The way I see it, there are pros and cons to everything in life, and blogging is no exception.
I want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of blogging. Yes, there are disadvantages. Good news and bad news if you like.
The good news. I will start with the advantages, which include:
- increased traffic
- better SEO
- improved branding
- more opportunities for networking
Then we will move on to the bad news, the disadvantages, which include:
- time commitment
- lack of return on investment (ROI)
- potential for negative comments
So what do you think? Are the advantages worth the disadvantages?
Let`s have a look.
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What are the advantages of Blogging?
Blogging definitely has its advantages. And for me, perhaps the most significant advantage is the potential to increase traffic to your website.
Increased web traffic
This can be accomplished by SEO keywords, backlinks, and social media sharing. If you are able to produce high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, you will see an uptick in web traffic. And more traffic usually means more opportunities for conversions (sales, leads, etc.).
BUT, one thing I really want to stress here is what I just mentioned in my last sentence. Produce high-quality content.
The importance of creating high-quality content
In my opinion, creating high quality and valuable content is important for a number of reasons.
- It helps to ensure that your readers will actually want to read what you have to say. If your content is poorly written or full of typos, people are likely to click away from your site without ever really getting to know what you have to offer.
- High quality and valuable content can help to build trust with your readers. If they see that you consistently produce well-written and informative articles, they are more likely to come back to your site in the future and recommend you to their friends.
- Good content can also help improve your search engine rankings. Most search engines favour websites that contain fresh, relevant content, so by regularly adding new helpful, valuable, and quality articles or blog posts to your site, you can help improve your chances of appearing near the top of the search results.
So, as you can see there are many reasons why it’s important to create high quality content for your website.
Trust me when I say, by taking the time to produce well-written, helpful and informative articles, you can help ensure that your website is visited by people who are actually interested in what you have to say. In my experience, good content can also help build trust with your readers and improve your search engine rankings.
How does Blogging help my SEO?
Ok, just in case you do not know what SEO stands for, it` Search Engine Optimisation, getting found in Google basically!
A big advantage of blogging is the opportunity for improved SEO. With each blog post you write it is another page that can be indexed by the search engines. You have the chance to include relevant keywords and phrases that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is important because it can mean the difference between someone finding your site and continuing on to your competitor’s site.
But, don`t write your blog post for Google or Bing, write it for your readers. Make sure it is informative, valuable and helpful to your target audience. But, also add the main SEO elements to your Blog, as it still needs to be optimised and found. These include:
- Optimised title
- Optimised URL
- H1 tag
- H2 tags
- Alt tags on images
- Internal linking
- External linking
Well-written and keyword-rich blog posts can help improve your website’s search engine optimisation (SEO). This, in turn, can lead to increased traffic from people who are searching for the topics you write about.
I strongly recommend doing some keyword research to determine good blog topics and tiles to write about. Don`t just focus on the big search volumes but look for keywords with a low keyword difficulty to help you get ranked quickly and easily. Please get in touch if you need any help with this.
Ok, let`s move on…
In addition to increased traffic and better SEO, blogging can also help with branding, so let me focus on that for a moment.
By consistently putting out high-quality content, you are helping to build trust with your target audience. As this trust grows, so does brand loyalty. People are more likely to do business with a company they know and trust than a company they have never heard of before. If you`ve read other blog posts of mine you will know how important the know, like, and trust is to me.
I always say this to clients:
“Would you do business with a brand you did NOT know, did NOT like or did NOT trust?” I think we would all answer the same and that would be “No”.
Now completely flip that and let me ask you this:
“Would you do business with a brand you know, you like or you trust?” And, I am just making a guess here, but I think we are likely to say “Yes”.
How is Blogging good for my branding?
So, as you can see blogging can also be a great branding tool.
If you are consistent with your high-quality content and your voice, readers will start to associate your brand with certain values and characteristics. For me, this is extremely important in today’s competitive marketplace. If you can establish yourself as an expert or thought leader in your industry, you will be far more likely to attract new business. Make sense?
Before I move on to the bad news, let me just quickly focus on the last advantage.
Blogging provides more opportunities for networking
Think about this, as you build relationships with other bloggers and influencers, do you think you will have the chance to collaborate on projects, guest post on each other’s sites, and generally expand your reach within your industry? Yes, of course you would and that would all come naturally.
In my experience, these connections can lead to new business opportunities, career advancement, and a whole host of other advantages. I have built up some great business relationships over the years just through my blog posts.
I have even attended business networking meetings in Norwich and Norfolk over the years and people actually knew me from my blog posts, never even met me but seemed to be like a long-lost friend! And the majority of those relationships have continued and grown to this day.
