Of course there are millions of web sites out there today and they really are broken down into two categories or a combination of both. You either sell something or write about something, or both.

If your intent is to sell a product or service, a blog might not be the best solution. However, a blog as part of a commerce site would be a natural extension.

If you’re not selling something then your writing about something. The content could be static, meaning you write it once and then never touch it again. You write about a favorite subject, the content is changing. I remember the days of static web pages where if I needed to update content I had to find the html page it resided and make the change. But how did any one really ever know it had changed?

Enter RSS. You can have the best of both worlds with a CMS application. Take for instance what I am implementing for a real estate site. Sure, the site is visual appealing but that isn’t what I want my visitors to care about. In fact, I only want them to come to the site for one reason, to search for a home.

Most people are savvy enough today that they know what a feed reader is. If they don’t I give them instruction on how to use one on the site. I really want them to use RSS and not have to visit my site. I set up a feed for each of my categories. Example, I have several price categories such as 200-300K, 300-400K and so on. I also have styles; ranch, multi-level, 2-story. This gives my visitors or “readers” the ability to keep an eye on new homes as they become available.

And finally I can provide up to the minute data on new homes, the market, sales and everything is available via RSS. I don’t really care if you eve visit my site except to add new feeds to your reader or search the site for pictures, which I have linked to Flickr.

A good CMS can be just as good if not better than a static website if you configure it correctly. There are a ton of tip and hacks out there that you should be able to do about anything you can imagine.

Erudite and on the money, as always. You’re a pleasure to read, old boy!