One of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to setting up a business blog, and certainly one which I have been asked on a number of occasions recently, is whether it is better to have a blog as part of your website or to set it up as a separate site on its own domain.
I would love to be able to give a brief one line response to this, however, I don’t believe that there is one which will fit all circumstances. So, true to recent form, I have to say that the answer to this will depend on a number of different factors, all of which can contribute to the final decision.
And what are these factors, I hear you ask. Well, the main ones I would look at are:
- Branding requirements
Intended use of the Blog
Target Audience
Focus of Blog
Domain Name Selection
Search Engine / SEO Requirements
General Marketing Requirements
Mark White is the author of this post, and it looks like he’s been asked the question too. He’s been asked it many times: me, just the once. I answered it from the SEO perspective – that is, it would be better to have it on a separate domain because you then get more links coming *into* your site rather than within it. Then I considered the branding issue, which implies that it would be better to have it within the site. But he really considers it from all angles and I’d say he’s pretty much nailed it. If you’re thinking of setting up a blog, read this first. I guess that, at the end of the day, you can actually change your mind later on, but it’s always better to think about these things first.
