Is Blogging a Thing of the Past?

I’ll give you the short answer to your question, and the answer is NO, it is not a thing of the past.

But you aren’t wrong to wonder about whether or not blogging is still relavent in 2019, 2020, 2021, and beyond.

A lot of bloggers that I know (myself included) are hyper aware of other platforms that are growing by leaps and bounds, such as Youtube, Tik Tok, and podcasting.

Many of us (myself also included) have branched out beyond our blogs towards one or many of these other platforms because of the growth that we have observed on the other platforms.

The reason we do this is not because blogging is dead, or because our blogs aren’t earning money anymore.

I can personally attest to the fact that the revenue I earn from blogging grows every single month, sometimes a little bit at a time, and sometimes by a lot. I expect this continue so long as I continue to post regularly to my websites.

The fact is that there are still millions of people searching google for articles answering their questions. There are new keywords being entered into the google search engine for the first time every hour of every day.

Because there are new questions, and new people asking them (people growing up and learning to use a computer), blogging continues to be an excellent source of income for those who commit to running a blog like a business.

Does anyone read blogs anymore?

LOL what a question!!! Do YOU read blogs anymore? Think about it. Do you search the internet and look at websites to get information? Read articles to answer your questions? Of course you do.

Now if you are thinking that there is much of a difference between blogs and websites, I will say that the gap between them has narrowed, and it is tough to tell the difference anymore. Blogs may have started years ago as a sort of online personal journal (Live Journal, for example). But at this point, modern blogs are really just websites where authors answer questions and provide information. If people are looking to share personal details about their day, most of that gets done on social media platforms, like the ‘gram or Facebook.

As a person who publishes content daily on multiple websites, I don’t even really think too much about any distinction between a “blog” and a “website.” To me, “blog” means a website with content on it.

So what about the other platforms? Aren’t they taking traffic away from blogs?

Youtube might be taking away some traffic from blogs. We bloggers are now seeing google stick Youtube videos into the search results on page one, which used to never happen. However, I will say that I see this happen in most cases when there is not a ton of competition for the keyword. If there are tons of high quality articles answering the question, I don’t often observe a Youtube video on the first page, stealing any traffic.

(You could potentially target keywords that show a video in the search results of page one….)

We know that people are consuming more content via video and audio formats than ever before. There is a lot of money to be made there, and many of us have branched out.

But I honestly don’t think that audio/video content is taking the place of people searching google for articles that answer their questions.

Instead, I think the platforms that are suffering as users move to social media and streaming online are the good old television companies and cable companies.

How many people do you know who are now “cord cutters” like I am? It is growing all the time. People are fed up with garbage television stuffed with commercials lasting several minutes at a time. We want to control out content (and the ads). Streaming offers us that ability at a fraction of the price.

Can someone start a new blog today and be successful? I mean….look at all the competition!

I do think it is possible to start a new blog and grow it into a valuable resource, one that produces income to you that you can use to pay your bills and support your family.

The reason I know is, is that I am doing it right now. Just about every year, I start a new blogging project. I like to have websites in various stages of development, and I do really enjoy growing a new site from scratch, turning it into something that produces income.

Yes, there are some niches that are extremely competitive. I will say that with all the blogs that exist, you have to be a bit more selective when you get started. Some niches are super crowded (such as food blogs and recipe blogs).

But even with that competition, there are tons of topics aside from food and recipes to choose from that you could start today and succeed with.

And frankly, if you were diligent, you could even succeed by starting a food or recipe blog. You’d just have to accept from the beginning that it will take more work to make it a successful project. (might need to invest more time and money into link building, for example)

Yet, there are topics that no one has EVER written about, because they didn’t exist in the past, or they weren’t popular! Think about the fashion trends you’ve observed come and go. Hot news topics of events that never happened before. Of people who weren’t famous before, but are now. Of new world leaders, new books that were published, fads that rise and die.

What’s the best way to start a blog and succeed with so much competition?

I’ve written extensively about my experience blogging, and rather than explain it all here, I’d rather direct you to my blogging resource page, which give you access to all of my various blogging articles. You’ll find all my advice, tips, and tricks that I have shared on this site, and I’m committed to posting new content in that section regularly.

But in general, the primary thing you need to do in order to succeed with a blog in this competitive world is to be persistent. Succeeding in blogging nowadays is about taking action, consistently and persistently. You can’t let yourself get down or frustrated with the slow growth of a blog, which many people do.

Most people who start a blog end up quitting. And not because of the competition. But instead because they weren’t willing to do the work needed to make the business successful.

You also need to blog with intention, rather than just posting random posts about how your day went. It does take some learning…learning about keyword research, some about SEO (search engine optimization), and promoting your posts to other blogs and on social media.