Blogging in 2022 is not the same as it used to be in 2015. I started my blog in 2019, just as the blogging world was dying away at my fingertips. The internet used to be filled with all different lifestyle, fashion, and beauty bloggers, to the point I would sit for hours scrolling through posts, but now, you have to search hard even to find bloggers that post consistently.
The world has just gotten a lot lazier as the years go on. Why would someone want to sit and read through a 5-minute blog post about how to make pumpkin pie when they could watch a 30-second TikTok video and get the same results? We are all guilty of it, even me who has my own blog.
TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram have well and truly taken over. Bloggers who have had their blogs for years have found themself moving over to Instagram full-time, to become influencers and focus their content in the form of Instagram posts. This is great, but people have started to forget about the blogging world and as a result, the blogging community has gotten smaller and smaller, and even harder to stay relevant.
After having my blog since 2019, I have definitely seen firsthand how hard it is to get views and consistent followers when it comes to my blog posts. The only way I can do this is through social media apps such as Instagram and Twitter, by sharing a post linking to my blog posts to draw my follower's attention over to my blog. Without social media, my blog would have zero views (Ok, maybe my family, friends, and boyfriend would continue to read these... I'd like to hope!)
I feel there is still great blogging community awareness on Twitter. Reposting Twitter accounts such as @thebloggerstribe keeps the community alive by creating a small area on Twitter for bloggers to share their content with one another and gives smaller bloggers exposure. However, I feel like Instagram has become more of a place where influencers take over, rather than bloggers. I actually struggle to find bloggers on Instagram, as when I type in the word 'blogger', the only search result that comes up is influencers.
The real truth is, blogging will never die. As much as there is a pure lack of people starting up and staying consistent with blogs due to the world of social media, the world needs bloggers. On average, Google has over 100 billion searches every month- without bloggers and people posting content on everyday topics, Google would have no results to give people. There are over 1.9 billion websites on the internet, and 600 million of those are blogs, which just shows how much blogging impacts the internet as a whole.
Studies show that general 'lifestyle' blogs no longer do as well as they used to. Why is this? Because they are classed as 'entertainment' posts and not 'informative' posts. How many people a day are going to google 'what I eat in a day? Probably none, as they can get this type of content on the likes of Youtube and TikTok, as well as this isn't specific enough for Google to bring up you as a recommended website. Instead, informative blog posts are taking the top ranking. Posts such as Reviews, How-To's, Guides, and Trend posts are way more likely to gain you traffic to your blog. This is because these are things people are googling on the daily, people want to read informativity- and watch entertainment. The blogging world has changed.
Just because the blogging world has changed as we know it doesn't mean you can't post this type of content, in fact- I love posting personal content such as my goals and other personal life posts. I post this kind of post because I enjoy writing about them, and it gives me something to look back on in the future to review my goals or just read about where I was at a certain time in my life. I enjoy it.
I feel like there is a major gap in the blogging world. What the blogging world needs, I feel, is a specific app. I know, I have been talking about social media has caused the decline in blogging... but I think social media is also the very thing that can bring the blogging community back to life. What I think we need is an app, an app dedicated to bloggers. A place where you can go and save all of your favourite articles to read later, easily find local and other blogs that relate to yours, and be able to follow them- all in one place. Nobody likes their email inbox being clogged up with emails, which is why I feel subscription blogs are outdated. I know RSS exists., but I simply do not think it is effective enough for the whole blogging community. If only I was a tech expert I would create this app in a heartbeat... something like bloglovin' maybe? but with a 2022 twist. If there is already something like this out there that exists, please enlighten me, but I have been searching for months.
If you want a successful blog, then I think the best thing to do would be to have a mix of posts, some informative and some for entertainment, stay consistent, and continue promoting your blog through social media. Analyzing new trends in your niche, experimenting with ways to re-engage your existing audiences, branching out on social media platforms, and diversifying your content are a few ways you can “resuscitate” a blog that may be fading away.
The world of blogging will never die, it has just changed as we know it.
If you are interested in starting up your own blog but are unsure of where to begin, read my blog post on starting up a blog for beginners here:
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