain registration plus a year of hosting?

Bee, a blog is a specific site platform that uses a database, with blogger and wordpress being the two most popular platforms/software. The WYSIWYG editors are very user-friendly nowadays.

 

[FarmerJamie]

The domain registration is ~$75/year. You can have a 5 page limit, I believe for free (in addition to the domain registration fee).

Seriously?? Regular domain registration is about $11/yr through NameCheap, then I think they do hosting on a per-month basis if you like (or you can shop around and point your domain to your host's nameserver). Or is that a "package" option with domain registration plus a year of hosting?

Bee, a blog is a specific site platform that uses a database, with blogger and wordpress being the two most popular platforms/software. The WYSIWYG editors are very user-friendly nowadays.

package

 

[Beekissed]

So, to get more attention from online viewers, which is better~blog or webpage?

 

[CheerioLounge]

From: http://herenextyear.com/35-reasons-...an-traditional-web-site-for-your-business.php

This is about WordPress (another good blog site), but it is true of Blogger as well because it is from Google.

I just copied a few of his points, but I would go to the page and check out the rest...

Ultimate in SEO Friendliness The construction of WordPress blog code is consistent and streamlined without excessive HTML code that Google finds very inviting for indexing. Plus, with the right setup, youre able to customize every page or post you make to give you the highest possible probability of getting your pages in high search results positions.

Inspiring Participating by adding posts and pages and managing your own content becomes fun. When you see the results from your OWN efforts instead of farming out everything, you become fueled even more to add more content.

Search Engine Magnetism As a result of your inspiration to post content more often, your frequency of contribution will attract Google robots and other search engines like magnets. The robots will search your entire site every day looking for new content and new pages and changes they can index. New pages get indexed in hours or even MINUTES when you commit to adding new content over time. Many of our HereNextYear posts and WebsiteWaves.com pages have been published and displayed on Googles organic search in under 30 minutes! Try that with a traditional Web site!

 

[CheerioLounge]

Are you blogging about the same type of stuff you post about here? Just curious?

 

[dfr1973]

So, to get more attention from online viewers, which is better~blog or webpage?

Either one can be successful, and either one can languish in obscurity. If you go with a blog platform, people will expect it to updated regularly. If you with static webpages, then people will expect it to have information of value.

Going back to your OP, it sounds like a simple blog will fit you best. I personally prefer blogger (blogspot) for that, as wp ticked me off royally with their constant updates and patches and I still haven't forgiven them for that big security hole in 3.3 that blew up one of my blogs (2007 ... I can hold a grudge for a long time!) just as it was starting to take off. If you don't mind a subdomain, then blogger is totally free. I've had my latest up since December 2010, with no cost and no problems, and I even figured out how to customize my template even though it took me a while to decide which of the free ones I wanted to use. For those curious, http://sewingmissadventure.blogspot.com/ I have mine up for vanity and so my mom can see my projects. It's also a good way for me to look back at what I did on specific things when I pull out a pattern that I've done before.

 

[Beekissed]

With a subdomain, do you find you get as much viewers as one would with say, a .com domain?

Cheerio, I need to have a platform for a book that I'm writing, so the blog will contain some of the materials in the book. Some of the material is about subjects we discuss here....canning, raising animals and gardens for food, frugal ways to use less and live better, etc. Some of it will cover other ways to make changes in your habits and your mind about the way and the reasons you use money or buy things, prioritizing your life to keep it less stressful, etc.

The more public interest I can show in such a book by generating interest in a similar blog could help convince a publisher my work is worth publishing and may find a good audience.

 

[CheerioLounge]

I don't believe that the domain really has anything to do with how pages are found by using a search engine like Google or Yahoo. It is based on content, key words, etc.

See this page for more info: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html

Here is an excerpt:

How do Search Engines Work?

Search engines do not really search the World Wide Web directly. Each one searches a database of web pages that it has harvested and cached. When you use a search engine, you are always searching a somewhat stale copy of the real web page. When you click on links provided in a search engine's search results, you retrieve the current version of the page.

Search engine databases are selected and built by computer robot programs called spiders. These "crawl" the web, finding pages for potential inclusion by following the links in the pages they already have in their database. They cannot use imagination or enter terms in search boxes that they find on the web.

If a web page is never linked from any other page, search engine spiders cannot find it. The only way a brand new page can get into a search engine is for other pages to link to it, or for a human to submit its URL for inclusion. All major search engines offer ways to do this.

After spiders find pages, they pass them on to another computer program for "indexing." This program identifies the text, links, and other content in the page and stores it in the search engine database's files so that the database can be searched by keyword and whatever more advanced approaches are offered, and the page will be found if your search matches its content.