Blogs making a comeback is a theme we see usually at the beginning of the year. The same question pops up constantly: Are blogs dying out? And again, and again the answer is: No, they’re not! In fact, blogs keep coming back to the surface again and again!
I’ve been blogging for over 10 years. In the beginning it was all about keeping friends and family up to date on my adventures around Europe. Eventually I purchased my own domain, learned a bit of coding and started reading about and implementing SEO into the mix.
Blogging is my passion because it incorporates two of my favourite things; writing and photography. So, even though everybody is talking about “the death of the blog” I decided my passion for writing was worth staying in the game regardless. Because it’s never too late!
There are periods when the blogosphere is a tad quieter, which most long-term bloggers have noticed along the way. But the fact is that even if last year might have been slower and quieter, blogging as an industry is NOT going anywhere. On the contrary, blogs are making a comeback. Again!
Immediately after New Year my reading list was filled with blog post after blog post on how this industry will stick around. And how it’s going to be even bigger and better this time around. So inspiring, so supportive, and so POSITIVE! So, let’s see WHY blogs are making a comeback:
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Why Blogs Are Making A Comeback In [cur_year]
There’s no denying it, blogs are making a comeback! And there are very clear and good reasons for that. In this post I will introduce you to 4 reasons why blogging never went away, and never will. A lot of it has to do with how marketing has changed:
While social media still takes a large chunk of the cake, blogs have cemented their place as a marketing tool waaayy before the social media we nowadays know was even born. So, here’s why people keep returning to blogs again and again.
Bloggers and consumers want back the control!
We keep hearing constantly how Instagram is trying to find more and more ways to force adverts down our throats while taking power away from us creators. We can already see a backlash to this, as more Instagram users turn their accounts private. Instagram’s updates are always less and less user-friendly, so why would we play their game anyway?
Read also: The Problem With Instagram and What To Do About It?
Then there are all these social media platforms that were super popular for a while and suddenly just died. Such platform like Vine and Snapchat. Even Twitter lost a considerable amount of users after a certain billionaire took it over. What does all this tell us?
It means that we as consumers, users and enablers (because those platforms wouldn’t exist without us!) want to take back control.
And that is the main difference between a blog and a social media platform; a blog is its creator’s property. I own this domain, this website and every single word and photo on it. It’s mine and I control what happens to it, if anything.
So, whatever you see here on my page, you can be damned sure it’s about me and my opinions:
- Written by me,
- edited by me
- and published by me.
- No misleading adverts and changing algorithms here, I can guarantee that.
Trustworthiness as well as authenticity is gaining more value every passing year and it’s fast becoming one of the most important currencies in the online world. And as awareness of the privacy issues on social media platforms grows, blogs making a comeback becomes more and more major.
Trust and security are advantages that blogs have over social media always.
Newsletters = mini blogs
For many people starting a blog seems like a bigger project to take on than what they have capacity for. And to some extent they would be absolutely right! On top of creating content you also manage a website and your blog’s marketing, which can all get overwhelming sometimes.
Thankfully there is another great option: newsletters! Creating a newsletter is easy and quick when you choose a service that offers ready templates. And these templates are free as part of your subscription.
A newsletter can be used as a blog to talk about your daily adventures and to share tips and advice. Or it can be used for affiliate marketing to share services and products that you love. The possibilities are endless and reach as far as your imagination does.
I personally use MailerLite, which is one of the simplest and cheapest newsletter services out there. They also have great customer service, which I’ve needed to rely on on multiple occasions. Check them out here:
Consumers prefer authenticity and personal approach
Every time Facebook, Netflix, Instagram or any platform decides to incorporate advertisements or more advertisements, it causes shivers of dislike in each of us. Personally I am rather fed up with advertisements taking over most my Instagram nowadays.
I would venture to guess that there are plenty of people who are thinking along the same lines. The particularly oppressive factor about all these adverts teeming on social media platforms is the fact that they are so extremely targeted to us thanks to the modern day ‘eavesdropping’.
