Are Blogs Still a Thing?

Are blogs still a thing?

The blogging world used to look very different. In the early days of the Internet, blogs were more of an online diary with no purpose other than personal expression. Today, blogs are focused and purposeful, but how many are still out there? And, does anyone really read them like they used to?

We’ve dedicated our post today to answering the question: Are blogs still a thing? It’s a fair question. Since blogging has changed so much, it’s difficult to know where the industry stands. But, if you’re an aspiring blogger and worried your dreams have passed you by, don’t fret. We’ve got the down-low on the current state of blogging below:

Are Blogs Still a Thing?

What is a Blog 

A blog is a website or web page that shares information on one primary topic. Usually, they’re run by one influencer or a small group of people who have a passion for their niche. The content is a combination of text, photos, and graphics assembled in a conversational and casual style. Blogs have become a platform for people to share their expertise or experience with massive online communities. 

There are over 600 million blogs today. In the U.S. alone, there are 31 million bloggers that post regularly to their site. Each blog has a different purpose, topic, and perspective. Internet users consume content online by reading blogs, whether it’s to get a question answered, learn about something new, or feel inspired. 

A list of the most popular types of blogs

Types of Blogs

Since blogs are no longer spaces for personal diary entries, what kind of content do they share? Here’s a list of some of the most common blog types:

Lifestyle 

A lifestyle blog is probably the most similar to the classic online diary type of blog. Bloggers in this category have some sort of unique lifestyle that’s interesting to audiences. Maybe they homeschool their children, maybe they work with celebrities, or maybe they struggle with disease. Whatever it is, these bloggers create content on that topic and share it with readers curious about their life choices and experiences. 

Example: The Skinny Confidential by Lauryn Bosstick

Mom 

Parenting and mom blogs share posts related to their journey raising children. Sometimes this type of content is educational, and other times it’s inspirational, simply sharing the mutual struggles of motherhood or fatherhood. These are super popular blogs that create income for many stay at home moms out there!

Example: The Mom Trotter by Karen

Food

Even if you’re not a blog reader, you’ve probably read a food blog. Often, food blogs are websites filled with recipes. Each article includes the recipe and plenty of additional content about the process of making it or creating it. Other food blogs review restaurants, showcase culinary masterpieces, or explore ethnic foods! 

Example: Love and Lemons

Travel

Since the early days of National Geographic, people have loved to experience the world through those who have the privilege of traveling the globe. Travel blogs highlight the exploits of avid travelers. These bloggers share photos, experiences, and information on each destination they travel to. Readers prefer to learn about these far-off places with a real human through blogs!

Example: A Solo Woman Traveling by Melissa

Corporate

Believe it or not, businesses have dived right into the blogging phenomenon. It’s no longer a place just for personal experience. Instead, corporate entities share informational content about their brand or area of expertise to help their customers understand their product or service better. This also helps companies establish trust with their potential customers. Often, these are not separate blogging sites, but just a blogging page on the company website. 

Example: Oshēn Salmon

Fashion

Fashion magazines are dying, but fashion blogs are thriving! Style and fashion influencers all over the world share content on social media and their website with audiences everywhere. They help people of a certain demographic style their clothes, discover new brands, and find inspiration in their daily looks. 

Example: Style Charade by Jennifer Lake

Finance

People are often looking for money advice online. Financial blogs teach people how to save money, invest wisely, and achieve big financial goals. These are usually more academic in style, but they maintain a conversational tone. 

Example: Smart Passive Income by Pat

Evolution of Blogging

Like we mentioned, blogging has changed a lot over the years. So, before you start a blog, it’d be a good idea to make sure you’ve got a modern understanding of the industry. 

Blogging in the 90s

In the 90s, personal blogging was born! People would share about their lives and post thoughts about the world. These online diaries had to be coded by the bloggers, and traffic was hard to come by. Remember, Google wasn’t born until 1998!

Blogging in the 2000s

Blogging platforms became available in the 2000s, so people didn’t have to build their own websites. Also, monetization became possible through early advertisement companies like BlogAds and Google AdSense. Not long after that, a blog database was created called Technorati. Here, you could search thousands of blogs to find one that spoke to you! 

