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jhoecannon
Forums Member
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 61
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#1 · Posted: 21 Jan 2009 16:55
I currently have a blog which is posted on Wordpress Direct (not Wordpress). I am thinking about starting a regular website that will monetize by referrals. I recently read that it is important that you post your website on one that is theme-based versus one that is blogging-based. What theme-based website homes are there out on the market? I know SiteBuiltIt is theme-based, but I really don't want to pay that much money. I assume Blogger is blog-based. What is Wordpress - blog based or theme-based?
I would like to hear from anyone who knows the names of several theme-based sites.
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 2226
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#2 · Posted: 21 Jan 2009 18:29
Hi J,
I think you have some concepts a bit mixed up.
Perhaps you meant traditional site (all static pages) vs. blog?
A theme has several different meanings.
With WordPress it's a collection of PHP templates and CSS pages. Usually there are also images. Some even have JS files.
A theme can also mean "topic". For example, a 70's car theme would be a site about 70's cars.
A theme can refer to the general appearance of a site as in "a desert theme".
Can you tell us what you mean by "theme"? If you can describe it without using that word, perhaps we can better answer your question.
~Newbie Shield~
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jhoecannon
Forums Member
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 61
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#3 · Posted: 21 Jan 2009 19:38
Ah, Newbie Shield, good to hear from you. Everybody's input in this forum is helpful and especially yours.
I got this term and info from a free course I was studying - the 10 day Affiliate Master's Course by Ken Envoy. In the course, there is a link to http://blogorbuild.sitesell.com/ where it discusses sites to use for building blogs vs, theme-based sites It says,
"Theme-Based Content Sites develop and update the content into more complete, useful, cohesive articles, "Web pages." A content page is the fundamental unit of a Theme-Based Content Site.
Blogs merely keep adding new posts, one after another, without editing out the old and without pulling related posts together into cohesive and fresh articles. As a result, visitors ignore the old material and have trouble using a blog for anything more than the latest news or the "thought of the day."
And, according to Google, blogs deliver a poor quality visitor."
There is much more to this article and maybe I am reading much more into this than I should. Any input from others would be of help.
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MyOwnBoss
Forums Member
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 112
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#4 · Posted: 21 Jan 2009 20:16
It's only my personal experience, but I've had far more success with static pages than with blogs. I just get the feeling that people see a real website and give it more trust as an authority, whereas a blog is thought of as just somewhere somebody can vent their random thoughts. Obviously, there are exceptions, but I think this holds true in general.
As for theme based static sites, I'm not sure what you're asking. If you want to build a static site, you can get free themes anywhere and use a free editor to customize them to your needs.
jhoecannon: I currently have a blog which is posted on Wordpress Direct (not Wordpress). I am thinking about starting a regular website that will monetize by referrals. I recently read that it is important that you post your website on one that is theme-based versus one that is blogging-based. What theme-based website homes are there out on the market? I know SiteBuiltIt is theme-based, but I really don't want to pay that much money. I assume Blogger is blog-based. What is Wordpress - blog based or theme-based? I would like to hear from anyone who knows the names of several theme-based sites.
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1303
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#5 · Posted: 22 Jan 2009 00:00
Hi Jhoe,
You can create a theme-based website using Wordpress too. The key is to use Pages instead of Posts. You create Pages as different topics and then add sub-pages (sub-topics) under the main Page (topic). With some coding, you can get the sub-pages to display as articles on the parent Page.
You then create a static homepage using Wordpress admin (Settings > Reading) or by adding a home.php page to the templates directory (which I prefer).
Schematically it'll look exactly like the one on SiteSell page.
It's the best and cheapest way to create theme-based or Silo websites.
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 2226
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#6 · Posted: 22 Jan 2009 07:23
Hi J,
I agree with Vishal. You can accomplish the same things on a blog - even static, traditional pages.
You can comfortably go either route. Both are equally good at creating a content theme (focused topic). Go with a blog if you value interactivity. Go with a traditional site if you would rather not allow and manage engagement from your visitors via comments.
I have a lot of respect for Ken and SBI but I strongly disagree with the entire bolded quote you've provided. I think it's possible that Ken actually feels quite different about it now since he somewhat recently started to provide an option to add a blog module to SBI sites.
You can create a content theme with a blog. You can in fact go back and edit blog posts. You can pull together related posts within a blog. It's called "categories" and "tagging". Though some ignore older posts, not everyone does. I dig through archives all the time. I don't feel that blogs deliver a low quality visitor at all.
In the earliest days of blogging, very few blogs were worth a darn. They were largely online diaries. Now things are radically different.
I'm thinking that the bit you've quoted, although present in the ebook, is a bit outdated. As I've mentioned, I think that Ken probably feels differently about it today. I suggest that he go back and edit that bit to bring it up to date.
