It seems that every year that passes people online are lamenting about the death of the blog. People always are quick to dismiss blogging and say it’s no longer relevant.
This simply isn’t true. People ask the question: ‘Is blogging dead?’ The answer is no. Blogging hasn’t slinked off into the bushes to die. Blogging has just evolved.
For people and businesses that want to stay current and relevant online, it’s simply about adapting your approach and responding to trends and the way in which the internet is moving.
In this article we will explain why in 2020 having a blog is still important. And how exactly to structure and format your blog to make sure you are getting the most out of your platform. Read on to find out more.
The Statistics of the Internet and Blogging
There are over 1.5 billion websites on the internet, with numbers increasing every day. Over 500 million of them are blogs. This can make for depressing statistics when wanting to make your blog stand out from the crowd.
However, over 77% of internet users read blogs on a daily basis. In fact, they are often the go-to places to find out answers to questions or for example, looking at reviews of businesses, services, or travel decisions.
Blogging is a wide umbrella term now which incorporates a range of brand sponsoring, content marketing, revenue streams, and working with different brands and businesses.
The way in which content and products can be marketed and broadcast to the internet is endless and not in short supply. Blogging is still an incredibly useful tool to drive traffic and hit revenue streams.
And let’s not forget the strength of individual communities such as parent blogs, makeup bloggers, or food reviewers. They have built up followings and communities since the early 2000s.
Many of them have obviously made the transition to other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. But often they directed their followers back to their blog for longer think pieces on the topic that they are discussing.
So how can you make sure your blogs are still relevant in 2020 with all the other competition out there on other platforms?
Think About the Length of Your Blog
Getting across your point and message to your following can be difficult to convey sometimes. It may be confusing how much to write and when to know when to call it quits.
Sometimes you can often go on for too long or not go into topics with enough depth. It can be hard to strike a balance. It’s important to get that clarify and engagement right so that it makes your followers want to read on.
If you are at all unsure, have a look at this blog post about the length of blog posts in 2020. Read on here to have all your questions answered concerning length!
Avoid the Clickbait Headings
Now it can be tempting to put a catchy heading on your blog post which will entice people to click on to it to find out more.
The fact of the matter is that this might work for a one time reader but it doesn’t help to build a lasting readership in your field.
If you are promising sensationalism and then don’t deliver on your promised headline you aren’t building any faith in your consumers. It can cheaper your brand and your overall blog.
Deliver on your content and have faith in what you are putting out there. Don’t use cheap marketing tricks to try and lure readers in. Rely on your skills in connecting with your audience without clickbait.
Know Your Niche and Stick to it
Don’t overload your blog with topics and opinion pieces on absolutely everything. People aren’t expecting you to be an expert on a hundred different interests and fields.
Know your strengths and topics and stick to them. People will come to your blog for a certain reason. It is confusing and contradictory if you aren’t being consistent with your message and topics.
Also if you are trying to write about too many things it will get exhausting. It’s always better to be knowledgable in one area than a bit-part in several.
Your content needs to be specific and helpful, not generic and ill-advised.
Quality not Quantity
People wrongly assume that the way the internet works you need to be posting all the time to stay relevant. This is not strictly correct.
Yes, of course, you do need to post reasonably regularly, but not at a cost to the quality of your postings.
Make sure you are choosing topics that are interesting and thought-provoking. If you are grasping for ideas out of thin air, take a day or so to come up with a quality blog post.
It is better to wait or hold off on writing a blog post if you aren’t confident you have a ‘solid idea’.
Your readers will be much happier with fewer blog posts of higher quality than more blog posts written without proper care and attention.
Update Old Content
Make sure that every few months you go through your content and update things that are perhaps no longer relevant or are now out of date.
Also, check on your links and pages. Do they still work? Are they still relevant? Giving your old content a bit of a once over just makes sure that all your blog posts are still important and easy to read, not just the newer ones.
Is Blogging Dead? Where To Find Out More
We hope you have enjoyed this article on asking the important questions in blogging, such as, ‘Is Blogging Dead’? The answer, of course, is no!
There are still plenty of ways to blog successfully in 2020 with a couple of handy tips. Blogging is in no way an obsolete field!
If you would like to find out more or read some more articles on marketing and business, why not check out our previous blog posts?