Is blogging STILL relevant in 2021?
There's no doubt that blogging used to be highly profitable, but since the 2010s, new players from social media platforms to smartphones, the landscape has changed a whole lot, and maybe blogging have been pushed to the back?
So is blogging STILL relevant today?
Let us look at the industry first. There are many different types of blogs, but one thing in common across the board is that they serve to provide information to the readers, be it from fashion, food, business, money or even parenting.
You will need to bear in mind that the information you provide are up to date and accurate so that you can relate to your audiences which in turn helps you to monetize easier.
But as rewarding as blogging is, however, only a few blogs actually make a lot of money. The rest still earns them money, yes, but only about a few hundreds of dollars a month, and it is definitely not a number that would be adequate to persuade anybody to quit their full-time jobs and dedicate their time purely to blogging.
Who are the top earning blogs today?
- The Huffington Post. A blog that has also evolved into an online news aggregator. Today, it reportedly earns $2.5 million per month from pay-per-click advertising.
- TechCrunch. One of the most popular publisher of technology industry news online. Estimated to earn as much as $800,000 monthly primarily from banner ads today.
- Mashable. Focused on digital media. It became the go-to for anything related to digital and social media. Reportedly earning $600,000 monthly primarily from banner advertising.
Everyone starts from somewhere, and in the beginning, these bloggers only received small amounts or revenues, before they saw it grow over the years.
Can blog stay relevant?
Big YES! Even as the current digital trends shift towards social media nowadays, it will still be very much relevant, and wont died off in the next decade at least.
The hype is all about content marketing today and what your own blog will benefit from various types of information circulated through various platforms.
A blog post is considered content creation and it stay much more visible than a social media post. While a photo or story shared on a photo-sharing app may garner a higher engagement, this often does not serve enough information about a product or service compared to a blog.
Content creation on a blog tends to serve marketers with more descriptive information to their target customers who are looking for in-depth information.
Do anyone still read blogs?
Of course, don't you?! When you search for something that is somewhat specific on Google, you will probably be shown an article first. Statistic numbers on all news and blogging platforms in 2021 are already increasing.
Even though more people are reading blogs nowadays, the average time spent on reading is declining and they normally glance through the blog post to search for the exact information they looking for instead of reading the entire article.
Statista. U.S. Number Of Bloggers Projections.
Based on the projection above, rather than dying off, there will be even more blog just in the US alone.
How to make your blog successful?
Using of search engine optimisation (SEO) is a must, as the more relevant keywords you have, the better your post will show on the search result. Riding on the latest social trend is the best way to keep your blog relevant.
Example: What type of mask is better? How to prevent getting covid-19? Is vaccine safe?
With all the different social media platforms nowaday, don't limit yourself to a blog only, you will also need to utilise multiple channels, and craft customised stories that resonate with your audience to get your blog recognised.
