Blogs or Websites - Which is Best?

Internet writers have several different ways to present their internet articles to the world. I've mentioned different writing websites in the past that will publish your work and pay you for it. However, they take "their cut" of your earnings. That is the main reason I prefer having blogs and website. Of those two, blogs and websites, which is best for the internet writer?

The answer to that depends on the writer and the purpose of the blog and/or website of the internet writer. There are pros and cons to both that much be weighed carefully before making a decision. As with everything here, I really on my experience and the experience of other internet writers that I trust. This is my take on the blogs or websites debate:

Blogs work well for niche writers who have narrowed down their niche to something quite small. My standard example is gardening...A blog works great for a niche writer who writes about their garden. It is a small topic that can be written about for years. Pages are limited on blogs so the internet writer can dedicate specific pages to their flower garden, their vegetable garden and their herb garden. Links can be added to your niche blog that will take your readers to your internet articles on writing sites.

Websites work well for niche writers who have a broader niche. An internet writer who writes about rose gardens or gardens that do well in certain areas would benefit from having a website instead of a blog. There is more "room" to expand on the topic. Pages can be created for specific types of roses and then "sub-pages" can be created for the care of each of those roses, where they grow best and other information. Links can be added that will take your visitors to other internet articles you have written.

Blogs work well for non-niche internet writers, especially those wanting to promote their internet articles on writing sites. The "Day In the Life of" blogs are excellent for building links to the internet articles you want to promote. Websites are difficult for non-niche internet writers to write copy for. Don't even think of copy - try to find a URL and title for your non-niche website. It is probably hard to even know where to begin.

Websites and blogs work well together. My website, Travels Oklahoma, has a "companion blog" that goes with it. My website is the "business side." I write about all the wonderful places to visit in Oklahoma. My blog, which has the same name, is the "personal side." I write about my personal experiences as I travel Oklahoma. I provide links between my website and blog to my readers can see both the business and personal sides of traveling in Oklahoma.

Blogs are a full-time job. You must post several times each week to attract more followers and readers. You must also do this to stay on the first page of search engines and increase your page rank. Do you have the time every week to devote to a blog? A blogger's job is never done. There is always another post to write and more links to create.

Website can be difficult to create, much harder than many blogs. You must decided if you will have the skills to create a website. I recommend OfficeLive. They are economical (an annual fee instead of monthly) and their support staff is great if you have problems creating your website. The good news is that once your create your website, it is done. You will need to go back to add information and tweaking, but the website is finished. You will need to create links to your website to increase traffic and it's page rank.


Do you want to know about the money? I know that money is often deciding factors in whether to go with a blog or website. There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to the money you could potentially make.

Blogs can be more difficult to monetize. There is limited space and you don't want your blog to be covered in ads. Blog hosting sites may limit the type of ads or number of ads you can place on your blog. Some do not allow you to monetize your blog. Be sure to read all the fine print before you decide which blog host to go with.

Websites can be easier to monetize. You have several pages where you can place ads. Usually, you can use as many different ad programs as you like. Of course, you want to make sure those ads do not interfere with your copy. Affiliate programs, such as LinkShare, have large, bold ads that looks best on websites.

Blogs are usually free and websites come with a monthly or annual fee. I suggest that you start with a free blog. If your blog earns enough to cover the fees of having website, you can always create a website based on your blog.


Once again, I have made things as clear as mud. There are so many variables to consider that each internet writer must think long and hard before making a decision between having a blog or a website. They both have wonderful attributes and disheartening drawbacks. Decide which is best for you and run with it.

Curve Your Competitive Nature

Writers are a competitive group of people, especially internet writers. As internet writers, we all want the "good keywords" that are the most "searchable" and that will attract the highest paying ads. We want our internet articles to listed first on search engines and have the highest page rank. I have a little news flash for you...The internet is big place and there is enough room for all writers. Writers, yes; hacks, no. There is not enough room for hacks anywhere in the writing world, but that is completely different topic. With the limitless possibilities of topic we can write about, we should learn to curve our competitive natures and do all we can to help to help other internet writers.

I love sharing what I have learned along the way of my writing career with other writers. I also love it when other writers share their thoughts, tips and tidbits of advice with me. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have in the writing world, especially the world of internet writing, if not for the help I received along the way.

I am writing this in response to an email I received. I was asked why I share my writing secrets with the world and if I thought that could damage my future as a writer. I share because it is the right thing to do, a sort of "pay it forward" for all the help I've gotten in the past. And, to make money, of course. You didn't think those Google ads and links to Amazon products just showed up on their own, did you? I'm not kind and wonderful! As for damaging my future as a writer, I have done the best I can to brand myself and my work. I have a unique voice. I am not a niche writer so no one can push me out of a particular "slot" in the writing world.

