Is Blogging Dead? What’s The Future of Blogging?
Blogging is a continually evolving medium that’s been around for over a decade. It’s hard to imagine any other form of content creation and sharing being so popular, but with the evolution of the internet, blogging has become more accessible than ever.
What began as a way for people to record their thoughts and opinions online has evolved into a variety of different ways to build and grow audiences, earn income, and connect with other like-minded people.
That said, it’s important to remember that blogging is not a quick fix for all that ails you when it comes to your marketing strategy.
Blogging is often held as one of the primary reasons for building a brand online. It’s why so many people set up a blog and start writing. However, many new bloggers quickly give up because they don’t see a return on their investment.
And that’s when they ask, ‘Is Blogging Dead’?.
Since the beginning, there are always discussions about whether blogging is dead, dying or alive. Some people say: The best days of blogging are behind us. Some say: It’s not dead, but it’s evolving into something else. And the others say: It’s far from dead, and will continue to grow.
The death of blogging has been predicted since before the birth of this medium. With so many changes to the industry, it’s easy to understand why many people fear for the future of blogging.
But is blogging really dead?
And the answer is a big ‘NO’.
Blogging is still very much alive and kicking. It is still relevant today and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. But it does require hard work and dedication. If you think blogging is dead then this article will help dispel that notion and give you the right way to get started.
What Do the Numbers Say?
As it turns out, the sheer notion that blogging might have a short shelf life is an urban legend. Blogging will not die — at least not for the next decade or two.
Bloggers are adapting and creating new business models because they want to keep achieving consistent results.
Blogs are still a great way to build your brand, promote your products and services, create new leads, and attract customers.
If you’re in the blogging game, you already know that there are more and more people blogging every single day. I think that blogging is still a very solid strategy for many businesses.
Here are some numbers that show you why blogging isn’t dead and why it is still a great earning opportunity.
- 77% of Internet users read blog articles — and an even greater percentage of millennials. Your blog is an indispensable tool for engaging with your audience, not only because it lets you establish your expertise, but also because it gives you access to an enormous pool of high-converting traffic.
- U.S. internet users spend 3 times more on blogs than they do on emails, according to a study.
- Blog posts are one of the most popular types of content on the Internet. Blogs are also among the most shared and linked-to forms of content on the Internet.
- Google has over 100 billion searches every month on average.
- Almost 60% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. Meaning, 60% of shoppers find blogs relevant enough to influence their purchasing decisions and to discover new products.
- The average growth in customers for companies with blogs is 126% greater than businesses without blogs.If you want to generate leads and perform well online, a blog should always be part of your marketing strategy.
These statistics show why blogging is still a very powerful content strategy.
This Kind of Blogging May Be Dead
It seems that every single blogger has an opinion on what you need to do to succeed. It can be overwhelming and confusing. After all, everyone has different experiences and a different way of doing things. That’s why it’s so crucial to learn from the mistakes of others instead of attempting to reinvent the wheel.
Here’s what doesn’t work in blogging anymore.
Micro Niche Blogging
Micro niche blogging is where you decide to blog about a very specific, very small niche. It involves writing about very targeted topics in a certain way so that you can rank highly for very specific terms. It used to be that this was a great strategy but now it’s not really worth it.
Unfortunately, Google has changed the way that they’re ranking sites in recent years so that this strategy is no longer as effective as it was.
The reason micro niche blogging doesn’t work anymore is because the search engines have evolved and understand what people are looking for based on what they’re writing about. In addition, the amount of content that’s being produced on the Internet has exploded and it’s a lot harder to get noticed in a crowded marketplace.
At present blogging is all about becoming an authority in your field. It’s about being a trusted source of information for your readers so that the more you blog, the more likely they are going to come back to you for new information.
So if you are planning of starting a micro niche blog, it is better to rethink your strategy.
Keyword Stuffing
I am sure you’ve noticed that SEO is changing. It’s becoming more refined, more scientific and more complicated. Keyword stuffing was once a popular way to get a good ranking, but over the years Google has gotten really good at filtering out spammy content and it’s no longer an effective strategy.
Keyword stuffing is the practice of loading a webpage with your target keyword phrase so it appears in almost every paragraph.
We’re all obsessed with SEO and positioning ourselves in search rankings but if you’re doing it to the point that you’re stuffing keywords into your content, that’s a huge sign that you’re not doing it in a way that’s natural.
Moral of the story is that keyword stuffing doesn’t work anymore; Google just ignores it. What works now is creating useful and interesting content and then getting it in front of the right people.
Personal Blogs
By personal blogging, I mean blogging that’s focused on you as a person. It’s not necessarily about your niche, or your industry, or your business. It’s just about you. This worked really well in the past when personal blogs were a really new and different way to connect with people.
As social media has become more popular, people have begun to rely on it more and more for their personal needs. Nowadays, people can share their thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can no longer just write about your day on a blog and have people read it.
