Discover the difference and value of website content pages or consistent blogging and embrace strategies for optimal blog and content visibility in search engines. How often you update your website content matters.
Transcript:
Hello again! It’s Jen Miller your host on Be Seen Blogging. On today’s episode, Episode #6, we are going to be talking about What is more important? Content Pages or Consistent Blogging. You’ve all been told that your website needs content to perform well in search engines. Content is valuable to your clients and readers as well. It may be valuable as a resource for your support team or new hires, too.
Content provides answers. It cuts to the chase and in our ever-changing web world, it provides some stability. Last week in episode #6 we talked about newsletters that get you noticed. Newsletter have staying power, much like website pages. Once in someone’s inbox your newsletters can’t change. Many people would say the same about the pages on your website.
Many website pages are static. They describe a product or service, state necessary information, or pull introduce team members. Typically the information is pretty constant, unless a portion of the page includes a dynamic content feed. Page content has staying power in search engines and great page content helps your website to improve its rankings. Usually page content is stronger because it is linked to in the navigation or top and lower tabs on your website. These links help to share the power of the main domain with the interior pages, such as your about or product offering page.
Your blog, however, if done well, is always changing. It’s YOUR news source and needs to have constant updates and timely information. When I say timely, I mean something with a date or season, perhaps tied an event or product launch. The opposite of timely would be evergreen meaning that the content can add value at any time. Typically you’ll find evergreen content on pages, but there is a place for it in posts as well.
Whenever you publish a blog post, a ping or alert is sent to search engines. This makes your blog the vehicle to being seen because it notifies everyone, from search engines to readers that your site is consistent in producing content as an information source. A well maintained blog typically has at least twice weekly posts prompting search engines to examine the site at regular intervals, generally every 3-5 days, when regular content is posted.
If you have a newsletter service or auto posting feature enabled, your post will be publicized once published. This is not generally the case with pages as most RSS feeds only recognize posts. So it’s really not a case for whether you should include content pages or consistent blogging, as the answer is clear.
As far as which are more important for your website, it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are capable of self-promoting your website and want information easily found, it should be on a page. If you want to include connected information to the content, say sales listings or related products, it should be a page. Yet, if you are using the content to generate new interest, appeal to more than your normal audience or introduce new keywords you can be found for in search, then your content should be included as blog posts.
Does platform matter as to whether I should use pages or posts? This is a question I get often. And honestly, it depends on your industry more than your platform. Most website platforms, from WordPress, Blogspot, Wix to proprietary platforms all include a main navigation which leads to pages. Almost all include a News or Blog section which leads to posts, so platform matters very little these days.
If you have a product line I think your main info should be on your pages and you should use posts to share testimonials, updates, function and use cases and release news.
If you are in a business that serves your local community, you should use your pages to explain who and what you do and how you can be contacted, but your blog posts should focus on your community involvement and news related to the area your serve and your industry.
And the list goes on… with a little thought you can determine how your site should be set up. Refer back to episode #1 where we discussed the 5 must haves for every website and decide how you want your website presented – You can decide where you want static content and what should be included in your blog.
If you need help thinking this through, please reach out to me, Jen Miller on Twitter at JenBlogs4u or through my NeedsomeonetoBlog.com website. I hope you enjoyed our talk today in episode #6, where we learned the difference between Content Pages and Consistent Blogging, all in under 10 minutes. If you liked what you heard, please search out Be Seen Blogging in itunes and leave me a great review. Thank you so much and Talk to you soon!
Jen Miller has been writing since she was a child and spent her early career years soaking up all the information she could discover as a journalist of newspapers and magazines. Getting out the message and spreading truth has always been a high priority for Jen. Jen began writing website content for clients in 1996 and started blogging in 2008 for Today.com. That experience created a love for the blog and she has been an avid blogger ever since. Today she writes for her clients on a variety of topics as a ghostwriter/ghostblogger and connects their messages with personality through social media to deliver the most impact possible.
