Clint Dixon over at SEO Chat has written a post titled A Blog Is A Blog Is A Blog which has blogging fairly and squarely in its sites. I get the feeling that Clint doesn’t really like blogs – I also suspect he doesn’t really understand them either. He writes
‘Is a blog a revenue stream? For some, yes I am sure it is. Is it a business model to consider for making money? I would say no. Are blogs the next thing in the Internet world? No they are not. As much as the media and marketing industry tries to put a new spin on its meaning, a blog is a timely ordering of content otherwise known as a Web log, and we all know Web logs are really nothing more than Web pages.’
I can think of a fair few bloggers who would disagree with Clint on this one both individual bloggers and blog network owners who would want to argue that they are building legitimate business models for making money. I think there is growing evidence that bloggers can actually be more than a revenue stream and is a legitimate way of building a business.
I’m not really sure of the logic of his argument. ‘Weblogs are really nothing more than web pages.’ Ok – even if this is true – can’t web pages be a legitimate business model? If Web Pages can be a legit business model, and blogs are web pages…wouldn’t that make them legit too?
You see in some regards I agree with Clint – when it comes down to it blogs are just webpages – webpages that are generally organized a little differently to static web pages, web pages that generally have features like comments and trackback, pages of information that are on the web. Web pages….
Ok – so blogs are web pages – so freaking what?
Why does the fact that blogs are web pages mean they are any less legitimate than any other form of web page? Why would that fact suddenly end their ability to be profitable approaches to an online business?
Ok – I’m starting to rant here – but sometimes I just don’t get the point of these anti blogging articles that tend to pop up every few weeks.
The fact remains that blogs have some unique selling points – some things about them which make them very attractive to people wanting to have an online presence. They are not just any old web page:
– blogs are web pages that optimize very well for search engines
– blogs are web pages that have the ability to be highly customizable design wise
– blogs are web pages that advertisers are paying big dollars to promote their products on
– blogs are web pages that are simple to set up and maintain
– blogs are web pages that are perfectly suited for commercial niche topics
– blogs are web pages that are easily monetized
– blogs are web pages that are being bought on a commercial level for very respectable amounts of money
– blogs are web pages that are increasingly being read by millions of readers every day
Yes blogs are web pages – no they are not the only growth area of the internet at the moment – but they are one area of incredible growth and potential and internet entrepreneurs should ignore them and write them off at their own peril.
Update – Scrivs over at Business Logs takes up the rant.
