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Are you considering blogging? In today’s article, I’m sharing the advantages and disadvantages of blogging and if you should consider it or not!
You ready?! Let’s go!
While blogging can be rewarding in many ways, it can also have its drawbacks.
Here are some of the pros and cons of blogging that you should consider before jumping in.
Advantages when it comes to blogging (pros to blogging!)
Increased Visibility:
Blogging can help increase the visibility of your brand, business, or individual identity. Many times, when someone searches for a topic online, your blog post may come up in the search results, putting you in front of a larger audience.
Increased reach:
Blogging gives you the opportunity to reach out to a larger audience, regardless of where they are in the world. It enables you to have a conversation with people from different backgrounds and cultures and share your ideas with them.
You can earn ( a little or a lot ) income:
Blogging can be an excellent way to generate revenue. With the right strategy, you can monetize your blog in a number of ways, such as ad revenue, affiliate income, sponsorships, digital products, services, and more!
Don’t need a large audience.
You don’t need a large audience to start a blog or make money blogging! For example, you can literally have 100 people come to your blog a month, and let’s say one person out of that 100 buys your $5000 service!
Boom, you’ve just made 4-figures from your blog (fun fact: this actually happened to me! Someone discovered my blog and paid for my $5k offer!). So you don’t need a large audience to make money with blogging! You just need a strategy!
Build your relationship with your audience.
Blogging is a great way to build relationships with your audience.
When you blog, you are giving readers a chance to get to know you better and showing them that you care about their interests.
By engaging with your audience in a meaningful way, you can build relationships and create loyal followers.
Opportunity for Networking:
Through blogging, you can connect with other bloggers who have similar interests and build relationships with them. This can help you to expand your network and open up new opportunities.
Low start-up cost:
The best part about blogging is that it requires minimal upfront costs. You won’t need a huge budget to launch your blog and can begin with basic tools like a website and domain name.
Even if you choose to invest in more advanced features down the road, building a blog can still cost far less than other businesses.
You can blog from anywhere
One of the great advantages of blogging is that you can do it from anywhere. You don’t need to be in an office or at a desk. You can write blog posts wherever you like, from your home, while traveling, or while taking a break at the park.
This freedom makes blogging a great way to fit your writing into any lifestyle. Plus, it removes the need to find an available workspace or buy expensive equipment like a laptop.
All you need is a computer or mobile device and an internet connection, and you’re ready to write away.
It does not require posting on social media
Blogging is a great way to reach an audience without having to post on social media, giving you the freedom and control to share your thoughts and ideas without the fear of trolls and online harassment.
You can also benefit from increased search engine visibility since blog posts are indexed by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, giving your content a better chance of being discovered.
Improved Writing Skills
Blogging can help to improve your writing skills. The more you blog, the more comfortable you will become with expressing your thoughts and ideas in writing. This can benefit you in both your personal and professional life.
Sense of Accomplishment
When you complete a blog post, it can give you a sense of accomplishment. Taking the time to write something and put it out into the world is a rewarding experience.
Can do it yourself (or hire a team!):
Blogging is a great way to get your thoughts and ideas out there without having to spend money on hiring someone to do it for you.
You can write your own blog, create content that’s interesting and engaging, and make sure to get the message across without having to hire an expert.
This allows you to save money and time while still having a powerful platform for getting your thoughts and ideas out into the world.
Build your brand
Blogging can be a great tool for individuals and businesses alike as it provides an avenue to create a personal brand, establish yourself as an authority in your field, and connect with customers and clients.
Set your own schedule.
One of the main advantages of blogging is that it allows you to set your own schedule.
You have the freedom to decide when you want to work on your blog when you want to write posts, and how often.
This can be a great way to fit blogging into your life if you have other commitments or a busy lifestyle.
Establishes you as an expert:
Blogging is a great way to establish your expertise in any given subject.
Through the consistent writing of blog posts on a certain topic, you can quickly build your reputation as an expert.
This is especially true if the content in your blog posts is relevant and interesting to your readers.
Create a Legacy
Blogging is a great way to build a legacy. By creating a blog and regularly updating it, you can leave an imprint on the world that will endure long after you’re gone.
Through your blog, you can share stories, memories, and advice that future generations can learn from. You can also share your passions and interests with the world, creating a platform for others to learn more about you.
