"Blogging is dead!" they'll exclaim, adding the nails-on-the-chalkboard remark, "Don't quit your day job!"
It begs the question, will blogging be relevant in 2021? Is it still around, or is it a thing of the past?
Unfortunately, part of what those individuals claim is true. But, luckily, they are not entirely right.
You know, there are several sorts of blogging - and the type of blogging that most people are familiar with is no longer active. However, this does not imply that all forms of blogging are outdated.
Is blogging officially dead? A lot of new bloggers are curious about this. It makes sense since you wouldn't want to invest time and effort into a blog if you weren't going to get anything out of it. In this post, we'll discuss if blogging is finally dead, as well as how to make blogging work for you.
With the development of online video platforms such as YouTube, it may appear that blogging is no longer useful. However, blogging is still popular and profitable. So, if you're thinking about establishing a blog, don't give up.
You can establish a profitable blog with the correct tactics and some hard effort.
So, let's have a look at why blogging is still going strong! We'll go over various statistics, traffic-building tactics, monetization approaches, and other topics to help you build a healthy, successful site.
Is it still Common for People to Read Blogs?
If you're reading this, you're probably hesitant to get started or anxious about your future (or perhaps both).
I understand. Let me show you some facts to ease some of your worries.
- The internet has about 1.5 billion web pages.
- Blogs account for 152 million of those.
- Google receives approximately 100 billion queries each month on average.
- And 77% of Internet users still read blogs on a daily basis...
That's a lot of people reading blog entries. This is even better when we consider that 70-80 percent of Google searchers disregard sponsored advertising and instead rely on blog content for answers.
And Google's search volume continues to rise at a rate of 10% each year.
So, yeah... Regardless of what internet marketing gurus say these days, I believe blogging is still a thing.
Now that you know blogging is still alive, let's talk about which aspects of blogging are truly dead or on their way out.
If you want to establish a blog or develop an existing one in 2021 and beyond, there are a few things you should know.
State of Blogging in 2021
Opinions are valuable. They help us perceive the world through our own eyes and are excellent discussion starters. They are, however, divisive by nature.
Saying that blogging will be extinct in 2021 is simply not accurate, and we have evidence to back this up. Let's take a look at two works that paint vastly contrasting pictures:
- The number of blogs published in the United States continues to rise by the day, with the total expected to reach 31.7 million by the end of 2021.
- Pro bloggers ended 2020 with average monthly earnings ranging from $1.5K to an astounding $125K.
Is blogging, once again, dead in 2021? Nope.
I mean, people are making a lot of money from their blogging. While they are professional bloggers, there is no reason to assume that the majority of individuals cannot accomplish the same.
This is because the industry is still thriving with unexplored niches, particularly in foreign languages (choosing a great niche in an untapped market is key to higher profits).
How Can You Make Blogging More Valuable?
So, clearly, blogging is important, and it is still relevant and profitable.
But there's a catch: you have to do it correctly.
I see far too many business owners generating content for no other reason than to increase traffic. While this is admirable, most internet company owners (particularly solopreneurs) do not have time to write without a plan.
The most common error I see is company owners generating content that is beneficial to their audience but not beneficial to their firm's growth.
For example,
- A life coach who does not specialize in personal finance may create content about money management/budgeting.
- When a site designer does not provide photographic services, they create material regarding brand photoshoots.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with these examples, and they may be useful to your readers. Writing content on your areas of expertise, on the other hand, will benefit your audience while also being more strategic for you.
This should go without saying, yet it is frequently overlooked by inexperienced website owners and bloggers! The user experience of your website (and its content) is critical for success on platforms such as Google and Pinterest.
Things to Consider for a Positive User Experience:- Site loading time
- Navigation on the website
- Comprehensibility (font type, size, and color)
- Mobile optimization (shorter paragraphs, limited popups, etc.)
Of course, there's a lot more to it than just four items, but they're a good place to start!
I advise my students that every blog post they create should have one goal in mind:
To help them build their business.
This expansion might take the following forms:
- generating leads (email list signups)
- Earning a commission as an affiliate
- Making a purchase of one of their items
Every blog article you create should, in general, be focused on bringing in new leads who are interested in purchasing your products or services.
That entails responding to inquiries and offering answers depending on what your potential clients require.
As I have stated, video is the future of content marketing. And, at its heart, blogging is a form of content marketing.
As a result, it is acceptable to conclude that creating videos for your blog entries is a smart idea.
Here are some of the potential advantages:
- YouTube allows you to reach out to a larger audience.
- Increase the time people spend on your pages (which is great for Google).
- People who prefer to listen to or watch content rather than read should be targeted.
- Allow your audience to become better acquainted with you by allowing them to identify your face.
It is equally vital to create new content.
You must keep your material up to date. It should never be seen as "old."
Because people will continue to discover and read those pieces, they should constantly be updated and relevant to them.
If you've been blogging for a time, conduct a content audit of your site to discover areas that may be improved:
- Broken hyperlinks
- Statistics from the past.
- There are references to really old dates.
- Strategies or techniques that are no longer in use.
- Anywhere there is the opportunity for improvement.
It can sometimes be beneficial to update old content since you've likely learned enough since you initially wrote the piece to be able to give even greater advice than before.
Quick LinksSo, What does the Future of Blogging look like?
If you asked this question to 15 different content marketers, you'd receive 15 different responses.
What are my thoughts?
Catering to people's desires and needs is the future of blogging.
What's my explanation behind this? Because it is the direction of content marketing in the future! You must cater to individuals; else, who are you selling to?
This might appear as a variety of things:- Making useful YouTube videos.
- Starting an Instagram microblog.
- Facebook groups are used for live training.
- Creating concise, skimmable content.
The power of search ranking is enormous. What's an excellent method to go about it? Blogging. So don't underestimate its power!