You can also monetize the blog, checkout what seth godin says about it; http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/11/monetize_this.html
I think there's potential for a blog to be monetized compared to a forum. The forum will need to be a lot bigger & more active to heap anything substantial.
blogs i think do better generally on click through ratio since its more content you can write about and get relevant ads... on forums you can get many visitors but the content posted wont bring as relevant ads in some cases and less click through, but then again forums can bring in lots of repeat visitors and more traffic is always better
I would say blogs are better. There's a more personal relationship with the writer, so more scope to recommend readers products and redirect them to money spending opportunities.
i think forum because on forum everyone who visit write contents for you (via his/her post) . however in case of blogs not too many peoples leave comments .
Blogs are WAYYYYY easier to monetize! as long as you provide fresh content as forums can get popular but become hard to monetize as you hate bombarding your returning members with ads but then you can charge them for no ads if your site is that good.
It's comparing orange to apples, what the hell kind of argument is this? Both are websites, both have traffic. Both are fruits, both have sugar. Two different species man. I have no idea how this question could be answered. You'll make as much money as the traffic brings. Blogs and forums both have great potential in money, none is better than the other. It however does depend on the skillset YOU possess.
I don't think it's an entirely silly argument. It's the same as arguing the difference between cars and vans - they both transport you from one destination to another on wheels, but the kind of person they appeal to is often hugely different. The relationship you form with the site owner is also very different, and that can drastically effect sales. I agree though, there is definitely a time and a place for each format. Too many sites are started up as blogs these days, when a different format would be much more beneficial to them.
Yeah, it really depends if you want "community traffic" or basic "reader traffic". Communities on an advantage actually have both.
Fortune Magazine article named Blogs at 1st place in a list of top ten tech trends to watch in 2005. Blogs are primary attention to all probably due to its interactive and journalistic nature that forums probably lack somewhere, IMO.
Journalists tend not to understand forums, because there is not one authoritative voice which is speaking. The mainstream media is decidedly undemocratic. The democracy inherent in blogs scares them, but the democracy inherent in forums is so alien to them that they don't know enough to be scared.
To me forum is better.But every one has his own opinion.So there is nothing such as good or bad in this debate.
So the conclusion till now is that both are equally important. From What I understand Blogs get users basically from SE's and RSS's and News/ article hunters . Thus content adverts like adsense would be useful and there are chances of more click rates and thus more Earnings. In Forums: 1st thing is it will need time to build a great user database and as they are dedicated members there is less possibility of click rates for adsense only exception is If you have hyperactive forums like DP .
And hey, let's not forget plain old web sites! I believe that they perform better than blogs or forums.
Also, forums are great for building email lists. Anyone that signs up as a member can be considered an opt-in (as long as you have relevant notice on the sign up page), and as we all know: the money is in the list