Great long-term results
One of the biggest pros of blogging is that it can result in long-term success.
By consistently creating content and building your authority, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field.
This can lead to more readers, followers, and customers who trust you and your business. With consistent effort and good content, a blog can be an invaluable asset to your business.
You own your blog
You don’t own social media, which means Instagram can delete your account tomorrow, and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, if your blog is on a self-hosted website, then you own your blog, and nobody can take it away!
Increases your exposure and visibility
Blogging can be an extremely powerful tool for increasing one’s visibility and exposure.
When you create content, people are able to find it easily and quickly through search engines such as Google.
This can be a great way to get your name and work out there in front of potential clients or employers… and event major networks! Yes, you can land major publication deals from your blog!
So as you can see, blogging definitely does have its perks. HOWEVER, blogging is not all cupcakes and rainbows. There are some disadvantages when it comes to blogging. Let’s talk about it…
Disadvantages of blogging (cons to blogging!)
Time commitment:
In order to maintain a successful blog, you need to be posting regularly. This can be a big time commitment, as you’ll need to come up with content ideas, outline your posts and write them.
Additionally, you may need to spend time promoting your blog and engaging with readers.
Requires a strategy
One of the major disadvantages of blogging is that it requires a lot of effort and strategy to be successful.
As with any other type of digital marketing, there is a lot of competition, and it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd.
In order to make the most out of your blog, you need to have a clear strategy and goal in mind. Otherwise, you will likely just be wasting your time.
Inside my program, Bankable Blogging, I teach you my strategy step-by-step and how I was able to grow my blog to 4-figure months in less than a year!
Privacy issues:
When blogging, it’s important to remember that you’ll be sharing some personal information. You may want to consider how public or private you want your blog to be and if you’re comfortable with people viewing your blog posts.
A good blog isn’t free:
If you want to create a professional-looking blog, it can cost money. This can include costs for hosting, domain names, design, and other software. Additionally, you may need to pay for marketing or advertising services to help promote your blog.
Limited audience:
Depending on the type of content you’re writing, your blog may not reach a large audience. This can be both frustrating and discouraging, as it can be difficult to find an audience for your blog.
You should learn SEO, and it’s not super easy:
Blogging comes with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest challenges for bloggers is learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing a website or blog so it will appear higher in search engine results.
SEO can be complicated and time-consuming, but mastering it is essential if you want your blog to be successful. I 100% can say that knowing SEO allowed me to grow my blog rapidly within one year.
May experience slow growth:
One of the biggest cons of blogging is that it can take a lot of time to see growth. It typically takes several months for blogs to start seeing a steady increase in readership and engagement.
Even then, it can be very slow and gradual growth depending on the niche or topic of your blog.
Additionally, it can take a lot of effort to make sure that your blog is ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs)
Requires consistency:
Blogging is a long-term commitment and requires dedication.
It’s important to post regularly in order to keep your readers engaged, which means making it a priority and dedicating time to writing, editing, and promoting your blog.
This can be difficult for busy people with limited amounts of time and energy.
Haters, trolls, and general negativity, oh my!:
One of the most unfortunate aspects of blogging is the amount of negativity that can come along with it.
Whether it’s from haters, trolls, or just general negative people, it can be really tough to deal with.
It’s important to remember that not everyone is going to be supportive of your blogging efforts. Some people may feel jealous or even threatened by your success, and they may choose to lash out.
Requires some tech knowledge:
One of the major disadvantages of blogging is that it can require a lot of time and technical knowledge in order to get started.
Blogging platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, and Blogger are fairly user friendly, but they still require a basic understanding of HTML and other web design codes.
Not as popular as it used to be
One of the main cons of blogging is that it is not as popular as it used to be.
While blogging was once a popular way to share one’s thoughts, interests, and experiences with the world, today, it has been largely supplanted by newer forms of online content, such as social media.
This has meant that there is less of an audience for blogs, making it harder for blog owners to build a following and get their message out.
Additionally, as blogging has become less popular, it is often seen as a “dated” way to share content, meaning that many potential readers may be less likely to interact with or even visit a given blog.
This can make it much more difficult for bloggers to build an engaged audience and ultimately make it harder to monetize their blogs.
Security risks
Since blogging is done online, there are security risks associated with it.
