I have used a static homepage on my blog for as long as I have had it. I felt that it creates more of a professional website, and less of a .. well.. blog. Now I am beginning to wonder if that was a mistake. First, I don't get the SEO I could be getting on my frontpage. Second, visitors don't know where to start when presented with a long list of categories and subcategories. What are the pros and cons of the two? What do you use?
Which one is it? A website, or a blog? If its a blog, then I don't recommend a homepage. I have been to a few blogs with a homepage and I leave almost immediately. Users go there for a main reason, to read your stuff. So present it to them as clearly as possible.
I had a static page at my home site for a long time, and never got any business from it. Now that the blog is front and center I've had lots of design work. I don't think people think of blogs in the same way as in the past, when they were seen as more "personal diary" type sites. Hope changing how your site is set up works well for you!
I agree with pavaranda, plus having blog posts up front and center makes your site look frequently updated and not stale.
DEfinitely interesting that you brought this up. I had a static page but now I have blogs. Thanks for bringing this up! alison
Aaron Brazell at Technosailor has a nice workaround. Effectively a single post on the static home page.