If anyone can offer a little advice it would be greatly appreciated...i'd like some opinions on how to move from a blog into a website... i started a blog about 8 weeks ago to track the mini-saga surrounding the release of the 24'' Dell LCD monitor (it was a "goof" of sorts- then i got more serious because consumer hardware is a hobby of mine)...I then expanded into postings about other hardware (primarily pc monitor/HDTV related stuff)...afterward i discovered adsense and decided to sign up, without really understanding too much about it, and inserted the code... since then i've tried to read as much as i can, although i'll have to do A LOT more i see...now, web design is something completely new to me (even inserting the adsense code into the blogger template took me a little while)... 1- what's the best way to move into a web site if my knowledge is limited? a free web host? a paid web host? a free web host places their own ads and you could not place adsense in it, correct? 2- I've satrted to learn html and CSS on my own, but it will be some time before i can code anything close to a decent site, so would it be wise to use something like dreamweaver for now? 3- is consumer/entusiast level computer hardware a good topic for potential earnings (or too competitive?) I would write all the content myself, that is not a problem. The articles and/or posts would be largely original... 4- where do you guys suggest obtaining good, clean blog/site templates? http://techanovitas.blogspot.com ----> this is the blog so far... THANK YOU for ANY advice that's offered...I will really appreciate it...
Have you considered the possibility of just continuing to use blog software on your own domain? Wordpress is offered as a free install by almost every hosting provider I know of. It offers the option of having stand alone pages and will import some existing blog posts in certain formats. Since most of the stylesheets are GPL licensed using one of them with proper credit as the basis for a site would be okay and the blog could be in a sub-directory.
i would stick with the blog i have a website and a blog and right now i am loving the blog more. as everything is already done for you all you have to do it write.
get a paid web host, not a free web host use template if you know little about web design. For more info see my signature
thanks so much for the replies, that was FAST! actually i've just discovered wordpress today, and i'm looking into it... when you say that wordpress is offered as a free install by most web hosts, that means that after you've chosen a "pay" web host, they won't charge you anything extra to install a wordpress template? or am i getting that wrong? is it a general rule of thumb that web sites offer greater earning potential than blogs? or is the format irrelevant, and actual visitors the only thing that matters? does an ad placed through adsense on a blog pay the same as an ad placed on a website? since a lot of my entries are "date" specific (news about products being released and such), do you think that i should aim for some more "lasting" information? ( i believe the term is "evergreen" content)...
When shopping for a host look for one who offers automated script installation. Almost all paid hosting offers some form of it. Hosts with cPanel and Fantiscio (sp?) usually offer the most scripts. It is an automated install. You just provide a little infomation and the server does the rest. If you don't like the default theme them you can manually add others. Check out the second link in my sig line if you want to see a fairly new install of word press. I have not added the ads yet. Using the stylesheet for a site is something you would have to do on your own. Blogs are popular right now. Some WP themes offer really easy adsense coding. I assume they pay the same. Different keywords pay different amounts. All offer the option of doing it. A blog is the best for date specif IMO. Older posts move to the background but are still there for reference and review. They never go away unless you delete them. If you keep your account at the blogger place you have it now you can use that to move traffic to your new site by linking from the old to the new until they cut you off.
hate to get off-topic here, but Colbyt, you have no idea how much skeeter looks like my dog Jojo, whom my family had when I was younger...got me a little emotional there for a sec...
websites are for more detailed and customised pages . Some would say even Blogs can be modified to act as ordering forms or even picture galelries , but IMO if you are going to do all that why not pay a web designer or think of elarning html to do the same . Blogs are ok for simplicity , but if you are thinking of extending your attemtp from just periodical records or narations, you should think of a proper website . btw , colbyt ... free automated scripts dont come with Cpanel / Fantastico , the hosting automation tool we use called HSphere also comes with 15 auto install scripts like blogs , galleries , banner management , live chat etc etc .
I don't think I said they come with it. I think I said they can be installed by it. And maybe it is just the shell that links to another program. Most people recall the name as how they install scripts that is why I used it. Different hosts offer different scripts. WP is almost offered by all. There are several different installion programs out there. I think I also mentioned that. Honestly from what I have seen most all of them work equally well.