Ok, now for the bad news!
What are the disadvantages of Blogging?
Of course with good news there usually follows some bad. Yes, there are also some disadvantages to blogging that you should be aware of.
Time commitment
For me, and I presume many others, it is the time commitment.
Creating high-quality blog content takes time – usually several hours per post. If you are not able to commit the necessary time to produce quality content, it will show in your finished product. And yes, I have produced some really bad blog posts that were rushed just to get something out there!
Let me stress this to you: One excellent, high-quality and helpful blog post is worth far more than 5, 10, 15 mediocre posts that were poorly written and rushed.
How much time should you commit to blogging?
This is a difficult question for me to answer if I am completely honest, because it really depends on how often you want to blog and how much time you have available.
If you want to blog every day, then you will need to commit at least an hour or two each day to researching, writing and publishing your posts. However, if you are only able to blog a few times a week, then you can probably get away with only spending 30 minutes or so on each post. Ultimately, it all comes down to finding a balance that works for you. But, remember what I said about quality!
One thing to keep in mind is that the more time you spend on your blog, the better it will be. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend hours each day working on it, but if you do put in the effort it will pay off. It is like most things in life, you only get out of it what you are prepared to put into it.
Trust me, your readers will appreciate the quality content, and you’ll be more likely to attract new readers and followers in the long run. So, if you can find the time, try to blog as often as you can. Just make sure your posts inform, help your readers and are of a good quality. Think of the bigger picture for your brand. It’s definitely worth it in the long run!
Check out this article ‘Avoiding Blogging Burnout’
Lack of Return On Investment (ROI)
Ok, moving on with the bad news.
For me, another potential downside is the lack of return on investment (ROI). While there are many advantages to blogging, it can be difficult to directly tie those advantages to an increase in sales or leads. This can make it hard to justify the time investment to upper management or clients.
Why is there a lack of ROI on blogging?
In my opinion, there are a number of factors that can contribute to a lack of ROI on blogging.
- One reason may be that businesses are not effectively promoting their blog content. If potential customers are not aware of your blog, they are not going to read it and you will not see any return on your investment.
- Another reason for a lack of ROI may be that the content itself is not high quality or relevant to your target audience. If your blog posts are not valuable or interesting to your readers, they are not going to stick around for long. In order to see a return on your investment, you need to make sure that your blog content is worth reading.
- Finally, another reason why you may not be seeing a return on your blogging investment is that you are not using effective calls to action. If you do not prompt your readers to take some sort of action after reading your blog post, they are unlikely to do anything with the information they have just read. Make sure to include a call to action in every blog post so that your readers know what they can do next.
By taking a closer look at why you may not be seeing a return on your blogging investment, you can make some necessary changes to improve your results, so it`s not all bad news!
By promoting your blog more effectively, writing high quality content, and including effective calls to action, you can start seeing the ROI you deserve from your blogging efforts.
Potential Negative Comments
Negative comments can be a problem for bloggers.
For example, If you write about controversial topics or take a stand on an issue, you will almost certainly attract and receive some negative feedback. This can be difficult to deal with, but it’s important to remember that not everyone will agree with you – and do you know what? That’s okay.
Dealing with negative comments on blog posts
It’s inevitable that at some point you’ll receive negative comments on your blog posts, okay yes I have! LOL
No matter how great your content is, there will always be someone who disagrees with you or has something negative to say.
The important thing is not to take these comments personally and to remember that not everyone is going to agree with you all the time. The best way to deal with negative comments is to simply ignore them if you think it will continue into a long drawn out debate. Me personally, I would thank them for their comment and point and view and leave it there. Don’t engage with the person leaving the comment if you don`t to and certainly don’t let it get to you.
If you find yourself getting upset or angry about a negative comment, and yes I have in the early days, take a step back and take some deep breaths, go and make a strong cup of tea or coffee, then re-focus. It’s not worth getting worked up over something that someone else said online. Just let it go and move on.
If you do decide to respond to a negative comment, be sure to do so in a calm and collected manner. Don’t get into a heated argument or exchange insults with the other person. Simply state your case and then move on.
Ultimately, remember that it’s not worth getting worked up over negative comments. Just ignore them, or deal with it and move on with your day.
So there you have it – the advantages and disadvantages of blogging. What do you think? Is the time commitment worth the potential benefits?
I would genuinely love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
Conclusion
Blogging can be a great way to increase traffic to your website, improve your SEO, build your brand, and network with other professionals. However, it does require a significant time commitment. You should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of blogging before deciding if it is the right strategy for you.
Thanks for reading!
Martin
