Is Blogging Dead?
Is blogging dead? Are blogs still a thing?
These questions come up from time to time from hesitant and cautious readers. And I don’t blame them; it’s a bright idea to ensure the new venture you’re about to go on will be a profitable journey.
Who wants to start a blog if blogging is dead?
Rest assured, I genuinely want the best for you. I’ve been blogging for years, and I’ve seen thriving blogs and dying blogs. I’ve seen small but super profitable blogs, and I’ve seen enormous blogs with tons of traffic that barely cover the monthly bills.
I’m here to show you what type of blogging is dead and what type of blogging will allow you to retire and travel the world.
Let’s get into it and learn the magic blogging formula for profit.
Types of Blogs That are NOT a Thing Anymore
Below are the types of blogs that are dead or slowly dying. They’re not all bad, but they’re not the smartest choice if you want to use them to make money online.
Personal Life Story Blogs
Plenty of readers ask me if they should start a blog about their life stories. And I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Write what you know” or something like that. It’s more than just a saying, though, to write content that people want to read and share; it has to be relevant and exciting.
But the problem with writing about your life is that it’s focused on you and your experiences. And if you don’t know it already, people don’t care too much about you. They care about themselves.
I know that’s a little blunt, but it’s also very relieving to know that people don’t spend all their time thinking about you, and you’re free to not worry about their opinions.
While you are more than welcome to start a personal blog and share your life stories, it’s not likely to turn into a million-dollar business unless your life is wildly entertaining. But it may serve as a fantastic catharsis for yourself.
Spammy Clickbait Blogs
Now, if you’re going to create a blog with the intent of making money online, it has to be an actual blog that people want to read. It can’t just be about forcing ads and keywords in your articles and reviews.
No matter how much I hate to say it, yes, some clickbait-type articles do get shared a lot. But this isn’t sustainable long term if you’re trying to build an audience and a real business online.
The best way to make sustainable money from your blog is through building relationships with your audience. And if that means you have to write articles about common questions in your niche that no longer excite you, then that’s what it takes to make money blogging.
Is this easy? Yes, we’re not digging ditches or performing rocket science. Most bloggers are sitting in their sweatpants with a cup of coffee writing articles – sounds pretty comfy to me.
But like anything in life, it takes consistency.
If you only work out once, you won’t have a six-pack the next day.
If you only blog once, you won’t be bringing in a full-time income.
Let’s all say it together, out loud now, repeat after me…
“Consistency is Key”
There you go! High-five your phone or computer screen. You now know the real secret behind creating a profitable blog that won’t die.
If you are caught in the clickbait cycle, start turning your writing around and creating more helpful content.
Unfocused Blogs
Blogging about everything and anything is fun but not the smartest strategy if you’d like to get paid for the time you’re putting in.
Some of the most profitable blogs have both a targeted audience and niche. They don’t just talk about weight loss, but they target men who want to do keto. They don’t just talk about photography, but they target travel photographers in the States.
The more focused your content is, the better it will be received and share-worthy.
If you’re not sure where to start, try creating an outline of all the topics you’d like to cover. Then look for related keywords with a large amount of search volume – do some searches and see how much traffic each keyword is getting per month; you can also use Google trends.
You’re welcome to start with a very broad topic when you’re just a beginning blogger, but as you find your voice, I would highly suggest refining your niche and message over time.
Types of Blogs that are Super Successful
Successful blogs focus on content marketing. A personal blog is about the person who writes it. But a blog for content marketing means that the person does not want to focus on themselves, but instead on what they post to help other people find what they need.
Niche Blogs
Niche blogs center around a particular topic. They know who their target audience is and speak directly to them in a way that they find relevant.
They know the kinds of questions their target audience has, and they try to provide answers with specific content. Their bread and butter is in providing information that satisfies their target audience’s needs as much as possible because this makes people want to keep coming back.
As the author, you should feel like the blog is a resource for your readers, not just a place to share random articles and posts about your life.
You can use AnswerThePublic as a fantastic start to finding all the questions someone has on your specific niche.
Crazy Helpful Blogs
If you want to use your blog to guide people who need help with something specific, you need to start putting up helpful and supportive articles.
It is one thing to post your thoughts and feelings without providing any advice or direction, but it is another thing altogether to take the time to create a helpful article. You want to target the needs of your readers and help them out as much as possible because this will make people come back again and again for more help in the future.
To have a successful blog that provides help, you will need to do a little work upfront. Think about what kind of questions people will have about the topic you are writing about, and then create content that can help them out with those questions.
You can make a list of all the “how-to” questions people ask in your niche.
Make sure your blog is readable, easy to understand, and most of all, actually helpful. Take time to consider what people need help with in your niche and address those topics one by one in a series of exciting articles.
Reader Focused Blogs
Like I said before, people don’t care that much about your life and stories; they only care about those stories if it helps them somehow.
While it’s a hard truth, it’s also liberating.
Think about it, do you really care that I’m drinking water right now and exercised this morning? Does it interest you at all that I watched the Revenant last night, and I almost passed out during the bear scene?
These facts probably don’t interest you that much, and you’re wondering why I’m talking about myself.
You’re reading this article to discover if blogging is dead and if you should still start your own blog. And it’s pretty ironic since you’re reading a blog post wondering if blogging is no longer worth your time – I think that in itself should show you the answer.
I digress. If you want your blog to be read, show up in search engines, and share, you need to create content focused on your reader.
What do they have to gain from spending their time reading your articles? If there is nothing in it for them, they’ll soon bounce off.
Thriving Blogs Follow This Formula
Combine all three blogging strategies above (niche down, provide helpful information, focus on your reader), and you have the formula for a crazy successful blog.
Do people still read blogs?