~Newbie Shield~
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1303
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#7 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 00:15
jhoecannon: Blogs merely keep adding new posts, one after another, without editing out the old and without pulling related posts together into cohesive and fresh articles. As a result, visitors ignore the old material and have trouble using a blog for anything more than the latest news or the "thought of the day." And, according to Google, blogs deliver a poor quality visitor.
NS,
I differ a bit here. There is some truth in the above statement. I mean if you look at the way information in posted in general blogs, it is more news or time related posts, one that may lose significance or value over a period of time. As a result they get buried, somewhere in the archive.
This is however not the fault of blog software. Blogs are meant to function that way. And naturally they attract readers who skim over posts for key information and move away.
I have also noticed that blog posts though they get indexed fast, drop faster from the index too. Search engines know that blog posts are usually time-sensitive information and hence they give more preference to them for a short period of time. If however, in the process, the post draws good interactivity, then it may stay longer in the index.
Ultimately what determines the worthiness of an article/post to stay in the search engine index pages is how it is linked to from the home page and whether there is some information added to the page on a regular basis. That's it.
Traditional websites do not have deep linking structures and hence most pages are within 2 clicks from home page. However, they lack interactivity.
Blogs, have interactivity but if used in the traditional way, the posts may get buried somewhere.
With little twist however, like I mentioned in above post, you can create killer theme-based (Silo) websites using Wordpress, without spending a penny.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 1497
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#8 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 06:52
Newbie Shield: I have a lot of respect for Ken and SBI but I strongly disagree with the entire bolded quote you've provided. I think it's possible that Ken actually feels quite different about it now since he somewhat recently started to provide an option to add a blog module to SBI sites. I'm thinking that the bit you've quoted, although present in the ebook, is a bit outdated. As I've mentioned, I think that Ken probably feels differently about it today. I suggest that he go back and edit that bit to bring it up to date.
Actually, that's a rather new article/sales page of Ken's. 
The blogging feature of an SBI site has been around for a few years. This landing page that jhoecannon linked to above is fairly new (a few months) and reflects Ken's current opinion. I suppose you'd have to read the entire page to get an understanding of his position rather than just a couple of paragraphs.
Just thought I'd clarify that assumption.
Vishal P. Rao: Traditional websites do not have deep linking structures and hence most pages are within 2 clicks from home page. However, they lack interactivity.
That is more to the point, I believe. The linking structure and layout of a static site makes it a bit different than a blog.
Yes, most static sites do lack that interactivity, but Ken solved that problem for SBIers by bringing out a feature a couple of years ago called Content 2.0. Basically, it allows the webmaster to enable visitors to add content pages and comments, etc.
For instance, I just announced a Valentine's Day contest on my chocolate-candy-mall site where my visitors can add their own favorite recipes, gift ideas, crafts, etc., to be in the running for prizes.
I have it set so that I can review the submissions before they go live on the site (just to be sure it's decent).  It's a win-win because it creates fun and interest for my visitors and creates "free" content for me.
So, the best of both worlds, I guess.
As you point out, though, there are other ways of doing it and being successful if you know how/what to do.
Blessings,
Angie
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 2226
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#9 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 08:54
Hi Angie,
Thank you for the clarification. Things can get distorted if taken out of context.
I've seen your commenting module and I like it. Congrats on your V Day contest, it's lookin' good. I'm sure it'll go well and that you'll have fun with it :) Your site just gets better and better over time. I check it out every so often.
Hi Vishal,
A big part of the beauty of a forum for me is that there are so many different points of view. They add a lot of flavor and generate interesting discussions (not entirely dissimilar to a blog).
As a result, we may sometimes change some or all of our own point of view - not something we would necessarily do on our own.
Even when we aren't converted, it's always interesting to learn someone else's point of view.
We might all take the opportunity and raise our virtual glasses for a toast to a rich assortment of differing viewpoints.
Hear! Hear!
~Newbie Shield~
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Sonni
Forums Member
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 448
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#10 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 12:25
You can use Wordpress as a static site or blog that is one of the great things about it. I'm speaking of WP.org not .com I don't know much about WP.com except it's free and doesn't allow affiliate links or monetization I think they're going to change that soon but not sure.
For computer illiterate folks like myself WP has a steep learning curve however, there's a ton of tutorials on youtube that help.
I have only had blogs but recently have a static site, now I can compare the two.
Sonni
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A8ch
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 897
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#11 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 12:40
Newbie Shield: We might all take the opportunity and raise our virtual glasses for a toast to a rich assortment of differing viewpoints. Hear! Hear!
Shield! I love the word play.
Hermas
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1303
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#12 · Posted: 23 Jan 2009 23:13
Newbie Shield: A big part of the beauty of a forum for me is that there are so many different points of view. They add a lot of flavor and generate interesting discussions (not entirely dissimilar to a blog).
That's why I love forums anytime over websites and blogs
Vishal
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