Your blog will play a vital role in the success of your company’s website, but don’t forget the power of a front page. One of the reasons your blog is so important is that it is updated daily or weekly. But some information about your company is better off not being updated. The things your company stands for most and your core competencies should be placed front and center and never change unless your company changes.

As a firm long-time believer in blogs, I have been touting their advantages for several years now. Even blogs, however, can benefit from well-placed, strategic static pages. As we’ve already seen, the FAQ page is a great example of this. Of far more importance, though, is your site’s front page.

A few years ago, the trend was to build blogs without a front page. While it’s true that a blog will perform far better in the search engines than a typical static page, there just isn’t enough real estate in your blog’s sidebars to explain the important messages your business needs to convey to first time visitor’s to get them to give you their repeat attention. Even if there was room, your blog’s sidebars can be used for far better purposes. In the past year or so, the trend has been moving towards front page portals with the blog as the main feature of that page. For example, our blog is the first link in not only the top navigation bar, but in the sidebar, as well. I use this same strategy for all but one of my blogs, but I may change that one if the future, too.

Allow your front page to describe the role you play in the industry you are in. Let it describe your mission statement or the promises you want to make to your prospects and clients. Let it explain how you are different and why someone should do business with you and not the next guy. Use it to announce where you’ve been, where you are going and how you are going to get there. Post your goals for the coming month and invite readers to participate. Your blog is your company’s vehicle for disseminating pearls of wisdom, but your front page is the shell that elaborates your bigger message to the world. Neglect it at your own peril.

For other features in this series, please click a link below:

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - Top Commentators

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - Opt-In Method

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - FAQ

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - RSS Feed

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - USP

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - Top Posts

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - Landing Pages

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - About Me/Us

Top 10 Small Business Blog Features - Free Item

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