subject: Blogs? Or articles? [print this page] Unless you've been living under a rock for five years, you probably know that blogs are pretty hot right now as a tool for getting your message out there in a personal way. Articles, on the other hand, are expected to be more informative and direct in terms of specific details. Both are great sources of information and can be valuable for search engines. But let's have a look at the merits of each one:
Blogs:
Up-to-date, personal, "insider information" and usually updated or changed frequently
Articles:
Direct, informative, detailed and marketing-oriented
Considering that search engines like fresh content, blogs have the advantage over articles.
Here's the trade-off, though.
Unless your blog or site are already highly ranked, an article is likely to get more exposure. If you're submitting articles to sites that then farm them out to other sites, it's a lot more likely that more eyeballs will land on your articles. Then, every time your articles get published elsewhere and a link leads back to your site, you've got a little more oomph in the SEO department. Get it?
An article should reinforce what you're selling. AN article carries a little more authority (it should, at least...but there are a LOT of bad articles out there) that gives the perception that the information is a little more valid and authoritative.
A blog, of course, is expected to be more personalized and usually has some sort of ulterior motive, whether that's promoting a company, product or service. The good news about that is that for the writer that's generating the blog, there's a lot more room to write compelling, bold, even funny content that can be very persuasive for the user.
If you're promoting and pushing a product or service, use an article. If you want fresh content that's personalized (gripes? raves? kudos?), create a blog.
If you have a product or service you want to promote, use an article. If you need to get something off your chest, create a blog. They both do well with search engines, but just remember that you're trying to get conversions, not just shooting for page rank.
