“Is blogging dead?” In the ever-evolving landscape of content marketing, where sceptics argue that social media dominance and the rise of video content will erase the need for blogs, you wouldn’t be alone in asking this question. But while the internet has transformed significantly in recent years, we’re here to debunk the myth.
Blogging isn’t dying. In fact, blogging is thriving in 2024 - and remains a relevant and profitable content marketing channel for the foreseeable future.
In this article, we’ll shed light on why blogs are the unsung hero of the internet: transforming brand awareness and conversion and providing value for internet users worldwide. However, like any art form, there’s good and bad. We’ll talk you through how to create blog articles that will get you noticed and make people care about your brand.
And as the internet is constantly evolving, we'll clarify what makes valuable content in 2024 - i.e., what makes blogging worth it for you and your audience. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Do people still read blogs? The state of blogs now
Short answer: yes. A recent survey found that over 60% of all internet users read blogs, while another found that 77% of internet users read blogs daily. That’s over 4 billion readers. And it’s not just older internet users who are into blogs: Statista found that the percentage of young people in the UK reading blogs has grown significantly since 2010.Considering 60% of Gen Z think a brand’s digital first impressions are more important than in-person ones, it’s clear blog posts play a vital role in perception.
But why are blogs so popular?
Part of the answer is down to human behaviour.
We may love video for its visual impact and storytelling power, but if you are looking for information fast, video can feel frustrating. The average reader can read 238 words per minute, far faster than the average speaking speed of 150 words a minute. Additionally, well-structured blog articles feature subheadings to help you find answers quickly. This means blog readers can skim until they get to the information they need – speeding up the process further.
Once you've found a section that interests you, it's easy to engage deeply with the content. You can easily re-read sections (without having to rewatch a video), and – provided the blog is part of a website with a solid strategy – click around for further reading.
This is why blogs are still an invaluable informational resource. The next time you need an answer from Google, pay attention to the actions you take. We guarantee you’ll be landing on blog posts remarkably often.
What are the benefits of blogging in 2024?
A huge benefit of blogging is due to Google.
If you’re on the internet, you’re using Google to find things. On average, people conduct three to four Google searches daily. In fact, 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine – and Google controls 92% of the search engine market share. That’s why a recent study finding that blogs appear most often in top Google positions is such an encouraging news: It found that blogs appear 23% of the time in the top 5 positions of Google Search.
So - a huge benefit of blogging in 2024 is getting your products found. After all, if you have great products but no one knows about them, you won't have a profitable business - or really, much business at all.
There are numerous additional benefits to be aware of, including:
Blogs grow your entire online visibility
Appearing prominently in search engine results pages attracts more visitors (organic traffic) to your website. And it’s not just those searchers looking for your exact products – your blog can reach new customers who are not even aware they need you.
Consider this: A gardening tool brand might rank highly for “hori-hori” or “hand pruner” - but if you’re new to gardening, you won’t even know what these words are, let alone search for them. A blog can help you rank for search terms like “which gardening tools are most useful?” or even “small garden ideas”.
By consistently creating high-quality content, you not only make yourself more visible to more potential customers, but you also help to boost your visibility for your more niche content. This is what makes blogging profitable in 2024: it's generating traffic, keeping readers engaged, and boosting the performance of your entire website.
Blogs build your credibility
Blogging allows you to establish yourself as an industry expert. This helps build trust in your product or service amongst customers, and also helps as a resource for new employees.
As your business grows, there are many specific questions and queries that become second nature for you to answer – but for new customers to niche websites, this is unchartered territory. Providing written content that helps them to understand more about you will fast-track their interest in your product or service.
Gaining recognition and credibility in this way is especially important online, as customers can’t road-test in-person. Combining written content with video blogs will further improve trust as website visitors will be able to understand more about you and your products.
Sharing your advanced knowledge will also help to grow your whole company’s reputation, as expertise isn’t siloed with one person. Think of this as content creation to educate new recruits, too.
3. Blogs fuel community and brand loyalty
Blog articles are a great platform for interaction with readers through comments or social media sharing. Engaging with readers fosters a sense of community, which is vital for brands in 2024, as brands with successful communities are proven to command more brand loyalty.
When you consider the high cost of acquiring new customers, versus the great value of loyal, returning customers (one study found that loyal customers are worth 306% of the cost of acquisition across their lifetime), it makes sense to do everything possible to build a strong community.
That engagement can even help you understand your business better. Your audience may have questions or opinions that you’re not aware of, so creating a space to address them can build your reputation and provide for them above and beyond your competitors.
Employees who share blog articles on LinkedIn can help boost this even further. Posting a link to the article alongside a caption sharing their own insights helps them to create deeper relationships with their network and builds further recognition for your brand’s expertise. Having multiple voices operating in this way will ignite your community in professional spaces, and keeping an eye on responses can help you develop expertise even further. With their permission you can even turn these into sponsored posts.
Think of employees resharing blogs as a marketing channel in its own right.
4. Blogs aid networking and collaboration
Successful industry blogs are visible, credible, and talked about. Who wouldn’t want to feature in a publication that’s relevant to their niche and could aid their professional development?
Crafting a successful blog opens doors to connect with like-minded individuals in your field, as well as influencers and industry experts. Collaborating on guest posts or interviews, or exploring joint ventures to support with your blog will grow your sphere of influence and build further credibility.