People read blogs every single day. Just think about it, how many times per day do you Google something? And what shows up, yes, you got it, blog articles.
What’s different now is that the content on blogs is about what readers want, not what the writer wants to say. And this is the magic sauce that makes blogging so darn profitable if done right.
Reader-focused, not writer-focused, is the foundation your blog should be built upon. You are not the hero of the story, your reader is; you are merely the helpful guide.
What makes a blog successful?
Most blogs are fancy and attractive with great design, but if the content is not there that will attract readers and keep them coming back for more, it’s not a successful blog.
If you want to make money from your blog, you better invest some time into creating amazing content that solves the problems of real people. The problem is, most writers focus on what they want to write about rather than writing about what the reader wants to read.
What readers want is simple, the people who come through your blog must do something after reading it, like find a great weekly meal plan, improve their finances or learn how to become a more patient parent. Whatever it is, your goal as a blogger is to keep your readers happy and satisfied.
If you build an excellent traffic generating blog but have no clear goal and strategy for monetizing it, it will not be successful. If you don’t have a plan on how to make money from your blog, you’ll be throwing your words into the wind.
How monetize your blog?
Monetizing your blog can be straightforward if done correctly, but it will take time to make it happen. You want the income from your blogs to be passive; you want to spend your productive time writing more content and less thinking about how to bring in that next paycheck. Make sense?
There are multiple ways to monetize your blog, and once you have an engaged and happy audience, it’s easy.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is by far the easiest way to monetize your blog. The key with affiliate accounts is to find personally relevant programs and have products or services that are relevant to your readers. The rule to affiliate marketing success is to be genuinely interested in the product you’re promoting. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, no one will buy it.
It’s easy to sign up for affiliate programs because most of them are free, and no contracts mean that you can stop recommending that product at any time. Once you sign up, you’ll receive a unique affiliate link, and if someone purchases through that link, you’ll receive a commission. Sweet!
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are much more complicated than affiliate marketing, but they can also be a fantastic way to monetize your blog. Before you sign up for any sponsored post program, make sure that it is affiliated with the type of content that you already create on your site. If you write about healthy eating, do not accept a sponsored post from a fast-food chain.
If the sponsored posts you are creating complement your current blog topics and style, you will most likely find success with this type of monetization. Be careful, though; these promotional articles can become very repetitive if you do them too frequently. And don’t forget that it is also crucial that you put your personality into the articles.
Sponsored posts work well if you can negotiate a long-term contract with your sponsor in both parties best interests.
Digital Products
Creating a digital product to sell on your blog is one of the best ways to monetize and turn your blog into a full-time income. There are tons of small digital products you can create and sell easily in an afternoon!
You can upload your blog content in eBook form or create a course on a topic you are an expert in. For example, you could build a daily meal plan for people and then package it into an ebook with more information than previously available through your free blog posts.
The one drawback with this option is that it’s hard to get past the idea of selling your content, but on the other hand, you have creative control over the final product.
It will take some time to create an ebook or course because not only do you need to provide quality information in your blog posts, but you also need to put it all together in another format.
If you are willing to put in the time, you will reap the rewards for a long time.
Coaching
If you are an expert on a particular niche, you could monetize your blog by offering one-on-one coaching. If you have a popular blog that people in your niche read, they will be more likely to pay for one-on-one coaching.
Take some time to research what other bloggers are charging for their services and start there. If you don’t know how much to charge, ask yourself how much would you pay if someone else was offering the same service.
It also helps that you can use all of the free information on your blog to prove yourself as an expert and build trust with potential buyers.
Services
If it is not feasible for you to sell products like ebooks or coaching, then perhaps offering services is the best option for you. It’s one of the fastest ways to monetize your blog since you’ll be trading your time for dollars.
Many bloggers start as virtual assistants offering services to other online entrepreneurs. And once they have a few strong clients they’ll be making a full-time income.
While you’re offering services and making money, you can grow your blog as well. Blogging is a long-term game, but if you need money right now, look into offering services and using your blog as a resume or portfolio in the beginning.
What’s the future of blogging?
Blogging, or the written word for content marketing, will always be around. People absorb and understand concepts through different mediums, be that reading, watching a video, listening to a podcast, etc.
So what is the future of blogging going to be?
The future of successful blogging will be to always focus on getting a solution to your reader’s problems in the best method possible.
Different mediums will take on a more significant role with time. To make your blog more future-proof, incorporate other mediums on your website. Add an accompanying podcast, or create helpful YouTube videos. I would suggest creating the type of content that you can stick with consistently. Don’t start a YouTube channel if you only post a video once in a blue moon, don’t start a podcast with only three episodes and let it die, don’t write once or twice a year on your blog, and pray it will grow.
Be consistent and create a community of helpful content. As the future unfolds, we will see new mediums arise that allow even faster consumption of your content. Consistency is key when it comes to blogging. The more consistent you are, the quicker your blog can grow from 0 to 100k+ readers per month.
Is blogging still a good idea to do?
Yes, if you follow the advice above. Blogging is an excellent form of content marketing, and it works incredibly well to build trust with your customers; and it even helps improve conversion rates if done correctly.
If you struggle with authority and credibility, blogging is a great way to get your name out there. Once you’ve built up your readership on a blog, it’s easier to make money from that platform.
Don’t worry about monetization in the beginning. Figure out what type of content you want to create and focus on writing frequently. You’ll find that you can monetize your blog in different ways. The best way to get others to pay attention to your content is to provide consistently excellent quality content.
Your primary focus should be on building a quality audience, not making money. The money will come naturally after some time.
Blogging isn’t dead, and to prove it; you’re reading this blog post right now, eh?
Follow the tips above, and you’ll be off to the races starting a profitable blog that make the world a better place!
Ready to start your blog? Let me know your thoughts below!
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