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Ahh, blogging – one of the most reliable sources of information. As the years go by and more and more information is available on the internet, the number of people searching for it also grows.
However, most people are worried that blogging may have reached its peak and is beginning its decline. What does the future of blogging hold if that’s true?
To answer that question, I’ll present you with statistical figures and share a bit of industry knowledge. I’ve been in the internet marketing industry for more than 13 years, so I’ve seen lots of blogs come and go.
I’ve become familiar with the factors that contribute to a blog’s success, or lack thereof. The industry is vastly different now than it was 10 years ago and has certainly changed, but…
Change is not a bad thing (more on that later).
Blogging has always been thought to be doing well, and 10 years ago, nobody would’ve predicted that blogging could ever be on the decline. People are starting to doubt the future of blogging because of the rise in popularity of other types of content.
Video, podcasts, and social media have become major competition for the blogging industry and, as some believe, a problem because these new technologies affect user behavior. These types of content are designed to make our lives easier and to make content easier to digest.
Video content and podcasts aren’t as new as you think. These mediums have existed for almost as long as blogging has existed and are only just picking up steam. These mediums have had a profound effect on how we consume and use online content in recent years.
Our behavior as a society has changed. We seek instant gratification: fast food, instant coffee, instant meals, etc. Waiting 30 minutes has now become unbearable. Our attention spans have become shorter and shorter as the years and technology advance.
Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.
Rather than sit down and devote 15 minutes to reading a 6,000-word blog post, we’re more inclined to listen to a podcast or watch a video tutorial instead. Both require less effort on our part and are much more entertaining.
Even though our short attention spans are contributing to the success of these mediums, they most definitely won’t kill blogging. Not anytime soon, anyway.
Blogging will always be profitable, regardless of other industries’ popularity. Nothing can take blogging’s place when it comes to internet marketing. Take a moment to look at the following statistics:
Blogs are a great complement to businesses. It offers an additional income stream and makes your business better-known.
If you still doubt the future of blogging, then you’re probably unfamiliar with the role blogs play in business. Writing is still an important pillar of rich content.
Companies are relying on blogs more than ever, especially with the growth of online businesses.
69% of consumers say that a blog adds credibility to a company’s website. Not only that, blogging has been, and always will be, an extremely effective way of driving traffic. This can lead to further page views, product page clicks, subscribers, and sales.
Additionally, brands will always want to collaborate with individual bloggers on sponsored posts.
Why?
Well, there are endless backlink opportunities available. By building their backlink profile, company’s can improve their website’s Domain Authority (DA) score, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) juice, and, eventually, their Google rankings.
Either way, conventional blogging always comes out on top. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved.
Social media could never replace blogs.
Why? Three words: Lack. Of. Freedom.
(Say it louder for the people in the back.)
You don’t actually own your social media profiles. You’re subject to the platform’s terms and conditions and regular updates that greatly affects your business. Focusing your marketing efforts on social media is all well and good until Mark Zuckerberg decides to unexpectedly change the rules, hindering your primary money maker.
You don’t own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You can’t control what the CEOs of these platforms do with their companies. However, you COMPLETELY own your blog (assuming it’s self-hosted).
You, and only you, have supremacy over your blog. Your content will never be removed out of the blue because you have full control of the reigns.
High-quality content will always be desired, no matter what happens. Have you ever visited a website and been turned off by low-quality content? Don’t let that be your website. A quick Google search will prove that most blogs are, in fact, not of high-quality.
Quality content will be on the rise as more and more blogs saturate the internet.
Google emphasizes quality, usefulness, and relevance over anything else, and it penalizes websites containing fluffy, shallow, and bad content by pushing them lower on search engine results pages.
Your goal? To create high quality content that follows the right guidelines to start driving traffic. It’s important to prioritize quality over quantity. Writing an in-depth, high-quality 3000-word blog post is better than writing multiple 600-word blog posts.
While blogging is traditionally a written medium, there’s no denying that people freaking love videos. Cisco predicts that videos will make up more than 80% of worldwide internet traffic by 2021, which means that if you don’t hop on this trend soon, you’re going to be left behind.
Digital marketing expert Neil Patel also claims that adding video content to your blog or creating a YouTube channel along with your blog effectively drives viewers to your blog and can boost traffic and sales.
It’s good practice to regularly review old posts. Some older posts may be classics that are worth re-posting to mark a special event or anniversary while others may need a few updates in order to remain useful.
Look for older content that shares similar topics and combine them in a longer-form post or two for better search rankings. Add custom images or videos to your older posts to make them more appealing to today’s users, and don’t be afraid to delete posts that are no longer relevant.
I’m a huge advocate of email lists. Here’s a quick rundown of the benefits of having an email list:
Most bloggers haven’t caught on to the benefits of an email list because the suggestion of having an email list sucks for people who aren’t offering value to their audience.
People are generally picky about what they allow to come to their inbox, and a loyal reader will quickly discard you if what you produce is no longer relevant to them.
You don’t have to be a tech junkie to take advantage of the benefits that email marketing provides, either.
I’m going to let you in on a secret strategy bloggers use once their email list grows: test emails. Send 10% of your audience one subject line and send a different subject line to another 10% of your audience. Figure out which one converts better and email the “winning” line to the other 80% of subscribers in order to get more people to read your content.
One of the single biggest assets you’ll ever have in your business is your email list. If you took away everything in my business except my email list, I would be back in business the very same day.
Email gives us “little guys” a chance to have highly personal interactions with our subscribers, and that’s an advantage we’ll always have over big media.
Design isn’t, and never will be, as important as the content you produce, but it’s an element the majority of bloggers overlook. A “good enough” design is not good enough.
Don’t get me wrong – there are certainly successful blogs that are less than pleasing to the eye. They’ve either existed this way for a long time, or you’ve found an exception.
I’m not saying you have to produce a design worthy of awards, but if you’re aiming to be one of the top sites in your industry, then please try to look like one of the top sites in your industry.
Make your design as mobile-friendly as possible, too. Almost every single person in America has a smartphone, and most of them spend more time on their smartphones than on their laptops. So, if your design isn’t mobile-friendly, then you’re missing out on a huge market.
Blogging is nowhere near dead! It’s just evolving. Gone are the days when blogs were used as personal diaries. The industry has transitioned into a business-centered model with lots of potential.
New trends are emerging, and traditional blogging just won’t cut it. Here are the trends you should immediately jump on:
High-quality content will always showcase your authority in a niche, so be sure to focus your efforts on producing high-quality posts.
The future of blogging isn’t as bleak as you’ve been led to believe, so don’t worry. People tend to blow this issue out of proportion because it’s what attracts clicks. In actuality, NOW is the best time to start blogging.
It’s now or never.
I've been in internet marketing for over 10 years, and I've purchased dozens of illegitimate products for the sole purpose of evaluating them and exposing the truth about these products to anyone who's thinking about purchasing it. I never let money influence my rating of a product and your success/safety is my absolute highest priority. Don't want to buy a product? Register for one of my 100% free internet marketing training courses>>
