Pros And Cons Of Blogging: Is Blogging Worth It Or Dead?

The interest in blogging has been consistent over the past years, and more than 500,000 websites are created each day. Even though some niches are highly competitive, you still have plenty of profitable ones with less competition.

Is blogging worth it? Is blogging dead?

For many bloggers, this is a question that they ask themselves daily. In reality, blogging can be quite lucrative and rewarding in the long run. But it usually requires investing a lot of time and a little bit of money. 

Blogging is worth the effort for many reasons. It has been around since 1994 and has become a legit and reliable way to build multiple streams of income. You can earn from blogging using different platforms with little to no investment. Blogging is a worthwhile occupation to start now because more businesses keep moving online due to the ongoing crisis.

You can take advantage of your own self-hosted blog, open blogging platforms, or get paid to write blog articles. If you consider starting a blog, keep reading to discover the advantages and disadvantages and how you can benefit from it.

Blogging has evolved but is not dead.

To better understand why some people may think that blogging is dead, you need to know the original idea. It started as a way to publish online written diaries and was for mostly entertaining people. 

Back then, search engines were not too sophisticated, and they were a low amount of content on The World Wide Web. You could blog about anything and still had the chance to get found on the web. But, a few elements triggered significant changes:

• people start to look for educational and informative content
• social media kept developing
• businesses keep investing more and more in online marketing
• search engine became better at knowing what people wanted

In 2014, a major Google update including Panda 4.0 impacted 7-8 percent of all English searches. It caused many to declare blogging dead, which is obviously not the case.

The debate on the death of blogging has been going on for decades and resurfaces each time Google makes significant changes in its algorithm. In the beginning, personal blogs were thriving, then generic blogging. But in 2021, massive blogs run by large brands and niche blogs are the most successful. 

Many of the old tactics are now obsolete, and blogs that could not adapt slowly disappeared. Now, I will tell you a little bit more about the outdated strategies and the future of blogging. 

What is dead in blogging?

Personal or diary-type blogs are not as successful as before. Because of social media, people are hardly reading blog posts for entertainment. They generally use them to find a solution to a problem or to get educated. 

Old SEO tactics like keyword stuffing and clickbait titles are no longer helpful. Search engines have become better at understanding what is on a page and differentiating valuable content from fluffy content. 

Filling your blog with short content that partially covers the topic will not give the best results. It is not easy to rank on the first page with a 600 words article unless there is zero competition. Do not choose quantity over quality because it does not work anymore.

We all know that blogging is mainly written content, but it should not be only that. Search engines favor user experience, and adding other forms of content increases the chance of someone staying longer on your page. Infographics, videos, audios, interactive maps, quizzes, and mind maps are great to captivate visitors’ attention and increase engagement.

The time where you publish a post and never touch it again is revolute. Although you may not need frequent updates, it is a good practice to keep your content up-to-date. It will create much in-depth content in the long run and help you keep your blog posts rankings.

Plus, failing to understand search intent can lead to targeting the wrong audience. Users searching for informational content may not be in a buying mode, and you need some additional steps to convert them into buyers. It can also make you compete with commercial sites like Amazon and eBay instead of other blogs.

What is the future of blogging?

As a blogger, I believe that the future of blogging evolves around creating educational and informative evergreen content. It does not mean that you can not succeed if your website focuses on product reviews or news. However, the amount of work required is not the same, and most people failed when they have to post all the time to keep the same level of traffic.

Many believe that creating a niche blog is the future of blogging. Your blog focuses on a specific subject, for example outsourcing payroll for small businesses. You could find a niche that is specific enough with at least 100-200 article ideas that can generate traffic.

It is much easier to be seen as an authoritative site with a niche blog. This means your blog is most trustworthy for people and search engines. Having a niche blog does not mean less traffic; some have more than 100,000 visitors per month.

Not making keyword or topic research is a big rooky mistake. You can not just assume that people are searching online for something. You better be sure you are writing for nothing. Google keyword planner, Semrush, answer the public, keywords everywhere, and ahrefs are some great examples of keyword tools you can try to find the best topic for your blog articles.

Below is a video from the Semrush YouTube channel that shows you how to find low competition keywords to drive traffic to your blog. This method is helpful for a brand new blog and established websites that run out of topics to write.

If you have some money to invest in a team of writers and have some experience with blogging, you may try a blog around a broader subject. For example, a website for pets lovers can contain different categories. Each category behaves like a niche site with at least 50-100 blog posts. A good website structure and interlinking strategy will keep people on your website and have more return visitors. 

Blogging on revenue-sharing publishing platforms like Medium and HubPages is also a great way to make some extra money blogging. These websites are suitable for people that want to benefit from blogging without creating their website. Although some people manage to make a full-time income on Medium, the earning is low compared to a self-hosted blog.

