There’s Life in the Old Blog Yet

Is it worth devoting time to writing a blog in 2021? The answer is undoubtedly yes.

Although, social media has replaced or replicated standalone publishing platform requirements in many cases, a definitive blog can still hold its own. The power of social media also brings opportunities to promote and amplify your channel, not just provide an alternative to it.

 

Back in the day

Purpose-built blogging platforms of 15-20 years ago (who remembers Blogger) or their integrated companions may no longer be the only way to publish quality content but owning your own channel has a lot of benefits.

 

From blogs to websites

The open source nature of Word Press and the cost-effective drop and drag content management of Wix may have blurred the distinction of the blog and its website relation. Platforms that essentially began life as blogging software became platforms of choice for web development and extended functionality.

 

Commercially Speaking

Plug-ins suitable for these platforms also make it possible to create ‘blogs’ that perform dual roles with opportunities for shop window and transactional services.

 

SEO

Then of course, there’s search engine optimisation (SEO). Blogs were considered imperative to boost your SEO.  And although the requirements for ranking change with the tweak of an algorithm, it’s fair to say, that content is still wears the crown and is suitably regal.

Blogs help us to update and maintain content on websites and although the application of tags and key words may have diminished, they still add to the bigger picture, albeit more organically. Referenced hyperlinks to other sites also make them more visible

Of course, every platform has its pros and cons and the nature of your business, publishing requirement and theme/niche will be deciding factors on what you choose and how you develop your window to the world.

 

Quality content

As a wordsmith, I always focus on the requirement for good content. This will be ongoing long after the technical choices have been made.

It’s essential to make posts engaging and relevant to your audience. But how do you achieve this?

My ‘must haves’ include authenticity. We have not yet moved so far away from the origins of the blog for it to be otherwise. Providing an authentic voice – fair comment and honestly held opinion – delivered with a personal touch is an effective bridge in ‘reaching out’ to another human being.

Advice and tips – now the domain of many vloggers – are also sought along with news and reviews. Once you start…the ideas will keep coming.

And although it’s said that our online attention spans may not extend beyond the fold line (is this still a thing since rolling sites have become so prevalent) we still have the ability to inform, educate and entertain and adding images and dynamic content such as film and animation and maintain the interest.

Finally, its worth saying that the stats speak for themselves: businesses with blogs generate 97% more inbound links than businesses that don’t and encourage more than 50% more traffic

And if you are wondering what happened to Blogger…it was bought by Google which knows a few things about SEO, and perhaps makes clear, that there’s life in the old blog yet!