Is blogging dead and is it still worth starting a blog? These are questions we need answers to in 2022!
More of us are using YouTube and social media as our go-to sources of information. Which leads anyone considering starting a blog to wonder if it’s really worth it.
So if you’re wondering whether or not blogging is dead, particularly if you want to make money from blogging… read on for some surprising answers!
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First off – spoiler alert – I’m going to answer the question. Then I’m going to explain the answer so that you can understand where to go from here!
So, is blogging dead and is it still worth starting a blog?
Blogging is not dead and it is still worth starting a blog! It’s still possible to make money from blogging and make a blog that gets thousands of views. There are simple techniques you can use to give your blog the best chance of success. And the fact that less people are making blogs means there’s less competition!
Why some people think blogging is dead
You may have heard some people – sometimes very reputable people – say that blogging is dead.
I can tell you 100% that they are wrong… but that there is some truth in what they say!
I run multiple successful blogs, and it is very worth my while. So I can tell you that it is worth starting a blog!
But with that said, the blogging landscape is very different now to when I started in around 2016. And you do have to move with the times if you want to be successful with blogging.
The key to understanding whether or not blogging is dead lies in the nuances of the question!
As is the case with so many things now-a-days, you need to understand the issue in a little bit of detail, rather than being satisfied with a quick soundbite style answer!
Is it still worth starting a blog?
First things first, when you say ‘Is it still worth starting a blog?’, do you mean ‘Can I make money from starting a blog?’
Because if you don’t mean ‘could I make money’ and you just want to enjoy creating a blog… then go for it! You don’t need to read any further! Head over to bluehost and start making your own blog – it’s fun!
But, if you want to make money from blogging – or you want to get a lot of readers, which is often the same thing – there are some things you need to understand.
The main thing we need to clarify right away is what we’re talking about when we say ‘blogging’.
Some people think of ‘bloggers’ as people who write blogs about their own life. They post every day or so and their readers follow their blog to find out what they’re up to, what they’re wearing etc etc.
It is fair to say that blogs that purely contain information about all aspects of a bloggers life are dead.
That’s largely because of a shift to social media for that kind of content, and a general change in reader trends.
BUT that is only one definition of blogging!
What type of blogs are succeeding? (i.e. what type of blogs are not dead!)
There is another type of blogging. One that answers questions that the reader has put into google! (Or another search engine!)
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Think about it – you are actually currently reading a blog! But I’m not telling you what I ate for breakfast or where I’m going for coffee later.
Instead, what I’m doing is giving you a thorough and helpful answer to a question you asked.
And that type of blogging is definitely not dead.
In fact, you can even still write a blog about your own life and angle it more towards this kind of helpful content. That type of blog is still succeeding too.
Let’s take a closer look at why blogging isn’t dead, and why it is still worth starting a blog!
The key to writing a blog that succeeds… and makes money
Okay, so there isn’t just one key to writing a blog that succeeds.
BUT there is one thing that will make or break your blog, even if you do everything else right!
And that thing is… NICHE SELECTION.
Now, if you don’t know what ‘niche’ means in relation to a blog, don’t worry! It just means the ‘subject’ around which your blog is based.
The type of blog we just talked about whereby a person just writes about themselves, could be called a general lifestyle blog. That type of blog is in the ‘general lifestyle’ niche.
And broadly speaking, we could say that those types of blog are dead. Or, to be slightly more accurate and a lot less harsh, we could just say that it’s not really worth starting a blog like that.
The type of blogs that are succeeding now are blogs in more narrow niches.
In fact, we’ve been seeing this trend for a while.
But unfortunately there’s still a lot of ‘old’ advice out there telling newbie bloggers to write in the ‘fitness niche’ or the ‘beauty niche’. Or whatever broad niche – you get the idea.
That used to work, but it generally doesn’t any more.
It’s not worth your while starting a blog like that unless you just want to do it for fun. In which case, fill your boots!
But if you want to make a blog that gets lots of visitors and makes lots of money (often essentially the same thing), you need to NICHE DOWN!
How to write helpful content by niching down!
For your blog posts to get hits from google searches, they have to answer peoples questions and help solve their problems.
I don’t mean that you have to solve life-changing complicated problems, I just mean problems like:
- How can I train my border collie?
- What can I knit for a new baby?
- What are some cheap healthy family meals?
- How can I organize my closet?
Your blog posts need to be full of helpful authentic content that answers questions like these. When they are, they’ll show up on google (there are a few more tricks you can use too!) and you’ll get clicks through to your website.
In order to end up writing helpful content that answers questions like that, you need to niche down. Which simply means focusing on a more specific subject.
For example:
- A blog in the niche of ‘dog training’ or ‘border collies’ could have a post answering the question ‘How can I train my border collie?’
- A blog in the niche of ‘knitting’ or ‘handmade gifts’ could have a post answering the question ‘What can I knit for a new baby?’
- A blog in the niche of ‘budget cooking’ or ‘meals for families’ could have a post answering the question ‘What are some cheap healthy family meals?’
- A blog in the niche of ‘home organization’ or ‘capsule wardrobes’ could have a post answering the question ‘How can I organize my closet?’
Get the idea?
To go back to the example of this blog, you (probably!) searched ‘is blogging dead’ or something similar in google. Because I have a blog which focuses mainly on the niche of blog creation, I have written a helpful post to answer the question ‘is blogging dead’.
And that strategy works really well. Not only are you actually helping people out, which is a great thing to do, you’re also creating a super successful blog!
How to start your own successful blog… because blogging isn’t dead!
I encourage anyone who is even slightly interested in starting a blog to just give it a go!
I recommend starting on bluehost because they do really good web hosting for around the cost of one latte a month – not a bad deal!
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They also make the setup process very quick and easy so that you can’t really go wrong. You definitely don’t need any prior techie know-how.
While I suggest just going over there and just getting started (strike while the iron is hot and all that), I’ve also written a full step by step guide to making a blog. Take a look at that if you need some extra help. See… helpful, well-written, long content – it works!
And if you want to dive a bit deeper into how to choose the best blog niche… well guess what, I have a post to help with that too! It’s well worth checking out if you want to make sure you’re headed in the right direction with your niche selection.
So, is blogging dead?
I hope that by now I’ve convinced you that blogging is definitely not dead, and that it is worth starting a blog!
IF you do it the right way!
Blogging can be hugely enjoyable, help you to learn tons of skills, give you a way to help people, AND make good money! Sometimes very good money!
I’ve done all those things with my blogs, and loved every minute creating them and working on them.
I have lots more helpful posts to help you with every aspect of starting your own blog, and I really encourage you to just give it a go!
(It’s also very low risk, particularly as bluehost do a 30 day money back guarantee, so you can always change your mind.)
I wish you lots of luck if you decide to start your own blog… and find out for yourself that blogging is definitely not dead!