Working with a regular guest blogger helps your brand to add additional content pillars that may be important to your audience. This is what our client, Stannah does: through collaborating with Bake Off contestant Val Stones, Landscape designer Mark Lane, architect and inclusive design expert Vaila Morrison, and occupational therapist Kate Sheehan, Stannah’s blog speaks with authority on multiple subjects that are important and interesting to its target audience.
As you build out your content pillars to foster more collaboration, you’ll need a cohesive content strategy - and you’ll need a method of finding spokespeople who are keen to contribute as new bloggers. Luckily, that’s something we’re experts in.
How to get blogging in 2024
Getting started blogging in 2024 is a great idea for most brands with a digital presence. The best advice for creating a great blog has emerged over several years, but there are new updates and advancements to be aware of.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you start a blog now:
1. Choose a niche and identify content pillars
A great blog is consistent: readers who discover your content will return to your website for more, similar reading material – or they’ll learn to recognise your name when they’re googling certain subjects.
Keeping consistent through writing great articles that relate to one another also helps you link to your older articles for more reading. This helps keep users on your site longer, and also helps tell Google more about you – which will help you to surface higher in search results.
Content pillars are the main topics you cover with your blog. The way to find a bountiful content pillar is to start with your target audience: what are their needs and interests, and where’s the overlap with your expertise?
We recommend you tag each blog article with the name of your content pillar, to help organise it. This will also help you later down the line when finding other blogs of yours to link to.
2. Pick a platform and set up your blog
There are tons of blogging platforms to choose from, and many website platforms allow you to host a blog easily on your site. Conduct research and choose an option that will suit your needs: you’ll need to factor in your desire for customisation, as well as user-friendliness and search engine optimisation (SEO) capabilities.
If you're selling digital products or have an online store, it's also vital that you choose a platform that will allow you to conduct your business easily within the same domain. You'll also need to ensure you have reliable web hosting set up. Otherwise, you'll find that your blog won't help you to make money online nearly as much.
Once you’ve decided, set up your blog to make it visually appealing and easy to navigate. The layout should feel easy to understand, so that users can quickly get to the areas that interest them.
3. Create content with originality and purpose
FYI, the purpose of your blog isn’t just to attract customers.
You need to have something original to say. Consider this: the internet is already full of content. If you’re only going to write a blog that’s a re-hash of other people’s ideas, there’s no point in doing it. You're not really helping anyone.
This is especially important as we see more AI-generated content. Artificial Intelligence is getting good at blogging using a mish-mash of the internet's pre-existing "greatest hits". So you need to be a cut above.
Make sure what you’re saying is founded in great research – and then add knowledge to your field. This is what is going to get people seeking out your content over anyone else’s.
Your content should feel valuable and enjoyable. Ensure your writing is stellar, and consider the experience on your page. Would imagery, video or infographics help your reader to process your ideas? If you include this, it will also make your blog article more shareable – meaning you’ll reach a wider audience.
4. Get familiar with Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine optimization is about making the best content possible to meet the needs of someone using a search engine (usually Google), and then making it easily identifiable for that search engine – so that it can categorise your content and show it to the right people.
Get familiar with the basics of SEO: conduct keyword research, optimise meta tags and meta descriptions, and structure your blog article so that it’s clear to the reader what you’re talking about.
There are plenty more factors to great SEO (mobile friendliness and page load speed, link building, social signalling, and technical SEO to name a few) - but for the purposes of keeping things simple with your blog, the most essential aspect to remember is to create high quality content.
The way to do this is immerse yourself in the mindset of your reader. Consider your target audience: the questions they may have, the expectations they come to when engaging with your subject matter, the way they behave on your page, and the actions you want them to take. Craft your blog content to make experiences that suit their needs and exceed their expectations.
5. Keep at it
While the internet may be written in permanent ink, blogs without new content are blogs dead in the water. You need to be consistently updating your site with fresh blog posts to keep your readership returning - and you need to be updating your older, popular blog posts to keep them competitive.
Blogging is still profitable, but it's far more competitive than a decade ago. That's partly because there are so many other bloggers out there: by Ahref's count, there are more than 600 million blogs on the internet. You need to be making great content to secure your top spot on search engines.
Hone your writing skills, assess your competitors' content marketing, and look for more opportunities to surprise and delight your audience. Would interactive elements, shareable imagery, or an insightful video make your blog article pop?
We also recommend you get accustomed to using Google Analytics, Google Search Console and third-party SEO software: this will help you work out what's bringing visitors to your blog on search engines, and where you can improve your performance. If you can land at the top of Google and turn your visitors into happy customers, you'll find your blog is one of your most profitable marketing channels in 2024.
2024: The year of the successful blog
So there you have it: search engines love blogs, and actually - despite what some naysayers will have you believe - so do people.
Are blogs profitable in 2024? Yes - but it takes skill to make money blogging. You need to have a great understanding of your subject, your audience, and the other content in your niche. You'll also need to have some imagination: the future of blogging is all about creating new, authoritative content - not just rehashing. That's what'll get you ahead of your competition and any AI content marketing.
If you're interested in developing a profitable blog for your brand,get in touch. We'll talk you through how to win over search engines and customers (and even journalists) with unforgettable digital content.