You have to find a unique angle that makes your content stand out. You can still use a personal blog as a supplement to your social media presence, but you don’t necessarily need a personal blog to stand out in the crowd.
They are not as effective as they used to be.
Multi Niche Blogging
The thing about blogging is that it’s no longer about the volume of content you produce. It’s about the quality of the content you produce. You have to make sure that your content is relevant, engaging and helpful to your audience.
One of the biggest mistakes that many new bloggers make is to create a multi-niche blog. This is a blog that covers a number of different verticals like fashion, food, business, and travel.
In my experience, I have found that multi-niche blogs are not as effective as they were back in the day. It’s very difficult to make a good living on a multi-niche blog. Whereas, if you focus on a niche, you can develop authority and build a strong, engaged audience.
Many bloggers used to be able to succeed by writing in various niches. But that may not be the case now. These days it’s better to specialise in one particular niche rather than trying to cover too many bases. It’s better to be the best in one area than the worst in a lot of areas.
You’ll have a harder time building traffic if you’re trying to create content related to several different topics.The problem with multi-niche blogs is that it’s easy for readers and search engines to get lost and not know what your blog is about.
It’s best to focus on one topic and go deep on it.
What Works In Blogging?
We get this question a lot: What works in blogging? It’s a fair question. No one wants to spend time and money on a blog that doesn’t produce traffic or leads. There’s a lot of information about blogging floating around the internet, much of it contradicting itself. So, here is a list of what I’ve found works best.
Be Unique
We live in a world where people are bombarded with content to the point where they don’t even know what to pay attention to any more. You need to separate yourself from the noise as much as possible and that means making sure that your writing stands out.
Be Consistent
When it comes to blogging, consistency is one of the most important things. If you can help people know when to expect new content from you, then they’ll start to build it into their routine and expect new content from you on certain days or at certain times. If you’re consistent, you can build up a following that sticks with you through the good and the bad.
Include Different Media
When it comes to blogging, there are many different types of media that you can include in your posts. You can use images, gifs, videos, audio, and more.
Different types of media help keep your content interesting and engaging, and can even help you to reach a wider audience. Also add links to other content that you’ve created or found elsewhere.
For example, if you’re talking about a product that you’re selling or a feature that your business offers, instead of just writing about it, include a screenshot of the product or a video of the feature in action.
The more content you have in your blog posts, the more likely you are to give people a reason to come back and visit your blog again and again.
Including media in your blog posts is also a great way to break up your text and to visually illustrate the point you’re making in your blog post.
Write About What You Know
Another thing is to write about what you know. If you’re passionate about it, that passion will come through. This is what my friend has done with her blog. She has always liked makeup and beauty products, so she started blogging about them and now has a successful blog.
If you don’t know a lot about a certain subject then it would be better to write about something else rather than trying to fake it. Your readers will be able to identify with your content more and take value from it when you write about things you are passionate and knowledgeable about.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
Be consistent and put out good content consistently. Make sure you’re writing about things that you know about and care about. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Don’t be afraid to change your voice or your style of writing.
Can You Earn Money from Blogging Now?
There are lots of people who are still making good money from blogging. It’s just a question of how you make money from blogging, not whether you can or not.
Michelle Gardner earns more than $1,500,000 per year from her blog MAKING SENSE OF CENTS. A personal finance blog FinSavvyPanda earns more than $22,000+/month.
Ryan Robinson, the owner of RyRob, a blog that teaches people how to run a profitable side business, earns more than $50000 per month blogging about what he loves.
Cassidy Tuttle earns more than $16,000 per month blogging about succulents. Here are some other blogs and the money they earn (approximate figures).
Blog | Money Earned (Approx) |
Smart Passive Income | $210,000+/month |
Entrepreneurs On Fire | $200,000+/month |
The Blonde Salad | $200,000+/month |
Melyssa Griffin | $200,000+/month |
It’s a Lovely Life | $175,000+/month |
Smart Blogger | $110,000+/month |
My Wife Quit Her Job | $90,000/month |
Just a Girl and Her Blog | $45,000+/month |
CopyBlogger | $42,000+/month |
What’s The Future of Blogging?
Blogging is a timeless art. But what does the future hold? And how will your blog fare?
Blogging has been around for over 15 years, and many people thought we would have stopped doing it by now. However, blogging is still popular.
For example, The Huffington Post has over several million visitors every month. Another example is the website Mashable that is also visited by millions of readers per month. There are thousands of other blogs, covering a variety of topics and interests which get millions of visitors.
The future of blogging looks very similar to its past. There will always be blogs from individuals who aspire to share their knowledge with the world.
With the ever-evolving world of content marketing, it’s important to stay on top of the latest strategies and metrics.
Blogs that have evolved their content into a series format, video blogs, or podcasts have seen a rise in traffic and engagement, all while converting readers into paying customers with great ease.
With new tools and models, bloggers can continue to earn money from their content while also building relationships with their readers.
The future of blogging looks bright!
What are you waiting for?
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