As internet writers, we need do all we can to perfect our craft and to help other internet writers do the same. The better we all look, the better the world of internet writing will look. That is a win/win situation for everyone. Instead of hoarding the information we have that will improve our internet writing, we need to pass it on to any and every internet writer that will listen and learn from it.

Tips for Using Live Keyword Analysis

I couldn't be happier when I use LiveKeywordAnalysis. It is the easiest and fastest way that I have found to tweak my keyword density. This is just a little information about this great tool that is such a big help to me. I find it to be a must for online writers. The purpose of LiveKeywordAnalysis is to figure out your keyword density. It will tell you the exact ratio of the keywords in your online article. Knowing your keyword density is essential for SEO. Too many keywords and search engines will consider your online article to be spam. Not enough keywords and your online article will be indexed incorrectly, if it is even indexed by search engines.

What I love most about LiveKeywordAnalysis is the fact is it is so easy to use. I simply type my online article on a Word document, which I do anyway, and then copy/paste it to LiveKeywordAnalysis. I then type in the keyword I need to the ratio information about and VIOLA! it is done. If my keyword density is too low or too , I add or delete the keyword directly on the page. Once I have the ratio I want, I simply replace the old online article with the new one on the Word document and publish when I am ready.

Another thing about about LiveKeywordAnalysis is that isn't muddled with all sorts of other options and gadgets I do not want. It doesn't tell me how many times I've used the world "the" or the number of sentences are in my online article. I don't use that sort of information for my online work and I don't want to spend time sifting through it to get to the information I want.

Give LiveKeywordAnalysis a try and see how it works for you. I know you will love it as well. It makes SEO much easier and easier it always better, especially when it comes to online writing and making money with your online writing. It will help you get the ratio of keywords exactly where you want it and you will see the difference in where you find your online articles on search engines, your traffic and your earnings.

Branding Yourself as an Online Writer

When you look around, you will see brands everywhere. From the shoes on your feet to the light bulbs that you use, brands are everywhere. As an online writer, you should also have a brand. It will make you more recognizable which, in turn, will get more readers to your online work.

Branding yourself can be challenging, but is isn't as difficult as you might think. This is especially true if your are a niche writer. When your online articles falls into a niche, that niche can take on the role of your brand. For those of us who are not niche writers, it may take a little time to come up with a brand that suits us, our online writing and our writing style.

I have worked hard at branding myself. Once I realized that "online writing gigs" were profitable, I knew I had to brand myself and my work. By that time, I had established myself as a "non-niche writer" and there was no turning back. I had to find a way to make myself stand out from the millions of other online writers my readers could turn to.

I had to figure out what made me different from all other online writers and use that to my advantage. I had a few things going for me from the start - an unusual name, a cute little dog as an avatar and a nickname I had for years. I knew I had to make those three things work together as my individual brand as an online writer.

• Emma Riley Sutton - When I first started writing, I was simply Emma Sutton. I did a Google search and learned there was an English actress that shared my name. I knew that even if I could compete with her and her career, I would get lost in all her acting credits when it came to online searches. I added my middle name and the rest is history. 

• Maisie -  Because of my personal safety issues, I never use a photograph of myself. I started using a photo of my service dog, Maisie, instead. I was constantly getting "oh, what a cute dog" comments and emails from all over the world. Maisie now served a new purpose - the face to my work. It also helped that I was doing a lot of writing about animals and animal issues. This was working well for me.

• The Queen of Useless Information -  I've been known for years as "The Queen of Useless Information" by friends and family members. Because I am not a niche writer and really have no interest in pigeon holing myself into one or two categories, I began using this nickname. This is working great. If my readers do not remember my name or Maisie's photo, they know my nickname. As my online portfolio grows and covers more and more unrelated topics, The Queen of Useless Information suits me better and better.

I played to my strengths when began branding myself. You should do the same. Consider all the things that you do well as an online writer and find a brand for yourself that encompasses as many of them as possible. Take a look at your online writing style and create a brand that will complement your unique style.

Another important key, perhaps the most important key, to branding yourself is using one name and one name only. You want your readers, your fan base, to be able to easily access all of your online articles. When you use more than one name, it is difficult for them to find your body of work in one place - such as search engines like Google and Bing. Keep in mind that many readers do not understand that writers often use pen names and those who do will not understand why you would use more than one name.