This can include hacking, malware, and other issues that could potentially harm your blog or the personal information you may have shared.
Overall, blogging is a great way to share ideas and connect with people online, but there are some potential disadvantages to consider before starting a blog. It’s important to be aware of these cons and make sure you can commit.
Need more than passion
Blogging isn’t as simple as setting up a website and writing about your passions. It takes more than passion to be successful; it takes hard work, dedication, and understanding of topics.
You need to understand your audience and what kind of content will engage them.
You should also have a good knowledge of SEO, social media, and digital marketing to ensure that your content reaches the right people.
You have to come up with blogging ideas.
One of the disadvantages when it comes to blogging is the need to come up with consistent, interesting topics that readers will find engaging.
This can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience in writing or the topics you are covering. You need to be able to think of fresh content ideas to ensure your blog remains interesting and engaging for readers.
Additionally, you’ll need to create content that is relevant to the topic of your blog and that is current to keep your readers coming back.
Finding the time to research topics, generate ideas, and create content can also be a challenge for bloggers.
You have to be a decent writer.
If you want to be a blogger, I believe you need to be at least a decent writer or have somebody write your blog for you.
Blogging is often seen as an easy task since all someone has to do is express their opinions and thoughts through writing.
However, it is important to have a good knowledge of grammar and be able to express ideas clearly in order for readers to understand.
To ensure that your blog is readable, you may need to hire a writer or invest some time in improving your own writing skills.
May experience low (or no!) blog traffic
One of the biggest cons of blogging is that nobody visits your blog.
This can be especially discouraging if you have put a lot of effort into creating unique and interesting content that you believe should be seen by others, only to find out that it’s going unnoticed.
This can lead to a false sense of insecurity that you are not accomplishing anything with your blog and can cause you to put less effort into it or give up entirely.
My experience with blogging:
So here are some of the biggest advantages and disadvantages when it comes to blogging! Now, let’s have a little story time where I’ll share my experience with blogging.
I’ve heard plenty of people say blogging is dead; it’s not profitable anymore, and nobody blogs anymore. Can you relate?
In mid-2022, I decided to get serious with my fashion blog. I committed to blogging at least four times a week, and yes, it was a lot, but I truly wanted to see if I could make money blogging.
I’m not going to lie and say I blogged for three months and was rolling in dough.
Quite the contrary.
During the first few months, I didn’t see any real growth or money. I wondered if it was indeed dead or if I just wasn’t good at it.
But I kept at it…
Around four months of blogging consistently, I started to see some lead way.
My blog was growing. Slowly but growing.
I started to see an increase in affiliate income and was making $300+ in monthly ad revenue. Certainly not enough to pay all of my bills, but hey, if you can make a $1 blogging, you can make $1000.
And here we are!
Now my fashion blog is bringing in thousands of dollars a month just from affiliate revenue and ad revenue.
And the best part is that my blogs continue to grow, so I know that I stay consistent with my blog and continue my strategy, I’ll be earning a full-time income just from one blog!
So yes, blogging is still profitable and popular!
Conclusion
Overall, blogging can be a great option for those who want to express themselves or experience the benefits of owning their own website.
It brings with it opportunities to write freely and create content that focuses on whatever topics you desire.
On top of this, blogging is relatively inexpensive – so even if it doesn’t turn out to be entirely successful, it’s not a huge investment.
However, as with many endeavors, there are also drawbacks.
It takes time to build up, get noticed by search engines and really start gaining traction – all the while feeling like you aren’t getting an immediate return on your efforts.
Additionally, it can be hard to stay motivated without recognition from others and without understanding why certain strategies are working (or not).
It can be hard work making sure that you regularly engage with your readers, manage any comments you receive, and promote your content.
On the other hand, having the freedom to be yourself and write about what matters to you can bring huge rewards and opportunities too.
Ultimately, blogging is a unique platform to make connections, release creativity, and find meaningful fulfillment.
To round up my post on the advantages and disadvantages of blogging, don’t forget one important aspect – you get to decide if blogging is for you!
So, if you think you would benefit from running a blog – go for it! I’m so happy I did!
Are you ready to start your own blog? Set goals, plan ahead, and dive in – best of luck!
What to read next: How to start a profitable online blog from scratch
