A question that gets asked frequently in this day and age of YouTube and social media is: are blogs still relevant?
Some may think that video content is taking over, and the days for blogging are numbered. While it is partially true, many bloggers are also having great success and are making over five figures a month.
So, are blogs still relevant in 2021? Well, let’s find out through statistics and three things you should consider when starting a blog.
Is Blogging Still Relevant?
In 2021, blogging is still highly relevant, even after being around for over 20 years.
While blogs may be harder to differentiate from websites, I can guarantee that you’ve been on a blog within the past 30 days.
Whether you’re searching up ‘meal prep ideas’ or ‘how to save for an emergency fund,’ those top Google results are likely blogs.
While personal blogs are dying out, blogs that answer questions, give valuable information, and are user-friendly lead the search results.
Yes, it’s a lot harder to rank against publications and magazine sites, but new bloggers can’t just give up.
I’ve recently thought of blogging like this: I’m not throwing in the towel because there’s more competition and more prominent blogs out there. I have insight and knowledge that I want to share with an audience. Imagine not creating a business in a particular industry because someone already has a similar idea and is making money.
The same principle can be applied to bloggers. While small bloggers can’t just write about whatever they want, they have to write about low-competition keywords relevant to their niche.
Do People Still Read Blogs?
Of course they do (more than 400 million people read blogs a month), but not in the same way as ten years ago.
People mainly read blogs to find an answer for something, not follow a personal journey or story.
We search a question on Google, click on one of the top results, and get our questions answered as quickly as possible. These articles we click on are blogs, like the one you’re currently reading.
After your question is answered, you can go about your day or continue to follow and read this blogger’s other articles.
This is where high-quality, informative posts are crucial to a blogger’s success. Blog posts need to be accurate, answer questions, have up-to-date statistics, and have a good user experience (fast loading times, safe browsing, e.g.)
If you’re still unsure about blogging being relevant in 2021, read this next section about blogging statistics.
Blogging Statistics
While you may think blogging is dead, here’s ten 2021 blogging statistics to get rid of that thought:
- Over 409 million people view more than 20 billion web pages each month.
- There are over 89,000 Google searches every second.
- Users create around 70 million new posts every month (that’s an average of 29 posts every second).
- Content marketing is predicted to be an industry worth $412+ billion by 2021.
- Food and personal finance bloggers make the most income. Food bloggers make a median monthly income of $9169, whereas personal finance bloggers make $9100.
- The average monthly salary of a blogger is $8,000.
- There are over 31 million blogs in the US alone.
- 46% of people take recommendations from bloggers/vloggers into account.
- Blog posts remain the most effective form of content over email, ebooks, and white papers.
- The most effective content types are webinars, roundups, interviews, gated content, guides, and ebooks.
Source: Semrush
So, are blogs still relevant? Heck yeah!
3 Factors to Consider When Blogging
Here are three factors to consider when starting a blog in 2021. If you haven’t created a blog yet, you can read this step-by-step guide.
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1. What are your goals with blogging?
To succeed with blogging in 2021, you first need to determine your goals and intentions with your blog.
Do you want to monetize and make money with your blog?
Or, are you just writing as a form of expression and as a hobby?
Understanding your intentions from day one will help you succeed, rather than just become another person amongst the 95% of people who abandon their blogs.
If you choose option one, you’ll need to create a content plan, focus on SEO and social media for traffic, and write on low-competition keywords.
If you choose option two, you can relax and not worry about all the technical side of blogging. Just have fun writing about what you’re interested in and sharing it with your friends and family.
2. Focus on a good user experience
Now the second thing to consider when blogging is to focus on a good user experience.
Yes, it’s good to write with SEO in mind, but it’s even better to write with users in mind.
Add a little personality to your blog posts here and there, and make them relatable to users, but don’t get too far off track.
I also make my content easy-to-skim, meaning I never include large chunks of text where the user can easily get lost in. All my paragraphs are between 1 – 3 sentences, no more.
Also, it would be best if you focused on some technical aspects regarding user experience, like page speed and mobile friendliness.
According to the developers at Google, these are the things that are measured for a ‘good user experience’:
- Loading performance: A fast loading blog will reduce bounce rate, aim for under 3 seconds loading time.
- Interactivity: Provides a good user experience to have an interactive blog in a short time.
- Few layout shifts: Content on the blog that doesn’t jump around during loading time (looks choppy and unprofessional).
- Mobile friendly: Is your blog accessible and user-friendly via mobile?
- Secure: Is your blog secured by HTTPS?
- Non-intrusive browsing: The content is easily accessible without intrusive pop-ups and ads.
It would also help to make your blog look as clean and professional as possible, making the users feel at ease on your blog.
Many little things add together for a good user experience, so don’t expect to master it within a day.
3. Adapt, don’t give up
The final thing with blogging is that you have to be willing to adapt instead of just giving up.
Google’s algorithm changes hundreds of times a year, so you have to be willing to adapt to the significant changes. You could give up and admit defeat, but what’s the point in that?
- Focus on a good user experience: All of the factors mentioned in #2 will lead to a good user experience.
- Create a fast-loading blog: Who doesn’t love a blog that’s quick loading? Read how I got to the perfect score on Google Pagespeed Insights.
- Focus on creating high-quality content: Write content that answers users’ questions, uses relevant images, video, and analytics.
- Never stop learning: Try to learn a new thing every day about blogging or stay up to date with Google’s news.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, that answers your questions of if blogs are still relevant in 2021.
While video content is taking over, there’s still a massive audience who reads blogs.
Bloggers need to create high-quality, relevant content that answers users’ questions to stay on good terms with Google’s updates.
Blogging isn’t the same as it was ten years ago, but like everything in business, you have to adapt to the changes, or you’ll most likely fail.
Are blogs still relevant for you in 2021?
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