Discovering your brand can take some time. Work on it daily and find the brand that will work best for you. By creating a brand for yourself, you will see much more profitable your online writing can be.

Keyword Density - Find the Right Mix for Your Online Writing

I received an interesting email last night. It was simple, concise and to the point: "How much is too much?" I emails back, asking how much of what is too much. My answered arrived just moments later. Again, it was short and sweet, "Keywords." Ahh, I understand now. How many keywords are too many?

Excellent question. Not  enough keywords in your online articles and your don't get indexed properly by search engines and you won't get the ads your shooting for. Too many keywords in your online articles and the search engines consider your work to be "spam" and won't index them at all. There has to be some sort of middle ground, but where is it?

With all of my searching, I have yet to find the magic number - the perfect ratio that will send your online work to the first page of all the search engines and get the ads you want. When I first started learning about keywords, I thought "less is more." I was such a "real world/non-online writer" at the time. "Less is more" is the standard when writing "out there."

Boy, was I wrong. I wasn't getting indexed and I wasn't getting the ads I wanted - errr, needed. Seeing my error, just like a driver trying to avoid a car accident, I over-compensated. My online work was so "keyword heavy" it read awkwardly. No ads and no first page on the search engines. Like the over-compensating driver, I avoided one accident and created another one.

I wasn't pleased. My online work was scripted and cold. I wasn't making money. I was going no where fast. So, I did my research. I read everything I could about keyword density. That made everything as clear as mud. There were as many keyword ratios as there were experts giving advice about keywords. I read everything from one percent to 12 percent. Some said it didn't matter; others said keyword density was all that mattered.

I have since learned that a good ratio is somewhere between three and six percent. Although nothing in online writing is chiseled in stone, that is a good ratio to strive for. Personally, I like to keep my keywords between five and six percent, leaning to closer to six percent. My work is getting the ads I want and, more importantly, my email inbox always has Google Alerts in it - telling me Google has picked up another one of my online articles.

There is no magic number. Because of this, I've learned to "play with keywords" in my online writing. If I'm not getting indexed on search engines or I'm not getting the ads I need, I will add keywords when my ratio is under 5.5 percent. When my keyword ratio is over 5.5 percent, I edit out the keywords. I keep playing around with it until my online article has been indexed and I'm getting the ads I was striving for.

Dying to know an easy way to figure out your keyword density? That will be in a later post. I've found some great tools for that and I'm using them to see which one I like the best.

The Art of Promoting Your Online Writing.

You now know enough about keywords to be relatively confused. You also know enough about making money that you are generating your own ideas about the best way to go about that. Now you must tackle the mother of all problems - getting your online work noticed. Just like with writing, there is an art to promoting your online writing. There are several ways to do go about promoting your writing. These are just a few that I have found to be successful.

• Twitter - Twitter has been a great little money maker for me. I "tweet" all my URLs and my followers click on them. The first time I tweet them, I use the title only. That seems to help them get indexed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. The second time I tweet them, I add a "teaser" to the URL. I'll devote an entire post to "teasing." I also interact with other writers there who seem to be more than willing to retweet my work.

• Facebook - Facebook is another way to promote your online writing. Updating your status is a great way to spread the word about your online writing. There are many other writers on Facebook and many will repost your URLs. Also, consider creating a "Fan Page" for yourself. You can promote your online work there and use your regular page to schmooze - get others interested in you and then in your online writing.

• Redgage - Redgage is a site where you can post links to your online work. In addition to promoting your online writing, you can also earn money when you submit your links. It is free to use. Not only will your increase your page views, you can also make a little money promoting your work.

• Links - Adding your links is a great way to promote your online work and increase your traffic. Add your links to forums that pertain to your topic. Read other blogs and ask the blogger if they would include a link to your online work, offering to do the same for them.

• Comments - Make comments on blogs and forums, leaving a link to your online work. Visit sites such as "Yahoo Answers" and see if any of the questions can be answered with your online articles. Write a short answer and add "for more information" and then your link.

• "Add Your URLs" Sites - Use all of the available "pinging" sites to promote your work. Most of them are free to use. Remember to add your URL to search engines as well. Pinging and adding your URLs to search engines is easy. Simply follow the directions and you will have sent them the necessary information for them to add your online articles.

Promoting your online writing is certainly an art form. There are so many different ways to promote your work, you will never get bored. However, it can be hard work. You must continue to promote your online articles, even if they show up first on all the major search engines. Promoting is a never-ending job that must be done in order for you to get the traffic you need.