We all know that if you mention a certain brand bag in a conversation, even if the conversation itself has nothing to do with the bag, the next time you go online, you’ll see an advert of that particular bag. This is straight out of Stalin’s handbook of ‘how to spy Soviet Union-style‘ and it’s fucking horrid!
Which brings me to another reason why I’m sensing that blogs are making a comeback. With blogs you know where every recommendation and brand praise comes from. Especially if you’ve followed a blogger for a long time, you feel like you know them. And that’s why you trust them more than a random advert.
Yes, there are blogs that are teeming with adverts cutting the text, and it’s not particularly appealing (#personalopinion!) Also, there are plenty of bloggers who’ll advertise anything as long as they get paid, which is not honest or authentic, but at the end of the day the choice is yours.
Whether you continue following a certain blog or not is completely in your control.
AI emphasises original content’s importance
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, artificial intelligence is becoming a more and more integral part of our daily lives by the minute. The latest development has been Google changing its search engine algorithm: it now includes AI.
Particularly in Google’s case, making AI a strong decider for what to share for our queries hasn’t worked very well. While AI struggles to understand the contextual differences between what we are looking for and what it offers us as answers, it has been taught to downgrade content that has been generated using AI.
- THIS can be a surprising perk for bloggers.
- As long as bloggers offer original, authentic content, Google’s AI algorithm should promote our content above AI-generated content.
- Many bigger businesses rely heavily on AI in their marketing efforts, so this gives us a vantage point.
Not to worry if you as a blogger have been relying on AI! You can edit your content to sound more like you and make sure it’s not too generic. And in the future utilising AI is still totally okay, but don’t just copy and paste. Google may punish you for that.
When used well, AI can benefit blogs making a comeback.
Blogs provide useful information
This is a simple fact, people want to find accurate information, step-by-step guides and honest opinions. Even though there are worries that people don’t read books as much as they used to, blogs still hold their popularity.
Blogs are in such strong position in the future because of this; when people look for advice and information they Google. And what are some of the very first results on Google, no matter what keywords you tap in the Search bar? Oh yes, blog posts.
I’m definitely one of those who rely strongly on blogs when looking for travel tips. Or DIY tricks for changing a light bulb, because I’m a modern independent woman *snap!* And I’m sure I’m not the only one, which is why blogs making a comeback happens again and again: the future of blogs is secured.
- There’s just so much that goes for longer, more informative reviews versus short tips on Instagram.
- For example Twitter has no writing space for giving concrete advice.
- A tap and a scroll does not take you very far if you want to figure out how to take a screen shot with the new iPhone.
- But a quick look at a blog post with informative headlines and a step-by-step guide will take you there.
Blog posts stick around
From the point of view of the retailers, brands and everyone who’s interested in collaborating with influencers, blogs beat social media platforms 6 – 0! Why? Because that blog post sticks around for years, maybe decades! And every time those specific keywords are searched on Google, the post gets more and more visibility.
Obviously, that also means more and more visibility for the brand. Blogs should be, and are a stable, long-term solution for anyone who wants to market their products and brands. But blogs are especially good for new brands that are breaking into the markets where competition is hard.
Choosing the right blog and blogger to collaborate with in order to kick-start your new lipstick sales is one of the most effective and continuous marketing strategies.
The things that brands should pay attention to is that the blogger they collaborate with is knowledgeable on SEO and how to keep the post visible and up-to-date even years from now.
Blogs Making a Comeback – Conclusion
I’m going to join my fellow bloggers in praising this year as the Year of the Blog! But it won’t be the Year of the Blog unless we make it so!
So, now is the time to admit to yourself (if you haven’t done so already) that your blog is good enough and even better than you’ve allowed yourself to think. Shout about it online and offline, advertise, market, make people aware.
And who knows, you may have a whole new set of followers and a new stream of revenue by the end of this year.
I’d love to hear what you lovelies think of blogging especially now that the new year has been kicked to full speed again! Is this the year blogs are making a comeback? ♥
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