In addition, to build a profitable blog, it is better to know how Google SERP works and understand search engines changes. The SERP (Google Search Engine Results Page) appears when you search on Google. The goal of a search engine is to show the most relevant content to answer a specific query. 

Here are some key elements that compose the SERP:

• paid ads results that appear on the top
• the Google featured snippet
• rich snippets
• the people also ask section
• the organic results (web pages, images, videos, etc.)
• maps

Understanding the SERP is essential to access competition and decide if it is worth writing an article. While keyword research tools are handy, you have to know how to read the SERP to get the best results. 

Pros And Cons Of Blogging

Bloggers who want to make money online must deal with the pros and cons of blogging to create sustainable income streams. For me, the major advantage of blogging is the ability to earn passive income after several years of consistent work. But this is also one of its disadvantages because you must be willing to work for months without making any money. Here are some pros and cons of blogging:

Benefits of blogging

Here are 10 benefits of blogging:

Turn your hobby blog into an income stream

For people who enjoy writing, having a blog is an excellent way of enjoying a hobby. It allows you to publicly express yourself and share your thoughts with most people. You can write as much you want and also be part of a community of writers than have the same interest.

However, if you want to turn your hobby into an income stream you need to make a few adjustments. Try to find what you enjoy and can also interest other people before writing an article. If you are passionate about nomad entrepreneurship, most of your blog should revolve around this subject. Your visitors will see you as an expert and a reliable source if you take the time to write educational content but not a diary.

To turn your new blog into a profitable online business, you need to learn some of the basis of SEO and to organize your website content. Below is a video on the Authority Hacker Channel that shows you how to build SEO silos using WordPress.

Benefits of blogging for business: brand awareness and traffic generation

A blog is also beneficial for the ones who want to develop a brand. If you are working remotely online, blogging can help you with brand awareness and find new customers. It is a precious and targeted free traffic source that converts well for people who have something to sell.

For a small business and any company, a blog is a gateway that can lead people to an offer. It helps convert prospects to customers by increasing their exposure to the brand. Businesses that manage to provide valuable information on how to solve a problem will have a better conversion rate. When blog posts are part of a funnel, it creates excellent results because more than half of online sales occur after reading a blog article.

Benefits of blogging for students

Starting a blog as a student is a good investment for the future. Most college students develop writing skills and are constantly learning. Here are the benefits of blogging for students:

• improve writing by creating regular posts
• increase knowledge and do in-depth research about topics related to what you study
• build a future income stream that can generate profit in two years
• a mean to pay for college if you start your blog earlier enough
• use wisely your free time

Benefit from blogging income 

Producing valuable content will help to grow your blog. When you start getting enough traffic, you will be able to earn from different streams of income:

• monetize your blog with ads
• earn affiliate commissions by recommending products
• drive traffic to your paid content, products, and courses
• guest posting and brand deals

Blogging income can represent extra money but also a full-time income. Making money from blogging varies widely depending on various factors such as:

• Topic selection and keyword research.
• Marketing strategy.
• The amount of content.
• Age of your website.

You can earn thousands of dollars every single month with a successful blog. Here is below an example of a blogging income report From Create and Go.

A blog is an asset

By investing 30-50 dollars a year in web hosting, you own your blog. And, as it grows over time, it becomes more valuable. The actual value is in the content and the community you manage to build. For example, you can use an opt-in form to collect email addresses and use an autoresponder like Getresponse to send automated emails. 

A blog combines with an email list is probably one of the most valuable assets for an online entrepreneur. After 2-3 years of hard and consistent work, you may achieve the dream of most people: make money while you sleep.  

You can create an entire brand by linking your blog to different social media accounts. A high-traffic blog worth a lot of money. It is not rare to see blogs that sell for more than $100,000. 

Make money guest blogging and sell guest posts

Guest posting consists of writing content for another site owner. Guest posting or guest blogging is widely used to increase a website’s domain authority (backlinks), traffic, brand awareness, or sales. Here are some services you can offer if you want to make money guest blogging:

• SEO agency and backlinks providers
• Freelance guest blogging on Quora, Medium, Reddit
• White hat link building and outreach services
• Offer guest blogs on your websites

Since guest blogging plays an important role in traffic acquisition, some companies are willing to pay more than $100 for a single guest post. 

Blogging is beginner-friendly 

Anyone that has an internet connection can start a blog. You may not be good at writing and writing terrible articles initially, but it does not matter. Nobody will find your blog right away, which gives you plenty of time to improve your writing skills. 

Most website builders and web content management systems (CMS) have developed intuitive drag-and-drop features. You do not have to code or learn to program, and I do not use any code to build my blog. You can discover blogging all by yourself, but it may take some time to put everything together.  

If you want to get a faster and better result, it would be best to invest in a blogging course. Online training courses help you avoid wasting time and money on things that will not grow your blog.