At this time, blogging started to be taken more seriously. With the rise of Google, blogs began to reach the masses. And, let’s not forget YouTube! The birth of YouTube saw the beginning of vlogging, which was essentially an online video diary—very similar to blogs of the time!

Blogging in the 2010s

Blogging became even more accessible to creators in the 2010s as platforms offered new monetization strategies like subscription models! Additionally, as social media platforms blew up, reaching audiences became much easier for new bloggers. Suddenly, there was a specific location to locate your target audience. In these years, blogs moved away from the diary format, and became more niche. 

Blogging in the 2020s

Blogging today is a thriving industry! Google has adjusted its algorithm over the years to favor long-form quality content written with a lot of purpose and passion. What does that sound like? Blogs! Google will actually prioritize giving searchers blog content over almost anything else. 

Because of this, many have flocked to the blogging world. Businesses started blogging to reach new customers. Social media influencers started blogging to monetize their brand. And, regular people started blogging to share their truth with the masses. It’s become a lucrative industry for everyone with the help of the most popular search engine on the planet. You know which one we’re talking about. 

Do People Still Read Blogs

Though many people think blogs have faded out, 60% of Internet users read blogs regularly. That means over half the web is still looking for great blogging content like yours! Beyond that, many more Internet users, if not all of them, read blog posts on a question/answer basis. 

They Google a question like, How to get permanent marker out of clothes? Or, How to lose weight fast? Then, the answers populate on the search engine results page. And, all those answers are written as a blog post! When you look at it this way, many more people read blogs than that 60% number. 

A list of reasons why blogging is still relelvent

Why Blogging is Still Relevant

Soft Sells to Customers

For business owners, blogging provides an easy way to increase brand awareness, establish authority, and push more sales. However, this form of content marketing sells subtly. Customers don’t feel like they’re at a used car lot getting pushed to buy a vehicle 20k over budget. Instead, they feel like they’re getting valuable answers to their questions, which encourages loyalty to the brand. This ultimately drives sales of a product or service. 

Keeps Your Website Active 

When people travel to your website, it should be obvious that it’s active. Updating your website regularly not only ensures organic followers stick around, but it encourages followers to keep coming back for more content! 

Improves Your SEO Ranking 

When you search for something on Google, the search engine will prioritize high quality long form content (AKA blogs!). Then, you can optimize these blogs to rank high on the SERP and reach the most users, boosting your website traffic and popularity. You can do this on your own, or by hiring an SEO optimizer like InfluencerSEO, or you can go the DIY search engine optimization route. You can check out our blog for all the how-tos on SEO!

Engages Your Followers Regularly 

There are millions of content creators out there. If you’re not providing regular content for your followers, they’ll find it elsewhere. If you have a good social media following, and are looking for more ways to reach your people, post useful blogs and repurpose them for all sorts of social media content! Soon, you’ll find new followers on your blog. 

Provides Sought-After Content

The stats don’t lie. People are reading blogs and they value blogging content. If blogs weren’t relevant, we wouldn’t see so many Internet users regularly reading them. People love to engage with like-minded people and read about interesting lifestyles. This content is just as sought-after as ever! 

Blogging Best Practices

If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, do it! This is a great time to jump into blogging. Just ensure you have a strong voice and a clear niche. A focused niche will help you target the perfect readers for your content that’ll remain loyal for years to come. Host your blog on your own website, and ensure every post is search engine optimized. 

Then, simply post regularly to keep everyone engaged. Soon, a well-optimized post will expand your reach and help you build lots of followers. You can push this further by staying active on social media too. Finally, monetize your blog using affiliate marketing, brand collaborations, ad space, and products or services. In no time, you’ll be blogging full time! 

Blogs are still relevant today
Blogs attract millions of internet users every day, making the medium anything but irrelevant! 

A lot of people think blogging is dead, but blogging in 2022 is alive and well. Google helps support blog creators by promoting their great content, so with the right niche and strategy, you can have the huge following you’ve always dreamed of. There’s a place for your content in this space, so start making a plan to get started! 

We at InfluencerSEO are here to help you with your blogging journey. Yes, we’re a blog about blogs. Wild, right? That just goes to show how active this industry really is! Make sure you use all of our resources to get your blogging going and grow it to success. We have blog posts, SEO services, and more to help your blog go from concept to career. Ready. Set. Blog!

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