Confused: From a Site to a Blog

[XxxMina]

Hey folks, I wonder if I could get an opinion on something.

I started Easy Melissa as a linksite and have an Xclicks trade script on http://easymelissa.com/ as well as a bunch of hardlinks (and yeah, I know all it sorta looks like crap lol ).

Then I decided I'd rather run a blog. So now I've got the entry link going to http://easymelissa.com/blog/ and am going to focus on blog trades of course, and put them into the left sidebar. I HAVE moved some trades from the script into there, too though.

I'm confused on a number of points though.

If it's going to be a blog, should I just kill the entry page, and have it BE a blog and just put all trades and hardlinks into the sidebar? I guess I'm wondering if it's just plain weird for a blog to have an entry page at all. Are outlinks on it going to even get looked at, but then again do outlinks in sidebars even get looked at?

And if it's a blog now, and I submit it AS a blog, is it going to look misleading or strange that it's got that entry page? Just submitted it to a great directory (on the reasoning that they took one from me before, thus might take another), for example, and now I'm all weirded out about whether or not that entry page is going to seem strange.

Not sure what would be best to maximize trades at all and look best in general, I guess. And if the blog itself stays a 2nd page, is that going to kill chances with SEs picking up on keywords?

Hope this made sense and I apologize for the length. Any advice/feedback appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Mina;-)