Blog & Website
There are 2 web programs: blog and website
Blog
A blog is a personal journal of thoughts and ideas. It focuses on an individual’s opinions about products, services and lifestyle. A blog is usually run and operate by one person. There are 4 types of blogs.
- Personal
A personal blog is about personal topics of our life. It could be about family, pets and interests. For example, someone creates a blog to talk about cats. They want to share how they take care of their cats daily.
- Resume
People create online resume to demonstrate experience and skills when seeking for jobs. A resume blog is very helpful for job seekers. A digital resume proves that a job seeker has advanced computer skills and web experience. While traditional paper resume is required, an online resume lets employers match employees easier.
- Business
The goal of a business blog is to provide information and product reviews. A business blog is usually a part of a website to interact with customers. For example, Apple writes a blog about iPhone 6 review, how to choose the right smartphones, etc.
- Journalism
Journalism is considered a media blog because journalists provide videos and audios about news and international events. They broadcast live and upload live videos online. CNN is an example of journalism blogs.
Website
A website is an online business that sells products and services online. It has more contents than a blog. A website is usually run by 2 or more people. A team of web designers, developers and content writers operate online business. There are 2 types of websites
- Online Store
Online store is common known as “Web Shopping”. They both sell physical and digital products on their sites. Digital products are movies, music, books, etc. Customers buy digital products with 1 click setting and download to their computers. For physical products, customers order and pay online. After that, they’ll receive the products by delivery within 2-3 business days. In addition to sell products, online store can sell services as well. For example, a web design online business can create and customize a business logo. They charge per hour or per project.
- Online School
Online education is the best way to learn. People can learn from anywhere and anytime. These online schools charge students per course or monthly subscription plans. This is one of the hottest online business which generate million dollars a year. Anyone can start an online school business. Depending on what they want to teach. For example, a piano player wants to teach people how to play piano online. He records piano tutorial videos and uploads on his site. He charges students $10 monthly subscriptions for monthly video lessons. Today, many traditional schools offer both on campus classes and online classes. Online school allows education business attract more students and generate more revenue.
Content Management Systems (CMS)
CMS is a web application that allows people to create blogs and websites. CMS has built in template, content publishing, add-on plugins and automatic updates. There are 3 types of CMS.
WordPress
54.4% people use WordPress (WP) to publish contents online. It’s easy to use and no advanced technical skills required. CNN, UPS and NBC use WP.
Joomla
8.9% people use Joomla. The set up cost is higher than WP. The estimated set up cost is about $2000-$20000. ebay and Pizza Hut use Joomla.
Drupal
Only 7% people use Drupal. The reason is the set up cost and monthly maintenance cost are too high. Nasa and The Economist use Drupal.
Other CMS
30.1% use other CMS. They’re Mambo, Pligg, Concrete 5, Magento, SiteCore. These CMS are not popular. The price is varied. Nitendo, Sony and Lonovo use these CMS.
Custom CMS
Some sites like Amazon built their own platform. They don’t rely on traditional CMS. They hire a group of Internet engineers to build the site. The benefit is they own the code and the site can be customized easily. However, the set up cost and monthly maintenance cost are very high.
CMS is a good fit for the following sites:
- Blog
- Technology
- Health
- Entertainment
- Search
- Education
- Media
- Games
- Business
- Travel
- Portal
- News
- Shopping