The cost of blogging is low

You can start a blog for free on open platforms or free blogging sites like blogger, but you will not own your blog. I personally pay $31.27 a year for my web hosting with Siteground that includes domain privacy protection.   

You do not have any necessary cost other than web hosting. If you have the funds, it can help to invest in a keyword research tool to find the best topics for your articles. However, as your website gains authority and gets larger, you may need to build a team, outsource some tasks, or invest in some useful tools. 

Benefits of using free blogging sites like Medium

Some websites like Medium, Blogger, and Trumbl let you create your blog posts for free and share them with their visitors. Even though you do not own a blog, they have some benefits:

• you can blog for free or pay a small monthly fee
• your content rank much easier since these are high DA websites
• you can reach an established audience
• you can use them to link to your website for traffic and quality backlinks
• some of them can pay you to write for example by joining the Medium partner program

Some experienced writers are making a decent amount of money blogging on Medium. Others are using affiliate links when it is allowed to earn extra money. For example, Medium allows affiliate links in your post provided that you provide value and do not spam.

You can blog on different types of websites

Many people do not know that almost all types of websites have a built-in blog. Depending on your goal, you can choose among the different kinds of website builders:

•  Open-source CMS (content management systems) like WordPress and Joomla! are among the most popular and powerful website builders. They are suitable for bloggers and almost any type of website.
• Wix, Weebly, Webnode come from different free or paid plans to build your blog or website. 
• Shopify and BigCommerce are specifically in building eCommerce and online stores. And they also have a built-in blog that you can utilize.  
• Some learning management systems (LMS) also have a built-in blog. For example, it is easy to create a blog on teachable and Podia if you are selling an online course. 
• Blogging sites like Tumblr, Medium, Blogger.com, Reddit are convenient for you if you want to blog and do not want to own a website.

Many people do not know that almost all types of websites have a built-in blog. Therefore, blogging is possible regardless of your online business.

Disadvantages and negative effects of blogging

Even though I firmly believe that the pros outweigh the cons of blogging, we need to look at both sides and discuss some of the drawbacks of being a blogger.

A blogger should master multiple skills.

 Blogging is far from being a one-task occupation. Weblog used to be mostly writing about anything happening in your life. But not, things have changed drastically, and now, here are some skills needed to be a successful blogger:

•  doing key words research
• create articles outline
• writing good content, what makes a valuable blog post
• understanding formatting and on-page SEO
• know the basis of off-page SEO 
• learn how to use social media and other websites to drive free traffic to your blog
• follow legal requirements (legal pages, GDPR, etc.)
• learn how to monetize a blog and maximize your income

There is a lot to learn, and for some people knowing the basics can be enough if they outsource some of the tasks. 

Blogging is a time-consuming occupation.

Writing a good blog post requires at least three to four hours. It can take a few days if you are not an experienced blogger or when you need to do extensive research to craft a solid piece of writing. And as you now know, there is much more to do as a blogger than writing articles. 

Doing keyword research and all the task cited before also takes plenty of time. Unfortunately, if you do not plan your work, you might spend all your time doing other things than writing content. 

It takes months before making any money blogging

Blogging is not for people who need to earn money fast. There is really no best time to start a blog, but it would be better if: you already have a job, are not working but have some savings, or are students. It is not a survival job, and you can start by spending a few hours a week.

If you are highly effective in finding underserved topics and low competition keywords, you might be able to earn some money after 3-4 months. But for most people, 9-12 months is a more realistic goal. Here are some of the reasons it takes time to make money blogging:

• an article takes time to rank on search engines
• ads network only accept website with a minimum amount of traffic
• affiliate sales come with traffic and trust, and you need time to build a trustworthy site 

Many online entrepreneurs use strategies like launch jacking to get traffic faster and make money in 2-3 weeks with affiliate marketing. 

Blogging has the disadvantages of other online jobs

Working online each day from the comfort of your home is great but also has its cons, for example:

• staring at a screen for a long time can cause sight issues and headaches
• too much blue light exposure may disturb sleeping
• sitting and typing all day long favor back pain
• you may stay at home for days, and if you do not create a social you may feel lonely

Like many online jobs, you will have to take some actions to maintain your social life and prevent the side effects of working on a computer.

Final thoughts: the truth about blogging

Blogging is still relevant in 2021, and it will be a reliable stream of income for years to come. The old diary-type blogging style is gone, and there are current ways of starting a new blog that generates an income. A successful blogger masters many skills. He is responsive to following search engine evolution and outsource if necessary.

Even though you can use various platforms, WordPress blogging is the most popular and effective way to succeed. Blogging can be demanding; it requires time and consistency. It is for people who value delayed gratification because you must be willing to work for months before seeing any tangible results.

More than 3 out of 4 internet users still read blog articles, and blogs are present in the SERP for any search. Blogging is not about to die, and you can manage to earn six figures a year as a full-time blogger if you get everything right.