Is Blogging Dead in 2021?
Mention blogging to anyone who isn’t involved in the online business world, and they’ll laugh in your face.
“Blogging is dead!” they’ll say, adding on that nails-on-chalkboard phrase, “Don’t quit your day job.”
It raises the question: is blogging still relevant in 2021? Or is it a thing of the past?
Unfortunately, there’s some truth to what those people say. But thankfully, they’re not perfectly correct, either.
You see, there are multiple types of blogging — and the type of blogging most people are familiar with is dead. But that doesn’t mean that all types of blogging are obsolete.
Whether you’re looking to start blogging for your online business, or you’re wondering if starting a blog to make money is still a good idea, keep reading to find out!
The Death of Personal Blogging
Personal blogging — and strong communities of bloggers — used to exist, and some still do, but they’re dying out.
A personal blog could be filled with journal-like entries that fill readers in on the writer’s opinions, struggles, and major life events.
A more influencer-like personal blog (similar to a lifestyle blog) could cover the same thing, but in a celebrity-like way. These types of bloggers typically blog about their travels, marriage, kids, etc.
In a sense, that second example of bloggers still exists, but most lifestyle bloggers are realizing they need to switch up their game if they want their readers to stay interested.
Most people these days don’t want to spend their time browsing through a blog full of “what I did today” type content. So personal blogs are becoming less of a thing every day.
What’s replacing them? Blogs full of helpful, inspiring content.
Think about it:
Every time you’re looking up a recipe, you land on some type of food blog. Fashion inspiration and how-to’s? You’ll end up on a fashion blog. Photoshoot tips? Some type of article.
Those blogs might be bigger websites or publications, but at their cores, a small blog and a big publication are doing the same thing: content marketing.
The Evolution of Blogging
Personal blogging is quickly becoming a thing of the past, but as I mentioned above, there are multiple types of blogging.
The type of blogging that’s still alive is really content marketing.
The big shift here is that personal blogging is focused on the writer/blogger. But blogging with the purpose of content marketing is focused on the reader.
Online writers today are faced with the question, “How can I help my readers solve their problems?”
And the thriving bloggers are the ones who are:
- Creating problem-solving content
- And recommending products (either affiliate products or their own) that further solve their audience’s problems
Content marketing has also exploded in other areas of the internet, like YouTube, Instagram, podcasting, etc. And while video is often called the future of content marketing, the written word is still very powerful.
But Do People Really Still Read Blogs?
For the most part, people don’t log onto their computers or phones and get excited to check up on their favorite bloggers.
But I have a question for you:
Any time you type a question into search (like Google), what shows up in the search results? And what do you click on to read?
Blog posts — often called articles.
So yes, people still read blogs. Multiple times a day, even! It just looks a little different because the content of blog posts has shifted from being writer-focused to being reader-focused. Which, ultimately, is what makes blogging so profitable.
Provide solutions, and then provide even better (paid) solutions, and people will buy them.
How to Make Blogging Worth Your Time
So obviously blogging is worth it, and it’s definitely still relevant and profitable.
But there’s a catch:
You have to do it the right way.
How?
Be Strategic with Your Content
I see too many business owners creating content that has no purpose other than to bring in some extra pageviews. And while that’s great, most online business owners (especially solopreneurs) don’t have time to blog without strategy.
The biggest mistake I see is business owners creating content that’s helpful for their audience, but not helpful in growing their business.
For Example:
- A life coach creating content around money management/budgeting when they don’t specialize in personal finance
- A web designer creating content about brand photoshoots when they don’t offer photography services
There’s nothing truly wrong with these examples, and they may provide helpful information to your audience. But writing content that has to do with your areas of expertise will also help your audience while being more strategic for you.
Provide a Good User Experience
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s often neglected with new website owners and bloggers! The user experience of your website (and your content) is crucial for performing well on platforms like Google and Pinterest.
Things to Focus on for a Good User Experience:
- Site speed
- Website navigation
- Readability (font type, size, and color)
- Optimizing for mobile (shorter paragraphs, limited popups, etc.)
Of course, there’s much more than these four things, but they’re a great place to start!
Remember the Purpose of Blogging for Business
Something I tell my students is that every blog post they write should have one purpose: growing their business.
That growth could look like:
- Lead generation (email list signups)
- Making an affiliate commission
- Making a sale of one of their products
- Etc.
My general rule of thumb is that every blog post you write should be focused on bringing in new leads who would be interested in buying your products or services.
That means answering questions and providing solutions based on what your potential customers need.
(Don’t know what they need/what they’re asking? It’s time to do some market research.)
Try Adding a Video Strategy as Well
As I said above, video is the future of content marketing. And, at its core, blogging is content marketing.
So it’s reasonable to say that making videos for your blog posts is a good idea.
Here are Some Potential Benefits:
- Reach more people with YouTube
- Increase the amount of time people spend on your pages (which is great for Google)
- Appeal to people who prefer to listen to/watch content instead of read
- Help your audience get more familiar with you because they can recognize your face
So What’s the Future of Blogging?
Honestly, you could ask this question to 15 different content marketers, and you’d get 15 different answers.
What’s my take on it?
The future of blogging is catering to people’s wants and needs.
My reasoning for that? Because that’s what the future of content marketing is! You have to cater to people — otherwise, who the heck are you marketing to?!
This could look like a lot of things:
- Creating helpful YouTube videos
- Starting a microblog on Instagram
- Live trainings in Facebook groups
- Creating to-the-point, skimmable content
But I will say this:
The power of ranking in search is wildly huge. What’s a great way to do that? Blogging. So don’t underestimate its effectiveness!
Interested in starting your own blog? Check out my guide here:
